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NICHOL'S SERIES OF STANDARD DIVINES.

PURITAN PERIOD.

BY JOHN C. MILLER, D.D.,

LINCOLN OOLLEQB ; HONORAET CANON OF WORCBSTEB; RECTOR OF ST MARTIN'S, BIRMINGHAM.

THE

WORKS OP THOMAS BROOKS.

VOL. II.

COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.

W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational
Union, Edinburgh.

JAMES BEGG, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.

THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University,
Edinburgh,

D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church,
Edinburgh.

WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.

ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby-
terian Church, Edinburgh.

Enteral suitor.
REV. THOMAS SMITH, M.A., EDiNBimGH.

THE COMPLETE WORKS

THOMAS BROOKS.

BY THE REV. ALEXANDER BALLOCH GROSART,
LIVEBPOOL.

VOL. II.

! containing:

( (•

AN ABK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS THE PRJXV-KkS OF HEAVEN HEAVEN

ON EAETH ; OR, WELL-GROtJ^ESll) ASSURANCE. ' ,^ , ,

EDINBURGH: JAMES NICHOL.

LONDON : JAMES NISBET AND CO. DUBLIN : G. HERBERT.

M.DCCC.LXVI.

XDiNBUBoa :

PKllrntD BT JOHN OREIO AND SON,
OLD PHl'SIC OABSENS.

^^o?o7j^^

CONTENTS.

I.-AN ARK FOE ALL GOD'S NOAHS.

Epistle Dedicatory,
Introduction,

Analysis of Text and Topics,
I. What a Portion God is.

(1-
(2.
(8.

(4.
(5.
(6.

(7.

(8.

(9.
(10.
(11.
(12.
(13
(14.

Present,

Immense, . . .

All-sufficient,

Absolute, needful, and necessary,

Pure and universal,

Glorious, happy, and blessed,

Peculiar,

Universal,

Safe and secure, .

Suitable,

Incomprehensible,

Inexhaustible,

Soul-satisfying, .

Permanent, indefinite, never-failing, everlasting.

(15.) Incomparable,

n. Grounds of Title unto God as a Portion.

(1.) Free favour and love of God,
(2.) Covenant of grace,
(3.) Marriage-union,

II. Improvement of the Truth that God is a Portion.

(1.) Fret not on account of prosperity of the wicked

(2.) Be content with present condition,

(3.) Those mistaken who judge saints to be unhappy,

(4.) Set not affections on earthly portions,

(5.) Be cheerful under all crosses and troubles,

(6.) Away with all expedients and compliances,

(7.) Glory in God as a portion,

PAGE

3-9

11-12

12-13
13-15
15-16
17-18
18-21
21-22
22-23
23-26
26-27
27-28
28-30
30-32
82-35
35-37
37-39

89-40
40

40-41

41-47

47-52
52-54
54-56
56-58
68-59
59-60

CONTENTS.

(8.) Shall want nothing good,

(9.) Away with inordinate cares,
(10.) All is the believer's,
(11.) God no hurtful portion, .
(12.) Let the saints think of G-od as their portion,
(13.) Be not afraid to die,
(14.) Make it fully out that God is your portion ; its advantages,

Question 1. How shall we know whether God be our portion ?
Answered,
,, 2. How shall we evidence this ? Answered,
Incitements to see that God is our portion,
How to make God our portion.
Objections answered, ....

Positions that may be useful.

PAGE

60-62
62-66
66-67
67-71
71-73
7a-74
74-82

82-106
106-111
111-115
115-119
119-127
127-136

II -THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

Epistle Dedicatory, being an Eposition and Application of

Mat. VI. 9, . . . . . . 189-161

To the Keader, ...... 162-163

Doctrine : That closet prayer or private prayer is an indispensable

duty, &c., proved, ..... 165-166

Twenty Arguments for Closet-Prayer.

(1.) The most eminent saints have done it, . . . 166-169

(2.) Christ did it, . . . . . . 169-171

(3.) A distinction from hjrpocrites, .... 171-172

(4.) Can thus more fully unbosom ourselves, . . . 172-173

(5.) Secret duties shall have open rewards, . . . 173-174

(6.) God most manifests himself in private, . . . 174-177

(7.) Life is the only time for it, ... . 177

(8.) The great prevalency of it, . . . . 177-183

(9.) The most soul-enriching of duties, . . . 183-184

(10.) Take many things together, .... 184

(11.) Christ much delighted by, .... 185

(12.) Believers only get God's secrets, . . . 185-188

(13.) The Christian's meat and drink in difficulties, . 190-191

(14.) God is omnipresent, ..... 191-192

(15.) Private prayer neglected brings neglect to public prayer, . 192-193
(16.) The times call aloud for it, . . . .193-194

(17.) The near relations to the Lord call for it, . . . 1^4-195

(18.) God hath given special marks of favour in secret prayer, . 195-196

(19.) Satan, a great enemy to it, . . .• . 196-197
(20.) Believers, those from whom private prayer may be looked

for, ...... 197-198

The doctrine condemns five sorts of persons, . . . 199-202

Six objections stated and met, ..... 202-248

Eleven advices and counsels, ..... 248-277

Means and rules, . . . . . . . 277-299

CONTENTS. VU

PAGE

UI.-HEAVEN ON EAKTH.

Epistle Dedicatory, ...... 808-311

To THE Saints, ....... 812-315

The Preface, Touching the Nature of Assurance, . . 816-317

Chapter I.

Proving by ten arguments, that persons in this life may attain
to a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness
and blessedness, ...... 818-328

This truth improved against Papists and Arminians, . . 828-830

Chapter II.

Containing several weighty propositions about assurance, . 330-346

Further in this chapter is shewed, ten special seasons and times,
wherein the Lord is pleased to give to his people a sweet
assurance of his favour and love, . . . . 346-873

Chapter III.

Containing ten hindrances and impediments that keep poor souls
from assurance, with the means and helps to remove those
impediments and hindrances .... 878-892

Further in this chapter is laid down six motives to provoke Chris-
tians to put out all theu: strength and might against bosom-
sins, against the iniquity of their heels, against the sins
that do so easily beset them, .... 392-395

Also five means to help on the mortification and destruction of

bosom-sins, . . . . . . 395-897

Chapter IV.

Containing ten motives or incentives, to provoke all that want
assurance, to be restless in their spirits till they have
obtained it, ...... 397-406

Also in this chapter you have ten advantages that will redound
to such souls that get a well-grounded assurance of their
everlasting happiness and blessedness, . . . 406-413

Chapter V.

Shewing nine ways and means of gaining a well-grounded assur-
ance, &c. In the handling of which several considerable
questions are also resolved, .... 413-483

Also in this chapter eight special things are discovered :
As first, what knowledge that is that doth accompany salvation, 438-446
Secondly, What faith that is that accompanies salvation, that

borders upon salvation, ..... 446-459
Also several hints are given, both concerning strong and weak
!< foith, ....... 460-461

CONTENTS.

Thirdly, What repentance that is that accompanies salvation, .

Fourthly, What obedience that is that accompanies salvation, .

Fifthly, What love that is that accompanies salvation, .

Fourteen ways whereby that love that doth accompany salva-
tion doth display and manifest itself.

Sixthly, What prayer that is that doth accompany salvation, .

Eight differences betwixt the prayers of souls in Christ, and
souls out of Christ, betwixt the prayers of believers and

, and unbelievers, ......

Seventhly, What perseverance that is that doth accompany sal-
vation, .......

Eighthly, What hope that is that doth accompany salvation.

Two cautions upon the whole, . . . . .

PAGE

461-468
468-476
476-481

481-490
490-496

497-501

501-503
503-511
511-512

Chapter VI.

Shewing eight notable differences between a true and a counter-
feit assurance, &c., ..... 512—519

Also in this chapter is set forth in nine special things, the
difference between the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and
the hissings of the old serpent, &c., . . . 519-523

Chapter VII.

Containing answers to several special questions about assurance :

As first, How those should strengthen and maintain their
assurance that have obtained it, &c. This question is
answered nine ways, ..... 523-527

The second question is, how such sad souls may be supported
from fainting and languishing, that have lost that sweet and
blessed assurance that once they had. Six answers are
given to the question, ..... 527-529

The third question is, how such souls may recover assurance,
who once had it but have now lost it. Five answers
given to this question, . . . . . 530-532

Some uses of the point, ..... 532-533

AN ARK FOU ALL GOD'S NOAHS.

VOL. II.

NOTE.

The ' Ark for All God's Noahs' was originally puhlished in 1662, and the next edition
— from which our text is taken — appeared in 1666, but is not designed ' second ' or other-
■wise. In this, as in other cases, the Publisher seems to have kept the types standing,
and to have issued rapidly large impressions without ever changing the date. The title-
page is given below.* A quaint and beautiful little edition of this book bears the imprint
' Glasgow College, Printed by Alex. Millar, and are to be sold in his shop opposite to the
Well, in the Salt Mercat, 1738." 12mo. G.

* AN ^

AKKE

FOB ALL

GODS NOAHS
In a gloomy stormy day ;

OR,

The best Wine reserved till last.

OB,

The transcendent Excellency of a

believers portion above all earthly

Portions whatsoever :

Discovered in several SERMONS,

which may be of singular use at all

times, but especially in these Breaking times,

wherein many have, and many daily do

break for more than their all, and

wherein many thousands are

turned out of all, &c.

. By THOMAS BROOKS, late Preacher of the
Gospel at Margarets New Fishstreet, and still
Preacher of the Word in London, and
Pastor of a Congregation there.

1 looked on my right hand, and beheld, hut there was no
man that would know me, refuge failed me, no man
cared for my soul, I cryed unto thee, Lord, / said

• thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the
living, Psal. 142. 4, 5.

London, Printed by M. S. for Henry Cripps, at the

first entrance into Poj»e«-head Alley, next

to Lombard street, 1666.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

To all the merchants and tradesmen of England, especially these of the
city of London, with all other sorts and ranks of persons that
either have or would have God for their portion, grace, mercy,
and peace be multiplied.

Gentlemen, — The wisest prince that ever sat upon a throne hath
told us, that *a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of
silver,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' a word spoken, ViDN'py^ upon his
wheels,' that is, rightly ordered, placed, and circumstantiated. Such a
word is, of all words, the most excellent, the most prevalent, and the
most pleasant word that can be spoken ; such a word is, indeed, a word
that is like * apples of gold in pictures of silver.' Of all words such a
word is most precious, most sweet, most desirable, and most delectable.
O sirs ! to time a word, to set a word upon the wheels, to speak a
word to purpose, is the project of this book. Though all truths are
glorious, yet there is a double glory upon seasonable truths ; and, there-
fore, I have made it my great business in this treatise to hold forth as
seasonable a truth, and as weighty a truth, and as comfortable and
encouraging a truth, as any I know in all the book of God. The mother
of King Cyrus* willed, that the words of those that spoke unto her son
should be in silk, but certainly seasonable words are always better than
silken words.

Every prudent husbandman observes his fittest season to sow his
seeds, and therefore some he sows in the autumn and fall of the leaf,
and some in the spring and renewing of the year ; some he sows in a
dry season, and some he sows in a wet ; some he sows in a moist clay,
and some he sows in a sandy dry ground, as the Holy Ghost speaks,
' He soweth the fitches and the cumin, and casteth in wheat by mea-
sure,' Isa. xxviii. 25. And so all spiritual husbandmen must wisely
observe their fittest seasons for the sowing of that immortal seed that
Good hath put into their hands ; and such a thing as this is I have had
in my eye, but whether I have hit the mark or missed it, let the Chris-
tian reader judge.

One speaking of the glory of heaven saith, * That the good things of

eternal life are so many that they exceed number, so great that they

exceed measure, and so precious that they are above all estimation,' &c.*

The same may I say concerning the saint's portion, for certainly the

« * Mandane, daughter of Astyages — G. ' Augustine. — G.

4 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD S NOAHS.

good things that are in their portion, in their God, are so many that
they exceed number, so great that they exceed measure, and so precious
that they are above all estimation.

The same author in one of his epistles hath this remarkable relation,
viz., That the same day wherein Jerome died, he was in his study, and
had got pen, ink, and paper to write something of the glory of heaven
to Jerome, and suddenly he saw a light breaking into his study, and
smelt also a very sweet smell, and this voice he thought he heard : * O
Augustine, what doest thou ? dost think to put the eea into a little
vessel ? When the heavens shall cease from their continual motion,
then shalt thou be able to understand what the glory of heaven
is, and not before, except you come to feel it as I now do.'' Certainly,
the glory of heaven is beyond all conception and all expression, and so
is that portion that is a little hinted at in the following discourse. And,
indeed, a full description of that God, that is the believer s portion, is a work
too high for an Aaron when standing upon mount Hor ; or for a Moses,
when standing on the top of Nebo after a Pisgah prospect ; yea, it is a
work too high and too hard for all those blessed seraphims that are still
a-crying before the throne of God, * Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts.'^ No finite being, though never so glorious, can ever be able
fully to comprehend an infinite being. In the second verse of the sixth
of Isaiah, we read that each seraphim had six wings, and that with
twain he covered the face of God, with twain his feet, and with twain
he did fly, intimating, as one well observes upon the place,' that with
twain they covered his face, the face of God, not their own face, and
with twain they covered has feet, not their own feet. They covered
his face, his beginning being unknown ; they covered his feet, his end
being incomprehensible ; only the middle are to be seen, the things
which are, whereby there may be some glimmering knowledge made
out what God is. The wise man hit it, when he said, ' That which is
afar off and exceeding deep, who can find it out f Eccles. vii. 24.* Who
can find out what God is ? The knowledge of him a prio7'i is so far
off, that he whose arm is able to break even a bow of steel is not able
to reach it ; so far off, that he who is able to make his nest with the
eagle is not able to fly unto it ; and so exceeding deep, that he who could
follow the leviathan could not fathom it ; that he who could set out
the centre of the earth, is not able to find it out ; and who then is able
to reach it ? In a word, so far ofl'and so deep too, that ' the depth saith.
It is not in me ; and the sea saith, It is not in me.' It is such a deep
to men and angels as far exceeds the capacity of both. Augustine
speaking to that question, What God is ? gives this answer :* ' Surely
such a one as he, who, when he is spoken of, cannot be spoken of ; who,
when he is considered, cannot be considered of; who, when he is com-
pared to anything, cannot be compared ; ami when he is defined,
groweth greater by defining of him. If that great apostle, that learned
his divinity among the angels, yea, to whom the Holy Ghost was an

* See Index under Jerome for other references to this. — O.
' Nnm. XX. 28 ; Deut. xxxii. 49, and xxxiv. 1 ; Isa. vi. 3.

" Vide Origen on the text.

* There are many depths in God which our shallow reason cannot fathom ; and, indeed,
it is the credit of our religion, and the glory of our God, that he is unsearchable.

' Augustine, defide contra Arrianum, cap. vi.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 5

immediate tutor, did know but * in part/ then certainly those that are
most acute and judicious in divine knowledge may very well conclude,
that tbey know but part of that part that was known to him/' As for my
own part,. I dare pretend but to a spark of that knowledge that others .
have attained to, and yet who can tell but that God may turn this
spark into such a flame as may warm the hearts of many of his dear
and precious ones. Much is done many times by a spark.

O sirs ! catch not at the present profits, pleasured, preferments, and
honours of this world, but ' lay up a good foundation for the time to
come,' provide for eternity, make sure your interest and propriety in
God. It was an excellent saying of Lewis of Bavyer [Bavaria ?], em-
peror of Germany : ' Such goods,' said he, ' are worth getting and own-
ing, as will not sink or wash away if a shipwreck happen.' How many
of you have lost your all by shipwrecks ! and how hath divine provi-
dence by your multiplied crosses and losses taught you that, that the
good things and the great things of this world cannot be made sure !
How many of you have had rich inheritances left you by your fathers,
besides the great portions that you have had with your wives, and
the vast estates that you have gained by trading ; but what is become of
all ? Is not all buried in the deep, or in the grave of oblivion ? Oh
the unconstancy and the grand impostury of this world ! Oh the flux
and reflux of riches, greatness, honours, and preferments T How many
men have we seen shining in their worldly pomp and glory like stars
in the firmament, who are now vanished into smoke or comets ! How
hath the moon of many great men's riches and honour been eclipsed
at the full, and the sun of their pomp gone down at noon !

' It was,' saith the historian [Justinian], ' a wonderful precedent of
vanity and variety of human condition to see mighty Xerxes to float
and fly away in a small vessel, who but a little before wanted sea-room
for his navy.' The Dutch, to express the world's vanity and uncer-
tainty, have very wittily pictured a man with a full blown bladder on
his shoulders, and another standing by pricking the bladder with a pin,
with this motto, Quam subito, How soon is all blown down ! I am not
willing to make the porch too wide, else I might have given you famous
instances of the vanity and uncertainty of all worldly wealth, pomp, and
glory, from the Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman king-
doms, whose glory now lies all in the dust. By all this it is most
evident that earthly portions cannot be made sure, they ' make them-
selves wings, and they fly away,' Prov. xxiii. 5.

Oh ! but now God is a portion that may be made sure. In the time
of the Marian persecution, there was a woman, who, being convened
before bloody Bonner, then bishop of London, upon the trial of religion,
he threatened her that he would take away her husband from her :
saith she, Christ is my husband. I will take away thy child ; Christ,
saith she, is better to me than ten sons. I will strip thee, saith he, of
all thy outward comforts ; but Christ is mine, saith she, and you can-
not strip me of him.'* A Christian may be stripped of anything but his
God ; he may be stripped of his estate, his friends, his relations, his

^ Such are not only good echolars, but also great scholars, who have learned con-
tentedly to be ignorant where God would not have them knowing.
^ ' Mr Foxe, Acts and Monum. [See under Bonner. — G.]

6 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS.

liberty, his life, but he can never be stripped of his God. As God is a
portion that none can give to a Christian but himself, so God is a por-
tion that none can take from a Christian but himself; and, therefore,
a.^ ever you would have a sure portion, an abiding portion, a lasting
portion, yea, an everlasting portion, make sure of God for your portion.

O Sirs ! that you would judge that only worth much now, which
will be found of much worth at last, when you shall lie upon a dying
bed, and stand before a judgment-seat. Oh that men would prize and
value all earthly portions now, as they will value them when they come
to die, and when their souls shall sit upon their trembling lips, and
when there shall be but a short step between them and eternity. Oh,
at Avhat a poor rate, at what a low rate do men value their earthly por-
tions ! then, certainly, it will be their very great wisdom to value their
earthly portions now as they would value them then. And oh that men
would value this glorious, this matchless portion that is held forth in
this treatise now, as they will value it and prize it when they come to
die, and when they come to launch out into the ocean of eternity ! I
have read of a stationer, who, being at a fair, hung out several pictures
of men famous in their kinds, among which he had also the picture of
Christ, upon which divers men bought according to their several
fancies : the soldier buys his Caesar, the lawyer his Justinian, the
physician his Galen, the philosopher his Aristotle, the poet his Virgil,
the orator his Cicero, and the divine his Augustine ; but all this while
the picture of Christ hung by as a thing of no value, till a poor chap-
man, that had no more money than would purchase that, bought it,
sayiug. Now every man hath taken away his god, let me have mine
too. O Sirs ! it would make any gracious, any serious, any ingenious,
any conscientious heart to bleed, to see at what a high rate all sorts
and ranks of men do value earthly portions, which at best are but coun-
terfeit pictures, whenas this glorious portion that is here treated on
hangs by as a thing of no value, of no price. Most men are mad upon
the world, and so they may have much of that for their portion, they
care not whether ever they have God for their portion or no. Give them
but a palace in Paris, and then with that French duke [the Duke of
Burbone (Bourbon)] they care not for a place in paradise ; give them
but a mess of pottage, and let who will take the birthright ; give them
but manna in a wilderness, and let who will take the land of Canaan ;
give them but ground which is pleasant and rich, and then with the
Keubenites they will gladly take up their rest on this side the Holy
Land ; give them but their bags full, and their barns full, and then
with the rich fool in the Gospel they can think of nothing but of taking
their ease, and of eating and drinking, and making merry, Luke xii.
l()-22. So brutish and foolish are they in their understandings, as if
their precious and immortal souls were good for nothing but as salt to
keep their bodies from rotting and stinking.

Oh that these men would seriously consider, that as a cup of pleasant
wine, offered to a condemned man in the way to his execution, and as
the feast of him who sat under a naked sword, hanging perpendicularly
over his head by a slender thread,^ and as Adam's forbidden fruit,
seconded by a flaming sword, and as Belshazzar's dainties, overlooked
* Damocles, Cicero. Ihuc. v. 21 ; Horace, Carm. iii. I. xvii. — G.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 7

by an handwriting against the wall ; such and only such are all earthly
portions to those that have not God for their portion.

Well, gentlemen, remember this, there is no true happiness to be
found in any earthly portions. Solomon, having made a critical in-
quiry after the excellency of all creature comforts, gives this in as the
ultimate extraction from them all, ' Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'
If you should go to all the creatures round, they will tell you that
happiness is not in them. If you should go to the earth, the earth will
tell you that happiness grows not in the furrows of the field. If you
go to the sea, the sea will tell you that happiness is not in the treasures
of the deep. If you go to the beasts of the field, or to the birds of the
air, they will tell you that happiness is not to be found on their backs,
nor in their bowels. If you go to your bags, or heaps of gold and
silver, they will tell you that happiness is not to be found in them.
If you go to crowns and sceptres, they will tell you that happiness is
too precious and too glorious a gem to be found in them.

As it is not the great cage that makes the bird sing, so it is not the
great estate that makes the happy life, nor the great portion that makes
the happy soul. There is no true comfort nor no true happiness to be
drawn out of the standing pools of outward sufiiciencies. All true com-
fort and happiness is only to be found in having of an all-sufficient
God for your portion: Ps. cxliv. 15, 'Happy is that people that is in
such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.' And
therefore, as ever you would be happy in both worlds, it very highly
concerns you to get an interest in God, and to be restless in your own
souls till you come to enjoy God for your portion.

A man that hath God for his portion is a non-such ; he is the rarest
and the happiest man in the world ; he is like the morning star in the
midst of the clouds ; he is like the moon when it is at full ; he is like
the flower of the roses in the spring of the year ; he is like the lilies
by the springs of waters ; he is like the branches of frankincense in the
time of summer ; he is like a vessel of massy gold that is set about with
all manner of precious stones.^

Nothing can make that man miserable that hath God for his portion,
nor nothing can make that man happy that wants God for his portion :
the more rich, the more wretched ; the more great, the more graceless ;
the more honourable, the more miserable that man will be that hath
not God for his portion. The Sodomites were very wealthy, and who
more wanton and mcked than thej- ? The Egyptians and Babylonians
were very rich, great, and potent in the world, and what greater op-
pressors and persecutors of the people of God than these ? Oh the
slavery, the captivity, and the woful misery of the people of God under
those cruel tyrants ! Have not the Nimrods, the Nebuchadnezzars, the
Belshazzars, the Alexanders, and the Csesars, &c., been commonly the
lords of the world, and who so abominably wicked as these ? No men
for wickedness have been able to match them or come near them.

It hath been long since observed to my hand, that Daniel sets forth
the several monarchies of the world by sundry sorts of cruel beasts, to
shew that as they were gotten by beastly subtilty and cruelty, so they
were supported and maintained by brutish sensuality, craft, and tyranny
( * This you will find fully cleared up in the following treatise.

8 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS.

I have read of a Lacedaemonian that said, that they well deserved
death that did not quench tjrranny, they should quite have consumed
it with fire. But whether he hit the mark or missed it, let the reader
judge. Well, Sirs ! you may be the lords of this world, and yet you
will certainly be miserable in another world, except you get God for
your portion. The top of man's happiness in this world lies in his
having of God for his portion. He that hath God for his portion en-
joys all ; and he that wants an interest and propriety in God enjoys
nothing at all.

Gentlemen, I have read of an heathen who, seeing a sudden ship-
wreck of all his wealth, said, Well, fortune, I see now that thou wouldst
have me to be a philosopher. Oh that you would say under all your
heavy losses and crosses, Well ! we now see that God would have us
' lay up treasure in heaven,' Mat. vi. 19, 20; we now see that God would
have us look after a better portion than any this world affords ; we
now see that it highly concerns us to secure our interest and propriety
in God ; we now see that to enjoy God for our portion is the one thing
necessary. Have not many of you said, nay sworn, that if you might
but see and enjoy the delight of your eyes, that then you should have
a sweeping trade, and abound in all plenty and prosperity, and grow
rich and great and glorious in the world, and be eased of everything
that did but look like a burden, &c. If it be indeed thus with you,
why do you so complain, murmur, and repine ? and why do many of
you walk up and down the Exchange and streets with tears in your
eyes, and with heaviness in your hearts, and with cracked credits, and
threadbare coats, and empty purses ? and why are so many of you
broke, and so many prisoners, and so many hid, and so many fled ?
But if it be otherwise, and that you are sensible that you have put a
cheat upon yourselves, I say not upon others, and that as you have
been self-flatterers, so you have been self-deceivers, the more highly it
concerns you to do yourselves, your souls that right, as to make sure
[of] God for your portion. For what else can make up those woful
disappointments under which you are fallen ?

It is a sad sight to see all the arrows that men shoot to fall upon
their own heads, or to see them twist a cord to hang themselves, or to
see men dig a pit for others and to fall into it themselves ; and it is but
justice that men should bake as they brew, and that they which brew
mischief should have the first and largest draught of it themselves.

Now the best way to prevent so sad a sight and so great a mischief,
is to get God for your portion : for when once God comes to be a man's
portion, then 'all things shall work together for his good,' Rom. viii. 28,
and then God will preserve him from such hurtful and mischievous
actings. The whole world is a great bedlam, and multitudes there are
that think madly, and that design madly, and that talk madly, and
that act madly, and that walk madly. Now as you would not be found
in the number of those bedlams, it highly concerns you to get God for
your portion, that so you may be filled with that wisdom that may pre-
serve you from the folly and madness of this mad world.

Gentlemen, the following sermons I preached in the year 1660, at
Olave's, Bread Street, and God blessed them then to those Christians
that attended on my ministry, and I hope he will bless them also to

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 9

the internal and eternal welfare of your souls, to whom they are now
dedicated. They are much enlarged; the profit will be yours, the
labour hath been mine. I judge them very seasonable and suitable to
present dispensations, else they had not seen the light at this time.
Curiosity is the spiritual adultery of the soul ; curiosity is that green-
sickness of the soul, whereby it longs for novelties, and loathes sound
and wholesome truths ; it is the epidemical distemper of this age and
hour.

And therefore, if any of you are troubled with this itch of curiosity,
and love to be wise above what is written, and delight to scan the
choice mysteries of religion by carnal reason, and affect elegant expres-
sions and seraphical notions, and the flowers of rhetoric, more than
sound and wholesome truths, then you may eiise yourselves, if you
please, of the trouble of reading this following treatise ; only remember
thi^, that the prudent husbandman looks more and delights more in the
ripeness and soundness and goodness of the corn that is in his field,
than he doth at the beauty of the cockle ; and remember, that no man
can live more miserably than he that lives altogether upon sauces ; and
he that looks more at the handsomeness than he doth at the whole-
someness of the dishes of meat that are set before him, may well pass
for a fool.

Well, gentlemen, for a close, remember this, that as Noab was drunk
with his own wine, and as Goliath was beheaded by his own sword, and
as the rose is destroyed by the canker that it breeds in itself, and as
Agrippina was killed by Nero, to whom she gave breath ; so if ever you
are eternally destroyed, you will be destroyed by yourselves ; if ever
you are undone, you will be undone by yourselves ; if ever you are
scourged to death, it will be by rods of your own making ; and if ever
the bitter cup of damnation be put into your hands, it will be found to
be of your own preparing, mingling, and embittering.

Behold, I have set life and death, heaven and hell, glory and misery,
before you in this treatise ; and therefore, if you will needs choose death
rather than life, hell rather than heaven, misery rather than glory, what
can be more just than that you should perish to all eternity ? If you
will not have God for your portion, you shall be sure to have wrath for
your portion, and hell for your portion, &c.

Well, sirs ! remember this at last : every man shall only thank his
own folly for his own bane, his own sin for his own everlasting shame,
his own iniquity for his own endless misery.

I have now no more to do but to improve all the interest that I have
in heaven, that this treatise may be blessed to all your souls, and that
you all experience what it is to have God for your portion; for that will
be my joy as well as yours, and my crown as weU as yours, and my
glorying as well as yours, in the great day of our Lord Jesus ; and so 'I
commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them that are
Banctified/ Acts xx. 32 ; and rest, gentlemen, your souls' servant,

Thomas Brooks.

A MATCHLESS PORTION.

The Lord is my portion, saith Tny soul ; therefore vnll I hope
in him.r—liAM.. III. 24.

Certainly if Ennius could pick out gold out of a dunghill, I may, by
divine assistance, much better pick out golden matter out of such a
golden mine as my text is, to enrich the souls of men withal. The best
of painters [Apelles], to draw an exquisite Venus, had set before him
an hundred choice and selected beauties, to take from one an eye,
another a lip, a third a smile, a fourth an hand, and from each of them
that special lineament in which the most excelled ; but I have no need of
any other scripture to be set before me to draw forth the excellency of the
saints' portion than that which I have now pitched upon ; for the beauty,
excellency, and glory of an hundred choice scriptures are epitomized in
this one.

The Jewish doctors and other writers differ about the time of Jere-
miah's penning this book of the Lamentations ; but to be ignorant of
the circumstance of time when this book was made, is such a crime as
I suppose will not be charged upon any man's account in the great day
of our Lord Jesus.

Doubtless this book of the Lamentations was composed by Jeremiah
in the time of the Babylonian captivity. In this book the prophet
sadly laments and bewails the grievous calamities and miseries that had
befallen the Jews, viz. the ruin of their state, the devastation of their
land, the destruction of their glorious city and temple, which was the
great wonder of the world, the profanation of all his holy things, the
contemptible and deplorable condition of all sorts, ranks, and degrees of
men ; and then he complains of their sins as the procuring causes of all
those calamities that God in his righteousness had inflicted upon them.
He exhorts them also to patience under the mighty hand of God, and
stirs them up to repent and reform, as they would have their sins par-
doned, judgments removed, divine wrath pacified, their insulting enemies
suppressed, and former acts and grants of favour and grace restored to
them.

But to come to the words of my text.

The Lord Jehovah, from Havah, lie was. This name Jehovah is the
most proper name of God, and it is never attributed to any but to GoA

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. U

1. First, Jehovah sets out God's eternity, in that it containeth all
times, future, present, and past.'

2. Secondly, It sets out also God's self-existency, coming from havah,
to be.

3. Thirdly, When either some special mercy is promised, or some
extraordinary judgment is threatened, then the name of Jehovah is com-
monly annexed ; to shew that that God whose being is from himself, and
who gives a being to all his creatures both on heaven and on earth, will
certainly give a being to his promises and threatenings, and not fail to
accomplish the words that are gone out of his mouth.

4. Fourthly, This name Jehovah consists only of quiescent letters,
i. e. letters of rest, as the Hebrews call them, to shew that there is no
rest till we come to Jehovah, and that in him we may safely and securely
rest, as the dove did in Noah's ark.

'Is my portion.' Chelki, from P^^, chalak; the Hebrew word signi-
fies to divide. He alludes, as I take it, to the dividing of the land of
Canaan amongst the Israelites by lot. 'The Lord,' saith he, *is my
portion,' my part, my lot; and with this portion I rest fully satisfied,
as the Israelites were to do with their parts and portions in that plea-
sant laud. It is true, saith Jeremiah, in the name of the church, I am
thus and thus afflicted, and sorely distressed on all hands; but yet 'the
Lord is my portion,' and that supports and bears up my spirits from
fainting and sinking in this evil day.

'Saith my soul.' Naphahi, from ^^^, nephesh; the Hebrew word
hath nine several senses or significations in the Scripture. But let this
suffice, that by soul here in the text we are to understand the heart,
the mind, the spirit, and the understanding of a man. Well, saith the
prophet, though I am in a sea of sorrow, and in a gulf of misery, yet my
heart tells me that ' the Lord is my portion ;' my mind tells me that
' the Lord is my portion ;' my spirit tells me that * the Lord is my por-
tion ;' and my understanding tells me that ' the Lord is my portion ;'
and therefore I will bear up bravely in the face of all calamities and
miseries.

' Therefore will I hope in him.' The Hebrew word ?*niK, that is here
rendered hope, is from ^m, JacA-aZ, that signifies both hoping, expecting,
and trusting ; also it signifies a patient waiting upon the Lord.^ The
prophet Jeremiah had not only a witness above him, but also a witness
within him, that the Lord was his portion ; and therefore he resolves
firmly to hope in the Lord, and sweetly to trust on the Lord, and
quietly and patiently to wait upon the Lord, till God should turn his
storm into a calm, and his sad winter into a blessed summer.

In my text there are three things observable :

First, An assertion or proposition in those words, ' The Lord is my
portion.'

Secondly, A proof of it in those words, ' saith my soul.'

Thirdly, The use or inference from the premises in those words,
« Therefore will I hope in him.'

The words being thus opened, the proposition that I intend to insist
upon is this, viz. :

' The three syllables contain the notes of all times : Je, the time to come ; ho, the time
present ; vaJi, the time past. * Gen. viii. 10 ; Isa. xlii. 4 ; Fa. xxxi. 25.

12 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

Doct. That the Lord is the saints' portion, the Lord is the believers'
portion.

I shall call in a few scriptures to witness to the truth of this proposi-
tion, and then I shall further open it to you : Ps. xvi. 5, ' The Lord is
the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup : thou maintainest my
lot ;' Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever ;' Ps. cxix. 57, ' Thou art
my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words;' Jer. x. 16,
' The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things ;
and Israel is the rod of his inheritance : the Lord of hosts is his name.'

Now for the further opening and clearing up of this great and glorious,
this sweet and blessed truth, I shall endeavour to shew you,

First, What a portion the Lord is to his saints, to his gracious ones ; and,

Secondly, The reasons or grounds whereupon the saints have laid
claim to God as their portion.

I. For the first, What a portion God is. Now the excellency of this
portion I shall shew you by an induction of particulars, thus :

(1 .) First, God is a present portion. He is a portion in hand, he is
a portion in possession. All the scriptures that are cited to prove the
doctrine, evidence, this to be a truth, Ps. xlviii. 14, Isa. xxv. 9. And so
doth that Ps. xlvi. 1, ' God is a very present help in trouble.' The He-
brew word hetsaroth is in the plural number troubles, that is, God is a pre-
sent help in many troubles, in great troubles, and in continued troubles.
Betsaroth is from ntV, tsor, that signifies to straiten, and closely to
besiege. It notes theextremityofaffliction and trouble.^ When the people
of God are in their greatest extremity, then God will be a present help,
a present portion to them : Isa. xliil 2, ' When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, the}'' shall not
overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be
burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' God will be a present
help, a present relief, a present support, a present comfort, a present
portion to his people, in all those great and various trials that they may
be exercised under : Ps. cxlii. 5, * I cried unto thee, O Lord : I said,
Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.' God is
a portion in present possession, and not a portion in reversion. The
psalmist doth not say. Thou mayest be my portion in another world, but
'Thou art my portion in the land of the living;.' nor he doth not
say. Thou wilt be my portion in another world, but ' Thou art my
portion in the land of the living.' Look, as Elkanah gave Hannah
a worthy portion in hand, 1 Sam. i. 5, so God gives himself to his
saints as a worthy portion in hand. Many men wait, and wait long,
for their earthly portions before they enjoy them ; yea,, their patience is
oftentimes wore so threadbare in waiting, that they wish their parents
in Abraham's bosom ; ay, and sometimes in a worser place, that so
they may inherit their honours, lordships, lands,, treasures, &c. Look,
as a bird in the hand is worth two, ay, ten, in the bu«h, so a portion in
possession is worth two, ay, ten, in reversion. Now, God is a portion
in present possession, and that speaks out the excellency of the saints'

* Maximilian, the emperor, was so delighted with that sentence of Paul, SiDeus nobit-
eum, if God be with us. who shall be against us ? that he caused it to be written upon the
walk in most rooms of his palace.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 13

portion. As he in Plutarch said of the Scythians, that although they had
no music nor vines among them, yet, as a better thing, they had gods,
so I may say, though the saints have not this, nor that, nor the other
earthly portion among them, yet, as a better thing, they have God for
their present portion ; and what can they desire more ? But,

(2.) Secondly, As God is a present portion, so God is an immense
portion, he is a vast large portion, he is the greatest portion of all por-
tions : ] Tim. vi. 15, 'Which in his times he shall shew, who is the
blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.' These
words are a stately and lofty description of the greatness of God. The
apostle heapeth up many words together, to shew that in greatness
God excels all: Isa. xL 15-17, 'Behold, the nations are as a drop of a
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold, he
taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not suffi-
cient to bum, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All
nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less
than nothing, and vanity.' Not only one nation, but many nations ;
yea, not only many nations, but all nations, in comparison of God, are
but as the drop of a bucket ; and what is lesser than a drop ? and as the
small dust of a balance ; and what is of lighter weight and lesser worth
than the small dust or powder of the balance that hangs on the scale,
and yet never alters the weight ? yea, they are nothing, they are less
than nothing. And though Lebanon was a very great spacious forest,
and had abundance of beasts in it, yet God was a God of that infinite
greatness, that though all the beasts harbouring in that stately forest
should be slain, and all the wood growing on it cut down to burn them
with it, all would not make up a sacrifice any ways answerable or propor-
tionable to his greatness with whom they had to do. And so in that
Ps. cxlvii. 5, ' Great is our Lord, and of great power ; his understanding
is infinite,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' of his understanding there is no
number.' Such is his greatness, that he knows not only all kinds and
sorts of things, but even all particulars, though they exceed all number :
Ps. cxlv. 3, ' Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his great-
ness is unsearchable,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' of his greatness there
is no search.' God is infinitely above all names, all notions, all con-
ceptions, all expressions, and all parallels : Ps. cl. 2, ' Praise him for his
mighty acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness,' or great-
ness of greatness, or abundance of greatness, or according to the multi-
tude of his greatness, as the Hebrew and Greek carries it ; and so in
that Deut. x. 17, ^ For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of
lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not
persons, nor taketh reward.'' God is the original cause of all greatness.
All that greatness that is in any created beings, whether they are angels
or men, is from God ; all their greatness is but a beam of his sun, a
drop out of his sea, a mite out of his treasury. God is a God of that
infinite greatness, that he fills heaven and earth with his pi-esence ; he
is everywhere, and yet circumscribed to no place ; he is in all things,
and without all things, and above all things, and this speaks out his
immensity, Ps. cxxxix. Job had a very large portion, before God made
a breach upon him : * He had seven thousand sheep, and three thousand

! ^ In Daniel, God is called El Elim, the mighty of mightiea.

14 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and
a very great household,' Job i. 3; but at last God gives him twice as
much as he had at first, * for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six
thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she
asses,' Job xlii. 1 2. Cattle are only instanced in, because the wealth
of that country consisted especially in cattle ; but yet, doubtless, Job
had a great many other good things, as goods, lands, possessions, and
stately habitations ; but what is all this to a saint's portion ? Certainly,
had not Job had God for his portion, he had been but a rich fool, a
golden beast, notwithstanding all the great things that God had heaped
upon him. And so Ahasuerus had a very large portion, ' he reigned
from India unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty pro-
vinces,' Esther i. 1, 2 ; but what were all his provinces but as so many
handfuls of dust, in comparison of the saints' portion ? The whole
Turkish empire, saith Luther, is but a crust that God throws to a dog.
Had a man all the world for his portion, it would be but a poor pittance.
Nebuchadnezzar had a very great portion : Daniel v. 18, 19, ' O thou
king, the most high God gave thy father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom,
and majesty, and glory, and honour. And for the majesty that he gave
him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him :
whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he
would he set up, and whom he would he put down.' And so in that
Jer. xxvii. 5-8, ' I have made the earth, the man, and the beast that
are upon the ground, by ray great power, and by my outstretched arm ;
and I have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now
have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, my servant ; and the beasts of the field have I given him also
to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his
son's son, until the very time of his land come ; and then many nations
and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to
pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith
the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence,
until I have consumed them by his hand." The portion that here God
gives to Nebuchadnezzar is a wonderful large portion ; and yet all these
nations that God gave to him were but as so many molehills, or as so
many birds' nests, compared with a saint's portion. All nations are but
as a drop of a bucket, that may in a moment be wiped off with a
finger, in comparison of God, nay, they are all nothing ; but that word
is too high, for they are less than nothing. Had a man as many worlds
at his command as there be men on earth, or angels in heaven, yet
they would be but as so many drops, or as so many atoms to a saint's
portion.

When Alcibiades was proudly boasting of his lands that lay together,
Socrates wittily rebukes his pride by bringing him a map of the world,
and wishing him to shew him where his lands did lie ; his lands would
hardly amount to more than the prick of a pin.^ England, Scotland,
and Ireland are but three little spots to the vast continents that be in

' See also Jeremiah xxviii. 14.

* Cf. Plato Conviv. Isocrates, De Bigis 12. — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs, 15

other parts of the world ; and what then is thy palace, thy lordships,
thy manors, thy farm, thy house, thy cottage, but a little minum, but
a prick of a pin to God, who is so great, so vast a portion ! Oh, sirs !
had you the understanding of all the angels in heaven, and the tongues
of all the men on earth, yet you would not be able to conceive, express,
or set forth the greatness and largeness of a saint's portion. Can you
tell the stars of heaven, or number the sands of the sea, or stop the
sun in his course, or raise the dead, or make a new world ? Then, and
not till then, will you be able to declare what a great, what an immense
portion God is. If * eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man to conceive, the great things that God
hath laid up in the gospel' (for so that 1 Cor. ii. 9 is to be understood),
oh how much less, then, are they able to declare the great things that
God hath laid up for his people in another world ! But,

(3.) Thirdly, As God is an immense portion, a large portion, so God
is an all-sufficient poHion : Gen. xvii. 1, * And when Abram was
ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto
him, I am the Almighty God : walk before me, and be thou perfect.
I am God Almighty,' or as some carry the words, ' I am God all-suffi-
cient, or self-sufficient.'' God hath self-sufficiency and all-sufficiency
in himself Some derive the word Shaddai, that is here rendered
almighty or all-sufficient, from Shad, a dug, because God feeds his
children with sufficiency of all good things, as the tender mother doth
the sucking child: Gen. xv. 1, 'After these things the word of the
Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram : I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward ;' I will be thy buckler to defend
thee from all kind of mischief and miseries, and I will be thy exceeding
great reward to supply thee with all necessary and desirable mercies ;
and what can a saint desire more ? Ps. Ixxxiv. 1 1, * For the Lord God
is a sun and shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory : and no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' The sun, which
among all inanimate creatures is the most excellent, notes all manner
of excellency, provision, and prosperity ; and the shield, which among
all artificial creatures is the chiefest, notes all manner of protection
whatsoever. Under the name of grace, all spiritual good is wrapped
up ; and under the name of glory, all eternal good is wrapped up ; and
under the last clause, ' no good thing will he withhold,' is wrapped up
all temporal good : all put together speaks out God to be an all-suffi-
cient portion. Before the world was made, before angels or men had a
being, God was as blessed and as glorious in himself as now he is. God
is such an all-sufficient and such an excellent being, that nothing can
be added to him to make him more excellent. Man in his best estate
is so great a piece of vanity, Ps. xxxix. 5, that he stands in need of a
thousand thousand things ; he needs the air to breathe in, the earth to
bear him, and fire to warm him, and clothes to cover him, and an house
to shelter him, and food to nourish him, and a bed to ease him, and
friends to comfort him, &c. But this is the excellency of God, that he
hath all excellencies in himself, and stands in need of nothing. Were
there as many worlds as there are men in the world, and were all those
worlds full of blessed saints, yea, were there as many heavens as there
, ' Jn quo nihil desiderari possit boni. — Zanchius, de nat. Dei, lib. iv. cap. i. qu. 1.

16 AN AEK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

are stars in heaven, and were all those heavens full of glorious angels,
yet all these saints and angels together could not add the least to God ;
for what can drops taken out of the sea add unto the sea ? what can
finite creatures add to an infinite being ? Though all the men in the
world should praise the sun, and say, The sun is a glorious creature,
yet all this would add nothing to the light and glory of the sun ; so,
though all the saints and angels shall be blessing, and praising, and
admiring, and worshipping of God to all eternity, yet they shall never
be able to add anything to God, who is blessed for ever. O Christians !
God is an all-sufficient portion : his power is all-sufficient to protect
you ; his wisdom is all-sufficient to direct you ; his mercy is all-sufficient
to pardon you ; his goodness is all-sufficient to provide for you ; his
word is all-sufficient to support you and strengthen you ; and his grace

s all-sufficient to adorn you and enrich you ; and his Spirit is all-
sufficient to lead you and comfort you ; and what can you desire more ?
O sirs ! God hath within himself all the good of angels, of men, and
universal nature ; he hath all glory, all dignity, all riches, all treasures,
all pleasures, all delights, all comforts, all contents, all joys, all beati-
tudes in himself All the scattered excellencies and perfections that be
in the creatures are eminently, transcendently, and perfectly in him.
Look, as the worth and value of many pieces of silver are contracted in
one piece of gold, so all the whole volume of perfections which is spread
through heaven and earth are epitomised in God, according to that old
saying, Omne honum in sumTno bono, all good is in the chiefest good.'
God is one infinite perfection in himself, which is eminently and vir-
tually all perfections of the creatures. All the good, the excellency, the
beauty and glory, that is in all created beings, are but parts of that
whole that is in God ; and all the good that is in them is borrowed and
derived from God, who is the first cause, and the universal cause, of all
that good that is in angels or men. God is a sufficient portion to secure
vour souls, and to supply all your wants, and to satisfy all your desires,
and to answer all your expectations, and to suppress all your enemies,
and, after all, to bring you to glory ; and what can you desire more ?

But now all earthly portions are insufficient portions ; they can
neither prevent afflictions, nor support the soul under afflictions, nor
mitigate afflictions, nor yet deliver a man from afflictions ; they can
neither arm the soul against temptations, nor comfort the soul under
temptations, nor lead the soul out of temptations.^ All the creatures
in the world are but as so many cyphers without God ; when God
frowns, all the creatures in the world are not sufficient to cheer the
soul ; when God withdraws, all the creatures in the World are not suffi-
cient to sustain the soul ; when God clouds his face, all the creatures in
the world are not sufficient to make it day with the soul, &c. There is
not enough in the whole creation to content, quiet, or satisfy one im-
mortal soul. He that hath most of the world would have more, and he
that hath least of the world hath enough, if his soul can but groundedly
say, ' The Lord is my portion,' But,

* God is omnia super omnia ; and many of the very heathens counted God optimum
maximum, the best and greatest.

« A golden crown cannot cure the headache, nor a purple robe cannot fray away a
burning fever, nor a bed of gold cannot give ease to a distempered body, nor the velvet
slipper cannot take away the paiu of the gout.

Lam. III. 24).] an ark for all god's noahs. 17

(4.) Fourthly, As the Lord is an all-sufficient portion, so the Lord is
a most absolute, needful, and necessary jpoiiion. The want of an
earthly portion may trouble me, but the want of God for my portion
will damn me. It is not absolutely necessary that I should have a por-
tion in gold, or silver, or jewels, or goods, or lands ; but it is absolutely
necessary that I should have God for my portion. I may have union
and communion with God, though, with the apostles, I have neither
gold nor silver in my purse, Acts iii. 6 ; I may be holy and happy,
though, with Lazaru.s, Luke xvi. 20, 21, I have never a rag to hang on
my back, nor never a dry crust to put into my belly ; I may to heaven
at last, and I may be glorious in another world, though, with Job, I
should be stripped of all my worldly glory, and set upon a dunghill in
this world. Job i., &c. ; but I can never be happy here, nor blessed here-
after, except God be my portion. Though I could truly say that all
the world were mine, yet if I could not truly say that the Lord is my
portion, I should be but miserable under all my worldly enjoyments.
To have God for my portion is absolutely necessary, for without it I
am for ever and ever undone, Eph. ii. 12. In this verse you have
several withouts, and it is very observable that they that were without
God in the world, they were without Christ, without the church, with-
out the covenant, without the promise, and without hope in the world ;
and therefore, such persons must needs be in a most sad and deplorable
condition, &c.

[1.] First, In relation to the soul, and in relation to salvation, God is
the most absolute necessary portion. If God be not ray portion, my
soul can never enjoy communion with him in this world ; if God be not
my portion, my soul can never be saved by him in the other world.
But,

[2.J Secondly, When sinners are under terrors and horrors of con-
science, when their consciences are awakened and convinced of the vile-
ness of their natures, of the unspeakable evil that is in sin, yea, in the
least sin, and of their lost, undone, and miserable estate out of Christ,
Oh then ! what would they not give to have God for their portion?' Oh,
then they would give all the gold and silver they have in the world to
have God for their portion ; oh, then they would give, Micah vi. 6, 7,
* thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil ; yea, they would
give their first-born, they would give the very fruit of their bodies, that
they might have God to be the portion of their souls ; oh, then they
would say, as Mephibosheth said unto the king, ' Let Ziba take all, for-
asmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house,'
2 Sam. xix. 29, 30. Under distress of conscience, poor sinners will cry
out, Oh ! let who will take all our honours, and all our manors, and all
our treasures, and all our stores, and all our lands, and all our lordships,
and all our bags, so we may have God for our portion. Oh ! let us but
have God for our portion, and we care not a straw who takes all. Now,
what doth this speak out, but that, of all portions, God is the most ab-
solute necessary portion ? But,

[3.] Thirdly, Upon a dying bed, an awakened sinner sets the highest
price, value, and esteem upon such as have God for their portion. Now
' Una gultula maloe conscientice totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet. — Luther.

^VOL. II. B

18 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. Ill 24.

he esteems a saint in rags that hath God for his portion above a wicked
emperor in his royal robes, who hath only the world for his portion.
What though wicked men, when they are in the height of their worldly
prosperity, felicity, and glory, do slight the saints, and revile and scorn
the saints, and contemn and undervalue the saints, Lam. ii. 14, 15;
Zeph. ii. 8-10, &c. ; yet, when death knocks at their doors, and when
their consciences are startled, and when hell fire flashes in their faces,
and when the worm within begins to gnaw, oh now, if all the world were
a lump of gold, and in their hands to dispose of, they would give it all,
so they might have that honour and happiness to change conditions
with those who have God for their portion : Num. xxiii. 10, ' Let me
die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' Though
men who have their portion in this life do not love to live the life of
the righteous, yet, when they come to die, they are often desirous that
they might die the death of the righteous. And this many hundred
ministers and Christians can witness from their own experience.
Lazarus having God for his portion, when he died he went to heaven
without a rag on his back, or a penny in his purse ; whereas Dives, who
had not God for his portion when he died, went tumbling down to hell
in all his riches, bravery, and glory.^ Oh ! it is infinitely better to go
to heaven a beggar than to go to hell an emperor ; and this the sinner
understands when his conscience comes to be enlightened upon a dying
bed, and therefore he cries out, Oh send for such a minister, and send for
such and such a Christian, and let them pray with me, and counsel me,
and, if it be possible, give out some drops of comfort to me. Oh that I
had never derided nor reviled them ! Oh that I had never opposed and
persecuted them ! Oh that I had lived at such a rate of holiness and
exactness as they have done ! Oh that I had walked with God as they
have walked ! Oh that I had laid out my time, my strength, my treasure,
my parts, my all for God, as they have done ! Oh that my estate was as
good, as safe, and as happy as theirs is ! Oh that I could as truly say
that the Lord is my portion, as they can say that the Lord is their por-
tion ! And what doth all this speak out, but that high esteem and
value that they set upon those that have God for their portion ? So
that upon this threefold account, we may safely conclude that God is a
most absolute, needful, and necessary portion. But,

(5.) Fifthly, As the Lord is a most absolute, needful, and necessary
portion, so the Lord is a pure and unmiaxd portion. God is an un-
mixed good, he hath nothing in him but goodness; he is an ocean of
sweetness, without one drop of bitterness ; he is a perfect beauty, with-
out the least spot or shadow of deformity, Deut. xxxii. 4, Hab. i. 13.
All other portions are a bitter sweet ; but God is a rose without prickles ;
he is a good, in which there is not the least evil : 1 John i. 5, * God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all' There are no mixtures in God.
God is a most clear, bright, shining light, yea, he is all light, and in
him is no darkness at all. God is all light and all love, all sweetness
and all goodness, all kindness and all graciousness, and there is no un-
comeliness, no unloveliness, no bitterness, nor no darkness at all in God.
The moon when it shines brightest hath her dark spots and specks ;
but God is a light that shines most gloriously without the least spot or
^ See Wisdom v. 1-8. All these verses are worth their weight in gold.

Lam. III. 21'.] an ark for all god's noahs. 19

speck ; God is a most pure, clear, splendid light. It is very observable,
that the apostle, to illustrate the perfect purity of God, adds a negative
to his affirmative, * in him is no darkness at all;' that is, God is so pure,
that not the least spot, the smallest speck of vanity or folly, can cleave
to him. God is a pure, a most pure act, without the least potentiality,
defectibility, or mutability, and therefore in the highest sense he ' is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.' By this metaphorical descrip-
tion of God the apostle would not have us think that the nature of God
is changed into the nature of light ; but by this similitude the apostle
would represent something of the purity and excellency of God to us.
The sun is light, the moon is light, and the stars are light ; but it
would be blasphemy for us to imagine that the essence of God is the
same with this of the creatures ; but this, sirs ! you must remember,
that there are many excellent properties of light, for which God is often
in the Scripture resembled to light. As

[1.] First, Light is pure, and so is God : Hab. i. 13, ' Thou art of
purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.' There
are four things that God cannot do :

(1.) He cannot lie.

(2.) He cannot die.

(3.) He cannot deny himself, nor

(4.) He cannot look with a favourable eye upon iniquity. He is a
God of that infinite purity, that he cannot look upon iniquity but w^ith
an hateful eye, an angry eye, a revengeful eye, and with a vindictive
eye.

[2 ] Secondly, All things are conspicuous to the light, and so tliey
are to God :^ Heb. iv. 13, ' Neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in his sight : but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do.' The Greek word nr^a-xriKisiLha, is a
metaphor, say some, that is taken from the priests under the law, who
when they killed the beasts for sacrifice, all things that were within
the beasts were laid naked and bare before the priest, that so he might
see what was sound and what was corrupted. Others say, the apostle
alludes to the anatomising of such creatures, wherein men are very
cautious and curious to find out every little vein or muscle, though they
lie never so close. Others say, that it is a metaphor taken from those
that lie with their faces upwards, that all passengers may see who they
are. All agree in this, that all men's insides and outsides are anato-
mised, dissected, quartered, and laid naked to the eye of God : Job
xxxiv. 21, 22, ' For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all
his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the
workers of iniquity may hide themselves.' ' If thou canst not hide thy-
self from the sun, which is God's minister of light, how impossible will
it be to hide thyself from him whose eyes are ten thousand times
brighter than the sun,' saith Ambrose. But,

[3.] Thirdly, Without light nothing can he seen; so without the beams
of heavenly light no heavenly things can he seen. A man cannot see
God, but in that light that comes down from above ; a man cannot see

> Ps. xli. 12 ; 1 Sam. ii. 1, 3 ; Ps. zvi. 8 ; cxix. 168. God is totut oeulut, all eye
Athenodonis, an heathen, could say, that God was everywhere, and beheld all that was
dorse.. [This Athenodorus was surnamed Cananites — G.]

20 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

Christ without he be first enhghtened by Christ ; a man cannot see
heaven, but in that light that comes from heaven, James i. 17, 1 Cor. ii.
10, 12, 14-16. Were it not for the sun, it would be perpetual night in
the world, notwithstanding all the torches that could be lighted, yea,
notwithstanding all the light of the moon and stars ; so it would be
perpetual night with poor souls, notwithstanding all the torchlight of
natural parts, and creature comforts, and notwithstanding all the star-
light of civil honesty and common gifts, and notwithstanding all the
moonlight of temporary faith and formal profession, did not the Sun of
righteousness arise and shine upon them. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Tltere is nothing more vleaeant than the light :
Eccles. xi. 7, 'Truly the light is sweet, and it is a very pleasant thing
to behold the sun.' A philosopher being asked whether it were not a
pleasant thing to behold the sun ? answered, that that was a blind
man's question, because life without light is but a lifeless life. Now, as
there is nothing more pleasant and delightful to the eye than light, so
there is nothing more pleasant and delightful to the soul than God.
The poor northern nations, in Strabo, that want the light of the sun for
some months together, when the term of his return approaches, they
climb up into the highest mountains to spy it; and he that spies it first
was accounted the best and most beloved of God, they chose him king
almost, as the Tyrians did Strato.^ Now the return of the sun is not
more pleasant and delightful to those poor northern nations, than God
is pleasant and delightful to all gracious souls. But,

[5.] Fifthly, The light shines and scatters its rays over all the world,
over east, west, noHh, and south, and so doth the "presence and good-
Qtess of God, Ps. exxxix. But,

[6.] Sixthly, The light is a creature of a most resplendent beauty,
lustre, and glory; it dazzles the eyes of the beholders ; and so God is
a God of that transcendent beauty, majesty, and glory, that the very
eyes of the angels are dazzled, as not being able to behold the bnght-
ness of his glory : Isa. vi. 2, ' God dwells in that light which no man
can approach unto.' But,

[7.] Seventhly, and lastly. The light of all bodies is (he most incom-
pound light ; it will never mix with darkness ; no more will God :
2 Cor. vi. 14, 'What communion hath light with darkness V The na-
ture of God is void of all composition. Light expels darkness, it never
mixes nor mingles with it. By what has been said, you see that God
is a pure and an unmixed light, and that in him there is no darkness
at all.

But now all worldly portions are mixed with many troubles, sorrows,
cares, fears, hazards, dangers, vexations, oppositions, crosses, losses, and
oftentimes with many gripes of cor;science too. All earthly portions
are mixed portions ; the goodness of all creatures is a mixed goodness ;
our wine is mixed with water, our silver with tin, our gold with dross,
our wheat with chaff, and our honey with gall, &c. Every bee hath
his sting, and every rose hath his prickles; and this mixture speaks out
all earthly portions to be 'vanity and vexation of spirit,' Eccles. i. 13.a

' See Justin, xviii. 8. — Q.

* All earthly riches are true gardens of Adonis, where we can gather notliing but tri-
vial liuwers, surrounded with many briars and thorns.

Lam. Ill, 24] an aek for all god's noahs. 21

That great prince Xerxes was wont to say, You look upon my crown
and my purple robes, but did you know how they were lined with
thorns, you would not stoop to take them up.^ And who is there in
this our English Israel that cannot with both hands subscribe to this ?
The emblem of King Henry the Seventh, in all his buildings, in the
windows, was still a crown in a bush of thorns f wherefore, or with what
historical allusion he did so, is uncertain ; but surely it was to imply
thus much, that great places are not free from great cares, that no
man knows the weight of a sceptre but he that sways it. This made
Saul to hide himself amongst the stuff, when he should have been made
king. Many a sleepless night, many a restless day, many a sad temp-
tation, and many a busy shift,^ will their ambition cost them, that affect
such places of eminency. Besides, high places are commonly very slip-
pery ; he that stands in them may suddenly fall, and wound his con-
science, or easily fall and break his neck. But,

(6.) Sixthly, As God is a pure and unmixed portion, so he is a
glorious, a happy, and a blessed portion, Ps. xvi. 5, 6. He is so in
himself, and he makes them so too who enjoy him for their portion :
Ps. xxxiii. 12, ' Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the
people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.' All the happi-
ness and blessedness of the people of God stands in this, that God is
their God, and that he is their portion, and that they are his inheritance.
The Hebrew word ashrei, that is here rendered blessed, is. Oh the bless-
edness ! or Oh the heaped up happiness of those whose God is the
Lord ! The happiness of such is so great and so glorious, as cannot be
conceived, as cannot be uttered. The words are a joyful acclamation
for their felicity that have God for their portion : Ps. cxliv. 15, ' Happy
is that people that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose
God is the Lord.' David having prayed for many temporal blessings in
the behalf of the people, from ver. 12 to ver. 15, at last concludes,
'Blessed are the people that are in suchacase ;' but presently he checks and
corrects himself, and eats, as it were, his own words, but rather, ' happy is
that people whose God is the Lord.' The Syriac rendereth it question-
wise, ' Is not the people [happy] that is in such a case ?' The answer is,
'Ko,' except they have God to boot, Ps. cxlvi. 5. Nothing can make that
man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, nor nothing can
make that man truly happy that wants God for his portion. God is the
author of all true happiness ; he is the donor of all true happiness ; he
is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of all tnia
happiness and blessedness ; and, therefore, he that hath him for his
God, for his portion, is the only .happy man in the world.*

But now all earthly portions cannot make a man truly happy and
blessed, A crown, a kingdom cannot ; for Saul and other princes have
found it so. Honours cannot ; for Haman and others have found it so.
A high and noble birth cannot ; for Absalom, Amnon, and others have
found it so. Riches cannot ; for the ,rich fool in the Gospel, and many
thousand others, have found it so. Large dominions and great com-
mands cannot ; for Ahasuerus, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and others,
■ ' Plutarch: Xerxes— G. * B. Hall. » ' Expedient'.— G,

* If a man should make a criticul inquiry after true happiness, from the highest angel
in heaven to the lowest worm on earth, the joint voice of all the creatures would be, that
happiness is not in them.

22 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

have found it so. Policy cannot ; for Ahithophel and other great coun-
sellors have found it so. Glorious apparel and delicate fare cannot ; for
Dives and others have found it so. Applause and credit among the
people cannot ; for Herod and others have found it so. Learning and
great gifts cannot ; for the scribes and pharisees, and many others, have
found it so. No earthly thing, nor earthly creature, can give happiness
nor blessedness to man. Non dot quod non habet, nothing can give
what it hath not. If the conduit hath no water, it can give no water ;
if the sun hath no light, it can give no light ; if the physician hath no
remedy, he can give no remedy, &c.

But now it is a very true observation, though it be a very sad observa-
tion, viz.. That every wicked Tnan's portion is cursed unto him.

Do but compare the scriptures in the margin together,' and then let
conscience judge. All a wicked man's relations are cursed to him, and
all a wicked man's contentments and enjoyments are cursed to him,
and all his mercies within doors are cursed to him, &c. What though
a man should match with one that hath many thousand bags of gold
for her portion, yet if the plague should be in every bag, would you
count him happy in this match ? Surely no. Verily this is the case
of every man that hath not God for his portion. But

(7.) Seventhly, As God is a glorious portion, so he is a peculiar por-
tion, he is a portion peculiar to his people, Ps. cxlii. 5, 6 ; Jer. x. 16.
This is evident in the text, and in all the scriptures cited to prove the
point, Ps. xvi. 5, and so in that Ps. Ixvii. 6, * Then shall the earth yield
her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us :' and so Ps. Ixviii.
20, ' He that is our God is the God of salvation,' or ' God of salvations,*
as it is in the Hebrew. God is a God of all manner of salvations ; he
hath all sorts and ways of salvations ; he is not only powerful, but also
skilful, to save his people from ten thousand deaths and dangers. Faith
is an appropriating grace, it is much in appropriating of God to itself:
' My Lord and my God,' and my Redeemer and my Saviour and my
portion ;'* Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the
strength of my heart and my portion for ever.' In Gideon's camp every
soldier had his own pitcher, Judges vii. 16; amongst Solomon's men of
valour, every man wore his own sword, 1 Chron. xxvi. 30 ; and the five
wise virgins had every one oil in her own lamp, Mat. xxv. 4. Luther
was wont to say, that there lay a great deal of divinity couched up in
pronouns, as in meum, tuum, suum, mine, thine, his : and so faith's
appropriating of God to the soul, as its own portion, is all in all. God
is a portion peculiar to the saints ; he is the hidden manna, the new
name, the white stone, the bread to eat that others know not of There
is never a hardened Pharaoh in the world that can truly say, ' The Lord
is my portion ;' nor there is never a murdering Saul in the world that can
truly say, ' The Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never a painted bloody
Jezebel in the world that can truly say, ' The Lord is my portion ;' nor
there is never a cunning Ahithoph§l in the world that can truly say, 'The
Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never a proud Haman in the world that
can truly say, ' The Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never a tyrannical
Nebuchadnezzar in the world that can truly say, ' The Lord is my por-

' Dent, xxviii. 17-20 ; Job xx. 22-29, and chap. xxiv. 18 ; Prov. Hi. 88; Mai. ii. 2,
&o. * John XX. 28 ; Job xix. 25 ; Luke i. 47.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 23

tion;' nor there is never a crafty Herod in the world that can truly
say, 'The Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never a rich Dives in the
world that can truly say, ' The Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never
a treacherous Judas in the world that can truly say, ' The Lord is my
portion ;' nor there is never an hypocritical Simon Magus in the world
that can truly say, 'The Lord is my portion ;' nor there is never an
apostatizing Demas in the world that can truly say, ' The Lord is ray
portion;' nor there is never a persecuting scribe or pharisee in the
world that can truly say, ' The Lord is my portion.' It is only the
saint that can truly say, ' The Lord is his portion/ for God is peculiarly
his, he is only his.

But now all earthly portions are common portions ; they are all
common to good and bad, to the righteous and to the wicked, to the
clean and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacri-
ficeth not, to him that sweareth and to him that feareth an oath,
Eccles. ix. 1-3. Was Abraham rich ? so was Dives too ; was David a
king ? so was Saul too ; was Daniel a great favourite at court ? so was
Haman too, &a , And indeed usually the basest and the worst of men
have the largest share in earthly portions ; which made Luther say,
that the whole Turkish empire was but a crust that God cast to a dog.
Abraham gave unto his sons of the concubines gifts, and sent them
away, but unto Isaac he gave all that he had, Gen. xxv. 5, 6. So all
earthly portions, which are giftless gifts, God gives them to the worst
and vilest of men ; Daniel iv. 17, * This matter is by decree of the
watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones ; to the intent
that the living may know, that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the
basest of men ;' and so in that Daniel xi. 31, ' And in his estate shall
stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the
kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by
flatteries.' Interpreters do generally agree, that by this vile person in
the text is meant Antiochus Epiphanes, that was so great and mighty
a prince, that when the Samaritans did write to him, they write,
Antiocho magno deo, to Antiochus the great god. And indeed his
very name speaks him out to be some great and glorious person, for
Antiochus Epiphanes is Antiochus the illustrious, the famous ; and yet
you see that the Holy Ghost, speaking of him, calls him a vile person
Ah ! how vile in the eyes of God are the greatest men in the work'
who have not God for their portion ! Augustus in his solemn feasts
gave trifles to some, but gold to others. God gives the trifling portions
of this world to the vilest and worst of men, but his gold, his Christ,
himself, he gives only to his saints: Gal. ii. 20, ' And the life which I
now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me.' Haws,^ that are for hogs, grow upon
every hedge ; but roses, that are for men, they only grow in pleasant
gardens ; you know how to apply it. Though many have counterfeit
jewels, yet there are but a few that have the true diamond ; though
many have their earthly portions, yet there are but a few that have
God for their portion. But,

(8.) Eighthly, As God is a peculiar portion, so he is a universal
• , * Fruit of the hawthorn. — Q.

24 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

portion. He is a portion that includes all other portions. God hath
himself the good, the sweet, the profit, the pleasure, the delight, the
comfort, &c., of all portions.' There is no good in wife, child, father,
friend, hu.sband, health, wealth, wit, wisdom, learning, honour, &c., but
is all found in God : Rev. xxi. 7, ' He that overcometh shall inherit all
things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son ;' or as the Greek
hath it, 6 vixSiv, he that is overcoming, though he hath not yet over-
come, yet if he be striving for the conquest, and will rather die than he
will give up the bucklers, ' he shall inherit all things ;' that is, he shall
inherit God in all and all in God:* Gen. xxxiii. 9, 'And Esau said,
I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself;' as
the Hebrew hath it, Li Bab, ' I have much, my brother.' And indeed
it was very much that an Esau should say he had much ; it is more than
many of the Esaus of these times will say. But Jacob speaks at a far
higher rate in ver. 11 : ' Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to
thee, because God hath dealt graciously with me, and becau.se I have
enough; ' or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, Li chol, I have all. Esau had
much, but Jacob had all, because he had all in God, and God in all.
Hahet omnia qui habet habentem omnia, he hath all that hath the haver
of all : 2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'
There is in God an immense fulness, an ocean of goodness, and an over-
plus of all that graciousness, sweetness, and kindness that is to be found
in all other things or creatures. As Noah had a copy of every kind of
creature in that famous library of the ark, out of which all were reprinted
to the world, so he that hath God for his portion hath the original copy
of all blessings, out of which all may easily be renewed. All the good-
linesses and all the glories of all the creatures are eminently and per-
fectly to be enjoyed in God. God is an universal excellency. All the
particular excellencies that are scattered up and down among angels,
men, and all other creatures, are virtually and transcendently in him, he
hath them all in his own being, Ephes. i. 3.^ All creatures in heaven and
earth have but their particular excellencies ; but God hath in himself the
very quintessence of all excellencies. The creatures have but drops of
that sea, that ocean, that is in God, they have but their parts of that
power, wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, loveliness,
desirableness, sweetness, graciousness, beauty, and glory that is in God.
One hath this part, and another hath that ; one hath this particular
excellency, and another hath that ; but the whole of all these parts and
excellencies are to be found only in God. There is none but that God,
that is an universal good, that can truly say. All power, all wisdom, all
strength, all ktiowledge, all goodness, all sweetness, all beauty, all glory,
all excellency, &c., dwells in me. He that can truly say this, is a god,
and he that cannot is no god. There is no angel in heaven, nor saint on
earth, that hath the whole of any one of those excellencies that are in
God ; nay, all the angels in heaven, and all the saints on earth, have not
among them the whole of any one of those glorious excellencies and
perfections that be in God. AH the excellencies that are scattered up

• Rom, viii. 32, God is the bonum in quo omnia bona.

* Qui habet hoc unum, habet unum universale.

' When Paulinus Nolanus, a great man, had his city taken away from him by the bar-
barians, he prayed thus : Lord, let me not be troubled at the loss of my gold, silver, honour,
&C., for thou art all, and much more than all these to me. [See Index tub nomine. — G.]

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 25

and down in the creatures, are united into one excellency in God ; but
there is not one excellency in God that is fully scattered up and down
among all the creatures. There is a glorious union of all excellencies in
God, and only in God.

Now this God, that is such an universal good, and that hath all excel-
lencies dwelling in himself, he says to the believer, as the king of Israel
said to the king of Assyria, 'I am thine, and all that I have,' 1 Kings xx.-i.
Our propriety reacheth to all that God is, and to all that God hath, Jer,
xxxii, 38, 42 God is not parted, nor divided, nor distributed among his
people, as earthly portions are divided among children in the family ; so
as one believer hath one part of God, and another believer hath another
part of God, and a third another part of God ; oh no, but every believer
hath whole God wholly, he hath all of God for his portion. God is not
a believer's portion in a limited sense, nor in a comparative sense, but
in an absolute sense. God himself is theirs, he is wholly theirs, he is
only theirs, he is always theirs. As Christ looks upon the Father, and
saith, 'All thine is mine, and mine is thine,' 1 Cor. iii, 28, Job. xvii. 10,
that may a saint say, looking upon God as his portion. He may truly say,
O Lord, thou art mine, and all that thou hast ; and I am thine, and all
that I have. A saint may look upon God and say, O Lord, not only thy
gifts but thy graces are mine, to adorn me and enrich me; and not only thy
mercies and thy good things are mine to comfort me, and encourage me,
but also thou thyself art mine; and this is my joy and crown of rejoicing.
To be able to say that God is mine, is more than if I were able to say
that ten thousand worlds, yea. and as many heavens, are mine ; for it is
God alone that is the sparkling diamond in the ring of glory. Heaven
would be but a low thing without God, saith Augustine ; and Bernard
had rather enjoy Christ in a chimney-corner, than to be in heaven with-
out him ; and Luther had rather be in hell with Christ, than in heaven
without him. It is God alone that makes heaven to be heaven.

Now God is so every particular belie*^er's portion, as that he is every
believer's portion : 1 Cor. i. 1, 2 ' Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto
the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call
upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours.'
As the sun is every man's sun to see by, to walk by, to work by ;
and as the sea is every man's sea to trade by, &c. ; so God is every
believer's portion. He is a poor saint's portion as well as a rich
saint's portion ; he is the despised believer's portion, as well as the ex-
alted believer's portion ; he is the weak believer's portion, as well as the
strong believer's portion ; he was as much his portion who miscalled his
faith, and who m the behalf of his son cried out with tears, ' Lord, I
believe, help my unbelief,' Mark xi. 24, as he was Abraham's portion,
who, in the strength of his faith, offered up his only son. Gen. xxii. ; he was
as much Job's portion sitting on a liunghill, as he was David's portion
sitting on a royal throne ; he was as much Lazarus his portion, that
had never a penny in his purse, as he was Solomon's portion, who made
gold and silver as plenteous in Jerusalem as the stones of the streets,
2 Chron. i. 15. God is not my portion alone, but he is every saint's
portion in heaven, and he is every saint's portion on earth. The father

26 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

is every child's portion, and though they may wrangle and quarrel, and
fall out one with another, yet he is all their portions ; and so it is here ;
and oh what a spring of joy and comfort should this be to all the saints.
Riches are not every believer's portion, but God is every believer's por-
tion ; honour and preferment in the world is not every believer's portion,
but God is every believer's portion ; liberty and freedom is not every
believer's portion, but God is every believer's portion ; credit and ap-
plause in the world is not every believer's portion, but God is every
believer's portion ; prosperity and success is not every believer's portion,
but God is every believer's portion, &c.

God is a universal portion, all things receive their being, essence, and
existence from him, for the fulness of all things is in him, really and
eminently. The heathen philosophers of old called God to vav, i. e. all
or everything, and in that oracle 'great Pan is dead,' of which Plutarch
makes mention. Christ is called the greater Pan, because, say some, he
is the Lord of all, and containeth all things in himself: Exod. xxxiii. 19,
' I will make all my goodness pass before thee,' to wit, because in God
are all good things, God is all things, God is everything. The cream,
the good, the sweet, the beauty, and the glory of every creature, and of
every thing, centres in God. But,

(9.) Ninthly, As God is an universal portion, so God is a safe portion,
a secure portion. He is a portion that none can rob or wrong you of;
he is a portion that none can touch or take from you : he is a portion
that none can cheat or spoil you of God is such a portion, that no friend,
no foe, no man, no enemy, no devil can ever rob a Christian of ^ O
Christians, God is so yours in (/hrist, and so yours by covenant, and so
yours by promise, and so yours by purchase, and so yours by conquest,
and so yours by donation, and so yours by marriage union and com-
munion, and so yours by the earnest of the Spirit, and so yours by the
feelings and witnessings of the Spirit, that no power or policy on earth
can ever finger your portion, or cheat, or rob you of your portion : Ps.
xlviii. 1 4, ' For this God is our God for ever and ever, and he will be
our guide even unto death.' He is not only our God for the present, nor
he will not be only our God for a short time longer; oh no, but he will
be our God for ever and ever. If God be once thy portion, he will be
for ever thy portion. It must be a power that must over-match the
power of God, and a strength that must be above the strength of God,^
that must rob or spoil a Christian of his portion ; but who is there that
is stronger than God ? Is the clay stronger than the potter, or the stubble
than the flame, or weakness than strength? yea, is not the very weakness
of God stronger than man ? and who then shall ever be able to take away
a Christian's portion from him ? Rom. ix., 1 Cor. i. 25, and chap. x. 22.

But now a man may be easily deprived of his earthly portion. How
many have been deprived of their earthly portions by storms at sea, and
others by force and violence, and others by fraud and deceit, and others
by hideous lying and hellish swearing ? Many have lost their earthly
portions by treachery, knavery, perjury, subtilty, robbery, &c. Some
play away their earthly portions, and others with Esau fool away their
earthly portions, and not a few, with the prodigal, sin away their earthly

' These things I have formerly handled more largely, and, therefore, a touch here
must suffice, &c.

Lam. III. 24-.] an ark for all god's noahs. 27

portions. Ahab's fingers itched to be a-fingering of Naboth's dneyard.
] Kings xxi. 1-5. A man can no sooner come to enjoy an earthly por-
tion, but other men's fingers itch to be a-fingering of his portion, as daily
experience doth sufficiently evidence. But God is a portion that the fire
cannot bum, nor the floods cannot drown, nor the thief cannot steal, nor
the enemy cannot sequester, nor the soldier cannot plunder a Christian
of, A man may take away my gold from me, but he cannot take away
my God from me. The Chaldeans and the Sabeans could take away
Job's estate from him, but they could not take away Job's God from
him, Job i. And the Amalekites burnt Ziklag, and robbed David of his
substance, and of his wives, but they could not rob him of his God,
1 Sam. XXX. And those persecutors in the 10th and 11th chapters of
the Hebrews plundered the saints of their goods, but they could not
plunder them of their God. Till weakness can make a breach upon
strength, impotency upon omnipotency, the pitcher upon the potter, and
the crawling worm upon the Lord of hosts, a saint's portion is safe and
secure. It is true, sickness and disease may take away my health and
my strength from me, and death may take away my friends and my
relations from me, and enemies may take away my estate, my liberty,
my life from me ; but none of all these can take away my God from me.
I have read of the men of Tyrus, how that they chained and nailed their
god Apollo to a post, that so they might be sure of him, supposing that
all their safety lay in the enjoyment of him. Certainly God is so chained,
and so linked, and so nailed to his people by his everlasting love, and
by his everlasting covenant, and by the blood of his Son, and by his
oath, and by that law of relation that is between him and them, that no<
created power shall ever be able to deprive them of him. But,

(10.) Tenthly, As God is a safe portion, a secure portion, so he is a
suitable portion, Ps. iv. 6-7. No object is so suitable and adequate
to the heart as he is. He is a portion that punctually, exactly, and
directly suits the condition of the soul, that suits the desires of the soul,
the necessities of the soul, the wants of the soul, the longings of the
soul, and the prayers of the soul. The soul can crave nothing, nor wish
for nothing, but what is to be found in this portion. Here is light to
enlighten the soul, and wisdom to counsel the soul, and power to support
the soul, and goodness to supply the soul, and mercy to pardon the soul,
and beauty to delight the soul, and glory to ravish the soul, and fulness
to fill the soul, &c. Health is not more suitable to the sick man, nor
wealth to the poor man, nor bread to the hungry man, nor drink to the
thirsty man, nor clothes to the naked man, nor balm to the wounded
man, nor ease to the tormented man, nor health to the diseased man,
nor a pardon to the condemned man, nor a guide to the blind man, &c.
than this portion is suitable to all the necessities of man ; and this speaks
out the excellency of this poriion above all other portions. Now there
is no earthly portion that can suit an immortal soul ; he is a fool upon
record that said, ' Soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years, take
ease, eat, drink, and be merry,' Luke xii. 18-20. If the man, saith
Ambrose upon the words, had the soul of a swine, what could he have
said more ? for those things were more suitable to swine than they were
to an immortal soul. Man's soul is a spiritual and immoital substance,
it is,capable of union and communion with God ; it is capable of a choice

28 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

enjoyment of God here, and of an eternal fruition of God hereafter. A
great shoe will not fit a little foot, nor a great sail a little ship,
nor a great ring a little finger; no more will any earthly portion
suit an immortal soul. The soul is the breath of God, the beauty of
man, the wonder of angels, and the envy of devils. It is of an angel-
ical nature ; it is an heavenly spark, a celestial plant, and of a divine
offspring. So that nothing can suit the soul below God, nor nothing
can satisfy the soul without God. The soul is so high and so noble a
piece, that all the riches of the east and west Indies, nor rocks of
diamonds, nor mountains of gold, can fill it, or satisfy it, or suit it.

When a man is in prison, and condemmed to die, if one should come
to him, and tell him, that there is such a friend or such a relation that
hath left him a very fair estate, a brave seat, &c., yet all this would not
please him, nor joy him, because it doth not suit his present condition ;
oh, but now let a man bring him his pardon, sealed under his prince's
hand, oh how will this delight him and joy him ! And so tell a man
that is ready to starve, that such and such loves him, and that such and
such intends well towards him, &c., yet all this doth not take him, it
doth not satisfy him, and all because it doth not suit him ; oh but now
do but bring him food to eat, and this will joy him and delight him, and
all because it suits him. That is the highest good, that is the most
suitable good to the soul, and such a good is God ; that is the most
excellent portion, that is the most suitable portion to the soul, and such
a portion is God. But,

(11.) Eleventhly, As God is a suitable portion, so he is an incom-
« preheTisible portion. No created understanding can comprehend what
a portion God is, Ps. cxlvii. 5, Job xxvi. 14, It is true God is not in-
comprehensible, in regai'd of his own understanding, for he perfectly
understands himself, else he could not be God; but God is incom-
prehensible in regard of us, and the angels, who are no ways able to
comprehend infiniteness : 1 Kings viii. 27, * But will God indeed dwell
on the earth ? behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain
thee ; how much less this house that I have builded !'^ God is an infinite
being, and therefore he cannot be contained in any place, nor compre-
hended by any created being. Such multiplied phrases and Hebraisms
as are here, as heaven, and the heaven of heavens, do very emphatically
set out the immensity and incomprehensibleness of God : Job xxxvii. 23,
' Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out' We are as well able to
comprehend the sea in a cockle-shell, as we are able to comprehend God.
God is above all name, all notion, and all comprehension. God is so
incomprehensible, that you shall as soon tell the stars of heaven, and
number the sand of the sea, and stop the sun in his course, and raise
the dead, and make a world, as you shall be able to comprehend the in-
finiteness of God's essence : Ps. cxlv. 3, ' His greatness is unsearchable.'
The most perfect knowledge that we can have of God is, that we cannot
perfectly know him, because we do know him to be infinitely and incom-
prehensibly perfect : Rom. xi. 33, ' Oh the depth both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways

' Aristotle, that great secretary of nature, being not able to comprehend the reason of
the sea's ebbing and flowing, cast himself into it; oh how much less able was he to com-
prehend God, blessed for ever 1

Lam. III. 24] an ark for all god's noahs. 29

past finding out ! When men and angels do search farthest into God's
perfection, they do then most of all discover their own imperfection ;
for it is utterly impossible for angels or men, by their most accurate dis-
quisition, to find out the Almighty to perfection, 1 Tim. vi. 16, 'who
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see.' Here is a denial both of
the fact and the possibility. It is a good observation of Chrysostom
on the Avords, Diligentice Pavli attende, non dicit lucem incomprehen-
sibilem, &c. Observe the diligence of Paul, he doth not say a light
incomprehensible, but a light inaccessible, which is much more ; for that
which, being sought and searched for, cannot be comprehended, we say
is incomprehensible ; but that which suffereth not by any means the
labour of searching after, and which no one can come near, that is in-
accessible. There is infinitely more in God than the tongues of men or
angels can express.' There is much in God beyond the apprehension
and comprehension of all created beings. The sum of all that philoso-
phers and schoolmen have attained to concerning this great principle,
amounts to no more than this, viz , that men and angels can never com-
prehend that perfection which dwells in God ; for the perfection of God
is infinite, and therefore incomprehensible. God, saith Dionysius, is a
super-substantial substance, an understanding not to be understood, a
word never to be spoken.

When one was asked what God was, he answered, that he must be
God himself, before he could know God fully.

When the tyrant Hiero asked the poet Simonides what God was,* he
craved a day to study an answer ; but the more he sought into the
nature of God, the more difficult he found it to express ; the next day,
after being questioned, he asked two days, and the third time he craved
four, and so went on, doubling the number; and being asked why he did
so, he answered, that the more he studied the nature of God, the less
he was able to define what God was. He being so incomprehensible in
his nature, the more this poor heathen inquired, the more he admired,
and the less he understood.

It was a notable observation of Chrysostom, who being very busy
and studious in searching into the nature of God, saith, I am like a man
digging in a deep spring ; I stand here, and the water riseth upon me ;
and I stand there, and still the water riseth upon me. Indeed, this is
a knowledge that passeth knowledge, Ephes. iii. 19.

The Turks build their mosques* or churches without any roof, because
they hold as we do, that God is incomprehensible. God is a circle whose
centre is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere, all which
speaks out his infiniteness and incomprehensiblencss.

But now all earthly portions are easily apprehended and comprehended.
A portion in money, or plate, or goods, or lands, or jewels, is easily cast
up, and so many hundreds or thousands a year are quickly told. There
are few, except it be children or fools, but can readily give an account
of all earthly portions. The child's portion, and the wife's portion, and
the servant's portion, and the soldier's portion, and the poor man's portion,

' If one man had all the reason, gifta, graces, and excellencies that are in angels and
men, yet would he never bo able to comprehend an incomprehensible God.
* Simonides apud Ciceronem de Nat. Deoorum, lib i. * Spelling, 'Moachea,'— G.

30 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24<.

and the rich man's portion, are talked on all the city over, and all the
town over, and all the country over; but God is such an incomprehensible
portion, that there is not a man in town, city, or country that is able to
comprehend him, Prov. iii. 15. But,

(12.) Twelfthly, As God is an incomprehensible portion, so God is an
inexhaustible portion; a portion that can never be spent, that can
never be exhausted ; a fountain that still overflows ; a rich mine that
hath no bottom ; a spring that can never be drawn dry, but continiies
always full, without augmentation or diminution: John iv. 14, 'But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ;
but the water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing
up unto everlasting life.' If grace in the soul be such a perpetual flow-
ing fouutain, that it shall never be exhausted till grace be swallowed up
in glory, then certainly the God of grace is much more an inexhaustible
fountain that can never be drawn dry. Angels, saints, and sinners have
lived upon this portion almost this six thousand years, and it is not in
the least diminished. Col. i. 16, 17. God hath his city-house, and his
country-house, where millions have been kept at his table, and lived
upon his purse, his charge, even days without number, and yet God is
not one penny the poorer for all this. This portion is like the meal in
the barrel, and the oil in the cruse, which never failed : I Kings xvii.
14-16, 'For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall
not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord
sendeth rain upon the earth. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither
did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he
spake by Elijah.' God is such a portion as cannot be wasted nor dimi-
nished ; he is such a portion as can never fail. Should all Christians
now live to the age of the patriarchs, who lived many hundred years,
and should they all live freely, and keep open house every day in the
year, yet at the end, not a dram, not a penny, no not a farthing of this
portion will be expended or diminished.

Though men have never so great a stock, yet if they still spend upon
it they will certainly consume it; oh, but God is such a stock as can never
be spent, as can never be consumed. If a sparrow should but fetch a drop
of water out of the sea once a day, yea, once in a thousand years, yet in
time it would be exhausted ; oh but God is such a sea, such an ocean,
that if every angel in heaven, and every saint and sinner on earth,
should drink whole rivers at a draught, yet not one drop could be dimi-
nished. If a child should take but a cockle-shell of water out of the
sea every day, the sea would be really the less, though not visibly the
less, and in time it would be exhausted, and drawn dry ; but let all
created beings be every day a-d rawing from God, yet they shall never
lessen him, they shall never draw him dry. The mother's breasts
are often drawn dry, but the more you draw at the breasts of God,
the more milk of grace and comfort will flow in upon you : Isaiah
Ixvi. 10, 11, 'Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be ye glad with her,
all ye that love her : rejoice for thy joy with her, all ye that mourn
for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her
consolation ; that you may milk out, and be delighted with the
abundance of her glory.' God keeps open house for all comers
and goers, for aU created creatures both in heaven and earth ; and

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 31

though they are perpetually sucking at his breasts, yet the more they
draw, the more the heavenly milk of divine joy, content, and satisfaction
flows in abundantly upon them, Ps. civ. 24. All creatures, both high
and low, rich and poor, honourable and base, noble and ignoble, bond
and free, Jews and Gentiles, are all maintained upon God's own cost and
charge ; they are all fed at his table, and maintained by what comes out
of his treasury, his purse ; and yet God is not a pin the poorer for all
this. It would break and beggar all the princJes on earth, to keep but
one day the least part of that innumerable company that God feeds,
and clothes, and cherishes, and maintains every da}' upon the account
of his own revenue, which is never the poorer for all the vast expenses
that he is daily at. There is still in God a fulness of abundance, and a
fulness of redundance, notwithstanding the vast sums that he hath, and
doth daily expend. It were blasphemy to think that God should be a
penny the poorer by all that he hath laid out for the maintenance of
those millions of angels and men, that have had their dependence upon
him, from their first creation to this very day. Look, as the sun hath
never the less light for filling the stars with light, and as the fountain
hath never the less water for filling the lesser vessels with water that
are about it ; so though God fills all the vessels, both of grace and glory,
with his own fulness, yet he is never the less full himself; there is still
in God plenitudo fontis, the fulness of a fountain. Look, as the over-
flowing fountain pours out water abundantly, and yet after all it remains
full ; so though the Lord be such an overflowing fountain as that he fills
all, yet still he retains all fulness in himself

I have read of a Spanish ambassador, that, coming to see the treasury
of Saint Mark in Venice, that is so much cried up in the world, he fell
a-groping at the bottom of the chests and trunks, to see whether thev
had any bottom ; and being asked the reason why he did so, answered
in this among other things. My master's treasure differs from yours, and
excels yours, in that his hath no bottom as yours have, alluding to the
mines in Mexico, Peru, and other parts of the western India. All men's
mints, bags, purses, and coffers may be quickly exhausted and drawn
dry, but God is such an inexhaustible portion, that he can never be
drawn dry; all God's treasures are bottomless, and all his mints are
bottomless, and all his bags are bottomless. Millions of thousands in
heaven and earth feed every day upon him, and yet he feels it not ; he
is still a-giving, and yet his purse is never empty ; he is still a-fillino-
all the court of heaven, and all the creatures on earth, and yet he is a
fountain that still overflows. There be them that say, that it is most
certainly true of the oil at Rheims, that though it be continually spent
in the inauguration of their kings of France, yet it never wastes ; but
whatever truth is in this story, of this I am most sure, that though all
the creatures in both worlds live and spend continually on Christ's stock,
yet it never wasteth.

But now all earthly portions are frequently exhausted and drawn dry.
The prodigal quickly spent his patrimony upon his harlots, Luke xv. ; and
how many drunkards, and gluttons, and wantons, and gamesters, and
roysters, &c., do daily bring a noble to ninepence ! Pro v. xxiii. 20, 21.
' Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?' saith God to Job,
chap, xxxviii. 22, &c. Now, saith Gregory, the treasures of the snow are

32 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

worldly riches, which men rake together, even as children do snow, which
the next shower washeth away, and leaves nothing in the room of it but
dirt. And ah ! how many merchants, and shopkeepers, and others in
these breaking times, have found all their riches and earthly portions
to melt away as snow before the sun ! how many of late have been very
rich one week, and stripped of all the next, and set with Job upon the
dunghill ! All earthly portions are like water in a cistern, that may
easily and quickly be drawn dry; but God is an inexhaustible portion,
that can never be drawn dry ; and this discovers the excellency of this
portion above all other portions. But

(1 3.) ThirteentMy, As God is an inexhaustible portion, so God is a
soul-satisfying portion, Ps. xvii. 15. He is a portion that gives the soul
full satisfaction and content: Ps. xvi. 5, 6, 'The Lord is the portion of
mine inheritance and of my cup : thou maiutainest my lot. The lines
are fallen unto me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage.'
It was well with him as his heart could wish. And so in that Ps. Ixxiii.
25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee i and there is none upon earth
that I desire besides thee;' or as some render it, 'I would I were in
heaven with thee' ; or as others read the words, 'I have sought none in hea-
ven or earth besides thee;' or as others, ' I desire none in heaven or earth
besides thee,' or ' I affect none in heaven, nor none on earth like thee ; I
love none in heaven, nor none on earth, in comparison of thee ; I esteem
thee instead of all other treasure, and above all other treasures that are
in heaven, or that are on earth.'^ The holy prophet had spiritual and
sweet communion with Christ to comfort and strengthen him ; he had a
guard of glorious angels to protect him and secure him, and he had
assurance of heaven in his bosom to joy and rejoice him ; and yet it
was none of these, nay, it was not all these together, that could satisfy
him, it was only an infinite good, an infinite God, that could satisfy him.
He very well knew that the substantial of all true happiness and
blessedness did lie in God, and his enjoyment of God, It was not his
high dignities nor honours that could satisfy him ; it was not the strength,
riches, security, prosperity, and outward glory of his kingdom that could
satisfy him ; it was not his delightful music, nor his noble attendance,
nor his well furnished tables, nor his great victories, nor his stately
palaces, nor his pleasant gardens, nor his beautiful wife, nor his lovely
children, that could satisfy him ; all these without God could never satisfy
him ; but God without all these was enough to quiet him, and satisfy
him: John xiv. 8, 'Philip said unto him. Lord, shew us the Father, and
it sufficeth us.' A sight of God will satisfy a gracious soul more than
all worldly contentments and enjoyments, yea, one sight of God will
satisfy a saint more than all the glory of heaven will do. God is the
glory of heaven. Heaven alone is not sufficient to content a gracious
soul, bnt God alone is sufficient to content and vsatisfy a gracious soul.
God only is that satisfying good, that is able to fill, quiet, content,
and satisfy an immortal soul. Certainly, if there be enough in God to
satisfy the spirits of just men made perfect, whose capacities are far
greater than ours, Heb. xii. 23-25 : and if there be enough in God
to satisfy the angels, whose capacities are far above theirs ; if there
be enough in God to satisfy Jesus Christ, whose capacity is un-
' Vide Jerome, CalviD, Cajetan, Marlorat, Mollerus. &c.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 33

conceivable and unexpressible ; yea, if there be enough in God to satisfy
himself, then certainly there must needs be in God enough to satisfy the
souls of his people. If all fulness, and all goodness and infiniteness will
satisfy the soul, then God will. There is nothing beyond God imagin-
able, nor nothing beyond God desirable, nor nothing beyond God delec-
table ; and therefore the soul that enjoys him, cannot but be satisfied
with him. God is a portion beyond all imagination, all expectation, all
apprehension, and all comparison ; and therefore he that hath him
cannot but sit down and say, I have enough, Gen. xxxiii. 11 : Ps. Ixiii.
5, 6, ' My soul shall be satisfied as with^ marrow and fatness ; and my
mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon
my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.' Marrow and fat-
ness cannot so satisfy the appetite, as God can satisfy a gracious soul ;
yea, one smile from God, one glance of his countenance, one good word
from heaven, one report of love and grace, will infinitely more satisfy an
immortal soul, than all the fat, and all the marrow, and all the dainties
and delicates of this world can satisfy the appetite of any mortal man.
' My soul shall be satisfied with fatness and fatness'; so the Hebrew
hath it ; that is, my soul shall be topful of comfort, it shall be filled up
to the brim with pleasure and delight, in the remembrance and enjoy-
ment of God upon my bed, or upon my beds, in the plural, as the
Hebrew hath it. David had many a hard bed and many a hard lodging,
whilst he was in his wilderness condition. It oftentimes so fell out that
he had nothing but the bare ground for his bed, and the stones for his
pillows, and the hedges for his curtains, and the heavens for his canopy;
yet in this condition God was sweeter than marrow and fatness to him ;
though his bed was never so hard, yet in God he had full satisfaction
and content : Jer. xxxi. 14, ' My people shall be satisfied with goodness,
saith the Lord ; and * my God shall supply all your need, according to
his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus,' Philip, iv, 19, saith Paul, that great
apostle of the Gentiles. The Greek word vXy^Buasi signifies to Jill up,
even as he did the widow's vessels, 2 Kings iv. 4, till they did overflow.
God will fill up all, he will make up all, he will supply all the wants,
and necessities of his people. That water that can fill the sea, can much
more fill a cup; and that sun which can fill the world with light, can much
more fill my house with light. So that God that fills heaven and earth
with his glory, can much more fill my soul with his glory. To shew
what a satisfying portion God is, he is set forth by all those things that
may satisfy the heart of man, as by bread, water, wine, milk, honours,
riches, raiment, houses, lands, friends, father, mother, sister, brother,
health, wealth, light, life, &c. And if these things will not satisfy, what
will ? It is enough, says old Jacob, that Joseph is alive, Gen. xlv. 28 ;
so says a gracious soul, It is enough that God is my portion! A pardon
cannot more satisfy a condemned man, nor bread an hungry man, nor
drink a thirsty man, nor clothes a naked man, nor health a sick man,
&c., than God doth satisfy a gracious man. But,

Now worldly portions can never satisfy the souls of men, Eccles. v. 10.
* He that loveth silver shall never be satisfied with silver ; nor he that

' Cheleb vade then, fat and fat ; so the Hebrew bath it ; and hereby is meant satiety of
pleasures, &c.

VOL. II. C

34; AN AUK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24«.

loveth abundance with increase. This is also vanity.'' All the world
cannot fill the soul, nor all the creatures in the world cannot stock the
soul with complete satisfaction. As nothing can be the perfection of
the soul but he that made it, so nothing can be the satisfaction of the
soul but he that made it. If a man be hungry, silver cannot feed him ;
if naked, it cannot clothe him ; if cold, it cannot warm him ; if sick, it
cannot recover him ; if wounded, it cannot heal him ; if weak, it cannot
strengthen him ; if fallen, it cannot raise him ; if wandering, it cannot
reduce him ; oh how much less able is it then to satisfy him ■ He that,
out of love to silver, seeketh after silver, shall love still to seek it, but
shall never be satisfied with it. A man shall as soon satisfy the grave,
and satisfy hell, and satisfy the stomach with wind, as he shall be able
to satisfy his soul with any earthly portion. All earthly portions are
dissatisfying portions, they do but vex and fret, gall and grieve, tear and
torment, the souls of men. The world is a circle, and the heart of man
is a triangle, and no triangle can fill a circle.^ Some good or other will
be always wanting to that man that hath only outward good to live upon.
Absalom's beauty could not satisfy him, nor Haman's honour could not
satisfy him, nor Ahab's kingdom could not satisfy him, nor Balaam's
gold could not satisfy him, nor Ahithophel's policy could not satisfy him,
nor the scribes and pharisees' learning could not satisfy them, nor Dives's
riches could not satisfy him, nor Alexander's conquests could not satisfy
him ; for when, as he thought, he had conquered one world, he sits down
and wishes for another world to conquer ; and Cyrus the Persian king
was wont to say, did men but know the cares which he sustained under
his imperial crown, he thought no man would stoop to take it up.'
Gilimex, king of the Vandals, when he was led in triumph by Belisarius,
cried out, ' Vanity of vanity, all is vanity.' Charles the fifth, emperor
of Germany, whom of all men the world judged most happy, cried out
with detestation to all his honours, riches, pleasures, trophies, Ahite
hinc, ahite longe, get you hence, let me hear no more of you. And it
hath been long since said of our King Henry the second,

' He whom, alive, the world could scarce suffice,
When dead, in eight-foot earth contented lies.'*

By all these instances, it is most evident that no earthly portions can
satisfy the souls of men. Can a man fill up his chest with air ? or am
he fill up the huge ocean with a drop of water ? or can a few drops of
beer quench the thirst of a man in a burning fever ? or can the smell of
meat, or the reeking fume of a ladle, or dreaming of a banquet, satisfy
an hungry stomach ? No ! no more can any earthly portions fill or satisfy
the heart of man. If emptiness can fill the soul, if vanity can satisfy
the soul, or if vexation can give content to the soul, then may earthly
portions satisfy the soul, but not till then. When a man can gather
grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles, and turn day into night, and win-
ter into summer, then shall he find satisfaction in the creatures ; but
not before. All earthly portions are weighed in the balance of the

' Some read the words thus: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, and
he that loveth it in the multitude of it shall not have fruit.

* If the whole world were changed into a globe of gold, it could not fill one heart, it
could not satisfy one immortal soul. ^ Ascribed to Xerxes; Plutarch. — G.

* Fuller's Chuicb History, book iii. cent. xii. sec. vii. from Matthew Paris, p. 151. — G.

Lam. III. 24] an ark for all god's noahs. 35

sanctuary, and they are found to be lighter than the dust of the balance;
and this will rather inflame the thirst than quench it.

A man that hath only the world for his portion, is like to Noah's dove
out of the ark, that was in continual motion, but could find no resting
place ; but a man that hath God for his portion is like the dove, re-
turning; and restincr in the ark, The soul can never be at rest, till it
comes to rest and centre in God.^ God himself is the soul s only home,
no good but the chiefest good can suflSce an immortal soul. Look, as
God never rested till he had made man, so man can never rest till he
comes to enjoy God ; the soul of man is of a very vast capacity, and no-
thing can Hll it to ihe brim but he that is fulness itself. It is the
breast, and not the baby^ nor the rattle, that will satisfy the hungry
child ; and it is God, and not this or that creature, that can satisfy the
soul of man. But,

(14J) Fourteenthly, As God is a soul-satisfying portion, so God is a
permanent portion, an indefinite portion, a never failing portion,
a lasting, yea, an everlxisting fortlon : Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh and my
heart faileth ; but God is the strength, or the rock, of my heart, and my
portion forever.' God is a fountain which the hottest summer dries not,
a bottomless treasure that can never be expended. God ever was, and
ever will be. He cannot borrow his being from anything, who gives
being and well-being to all things. ' God is Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last, he is yesterday and to-day, and the same for ever,' Rev. i. 8.
God is the Almighty, which is, and which was, and which is to come.
All the difierences of time are united by some to connote the eternity
of God, in that Exod, iii. 14, 'And God said unto Moses, I AM that I
AM : and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath
sent me untoyou.'^ Some translate this text, according to the full scope
of the future amongst the Hebrews, ' I am that I am, that I was, and
that I will be ;' for the future amongst the Hebrews points at all dif-
ferences of time, past, present, and to come ; but others, obsei-ving the
strict and proper signification of the future, translate it thus, ' I will be
that I will be.' This name of God imports two of God's incommunicable
attributes.

First, His eternity, when he saith, ' I will be.'

Secondly, His immutability, when he saith, ' That I will be.' The
Rabbins, upon this text, express themselves after this manner : ' The
blessed God said unto Moses, Say unto them, I that have been, and 1
the same now, and I the same for time to come,' &c.; but others, more
agreeable to the Chaldee paraphrase, express themselves thus : ' I, he
that is, and was, and hereafter wiU be, hath sent me unto you.'* But
it is observable, that the angel of the waters unites all ditferences of
time in that great and glorious acknowledgment. Rev. xvi. 5, ' Thou art
righteous, Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast
judged thus.' God is a God of that infinite excellency and glory, that

' A reminiscence of Augustine's memorable saying, ' Fecisti nos ad te, Domine, et in-
quietum est cor nostrum donee requiescat in te,' Conf. i. 1. — G. . * 'Doll.' — G.

3 Omnia tempora eonjuncta de Deo dicta eternitatem connotant.

* Vide Ainsworth and D. Rivetus on the place. The Hebrew words in this Exod. iii. and
their several significations do well agree with the name Jehovah, which implieth, that
God here sending Moses, is eternal in his being, faithful in hig promisefi, and almighty
in the performance thereof.

30 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

it is utterly impossible for him to be better, or other than he is. If
God should in the least be alterable or mutable, he would pre.sently
cease to be God. God is a God of that transcendent excellency, that
there can be nothing added to him, nor nothing subtracted from him.
If you add anything to him, you deny him to be God ; and if you take
anything from him, you destroy his being, James i. 17 ; Ps. xc. 2, ' From
everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' * And Mary hath chosen the
better part, which shall never be taken from her,' Luke x. 42. God is
eternal, as neither being capable of a beginning nor ending ; and there-
fore the Egyptians used to signify God by a circle, and the Persians
thought that they honoured God most, when, going up to the top of the
highest tower, they called him the circle of heaven. Now you know a
circle hath no end. And it was a custom among the Turks to go up
every morning to a high tower, and to cry out, God always was, and
always will be, and so salute their Mahomet. Some things have a be-
ginning, but no ending, as angels and the souls of men ; and some things
have no beginning, and yet have an end, as the decrees of God in their
final accomplishment ; and some things have both a beginning and an
ending, as all sublunary things ; but God hath neither beginning nor
ending. All creatures have a lasting, angels have an outlasting, but
God hath an everlasting being: 1 Tim. i. 17, 'Now unto the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory, for ever
and ever. Amen.' God is without beginning and end, first and last,
past and to come : Ps. cii. 25-27, *0f old hast thou laid the foundation
of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall
perish, but thou shalt endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old like a gar-
ment : as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed :
but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.' Were there
no other scripture to prove the eternity and immutability of God, this
were enough.' Whatever changes may pass upon the heavens and the
earth, yet God will always remain unchangeable and unalterable. By
what hath been said, it is most evident that God is an everlasting portion,
that he is a never-failing portion.

But now all earthly portions are very uncertain ; now they are, and
anon they are not: Prov. xxiii. 5, 'Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that
which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly
away as an eagle towards heaven.' Though the foolish world call riches
substance, yet they have no solid subsistence. All earthly portions are
as transitory as a shadow, a ship, a bubble, a bird, a dream, an arrow,
a post that passeth swiftly away. Riches were never true to any that
have trustee! in them. In this text, riches are said not to be, because
they do not continue to be ; they will not abide by a man, they will
not long continue with a man, and therefore they are as if they were
not.2 All earthly things are vain and transitory, they are rather shows
and shadows than real things themselves: 1 Cor. vii. 31, ' For the fashion
of this world passeth away.' The Greek word eyjiiia signifies a mathe-
matical figure, which is a mere notion, and nothing in substance. All

' He that made heaven and eartli must needs be before them, and therefore eternal;
but this God did, ergo.

- Crassus was so ricli that he maintained an army with his own revenues; yet he, his
great army, with liis son and heir, fell together, and so his great estate fell to others. [Jioo
index under Crassus for other references to this. — G.]

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 37

the glory of this world is rather a matter of fashion than of substance,
it is a body without a soul, it is a golden shell without a kernel, it is a
show without a substance. There is no firmness, there is no solidness,
there is no consistency, there is no constancy in any of the creatures.
All the pomp, and state, and glory of the world is but a mere piece of
pageantry, a mask, a comedy, a fantasy : Acts xxv. 23, ' And on the mor-
row, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp.' The
original words, /ierd mXKrig <pavTa<fiot.i, signifies great fantasy, or vain show.
The greatest glory and pomp of this world, in the eye of God, in the
account of God, is but as a fantasy or a shadow. It was a custom in
Home, that when the emperor went by upon some great day in all his
imperial pomp, there was an officer appointed to burn fla.K before him,
and to cry out, Sic transit gloria mundi, so the glory of this world
passeth away ;* and this was purposely done to put him in mind that all
his honour, pomp, glory, and grandeur should soon pass and vanish
away, as the flax did that he saw burnt before his eyes. That great
conqueror of the world, Alexander, caused a sword in the compass of a
wheel to be painted upon a table, to shew that what h.e had gotten by
the sword was subject to be turned about by the wheel of fortune f and
many great conquerors, besides him, have found it so, and many now
alive have seen it so.

Look, as the rainbow shews itself in all its dainty colours, and then
vanisheth away; so doth all worldly honours, riches, and preferments
shew themselves and then vanish away ; and how many in our days
have found it so ! When one was a-commending the riches and wealth
of merchants ; I do not love that wealth, said an heathen, which hangs
upon ropes, for if they break, the ship and all her wealth miscarries.
Certainly within these few months the miscarrying of several ships hath
caused several merchants sadly to miscarry. Astorm at sea, a spark of fire,
an unfaithful servant, a false oath, or a treacherous friend, may quickly
bring a man to sit with Job upon a dunghill. Look, as the bird flies
from tree to tree, and as the beggar goes from door to door, and as the
pilgrim travels fram place to place, and as the physician walks from
patient to patient ; so all the riches, honours, and glory of this world do
either fly from man to man, or else walk from man to man. Who knows
not, that many times one is made honourable by another's disgrace ?
another is made full by another man's emptiness ? and a third is made
rich by another's poverty ? How soon is the courtier's glory eclipsed, if
the prince doth but frown upon him ! and how soon doth the prince
become a peasant, if God doth but frown upon him ? Now one is ex-
alted, and anon he is debased ; now one is full, and anon he is hungry ;
now one is clothed gloriously, and anon he is clothed with rags ;
now one is at liberty, and anon he is under restraint ; now a man hath
many friends, and anon he hath never a friend. There is nothing but
vanity and uncertainty in all earthly portions. But,

(15.) Fifteenthly, and lastly. As God is a permanent and never failing
portion, so God is a.n incomparable portion ; and this follows clearly
and roundly upon what hath been said ; for,

• Cf. Sibbess Works, toI. iv. Notes d p. 58, and k p. 805, vol. vii. pp. 603, 604.— G.

* jj'lutaich in the life of Alexander, &c.

38 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

(1.) If God be a present portion, a portion in hand, a portion in pos-
session ; and,

(2.) If God be an immense portion, if he be the vastest, the largest,
and the greatest portion ; and,

(3.) If God be an all-sufficient portion ; and,

(4.) If God be the most absolute, needful, and neces^ry portion ; and

(5.) If God be a pure and unmixed portion ; and,

(6.) If God be a glorious, a happy, and a blessed portion ; and,

(7.) If God be a peculiar portion ; and,

(8.) If God bfe a universal portion ; and,

(9.) If God be a safe portion, a secure portion, a portion that none
can rob or wrong us of; and,

(10.) If God be a suitable portion ; and,

(11.) If God be an incomprehensible portion ; and,

(12.) If God be an inexhaustible portion, a portion that can never
be spent, that can never be exhausted or drawn dry ; and,

(13.) If God be a soul-satisfying portion ; and,

(1 4.) If God be a permanent and an everlasting portion : then it must
very necessarily follow, that God is an incomparable portion. But such
a portion God is, as I have proved at large ; and, therefore, beyond all
dispute, God must needs be an incomparable portion : Prov. iii. 13-15,
' Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,' (that is, the liord Jesus Christ),
* and the man that getteth understanding : for the merchandise of it is
better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine
gold. She is more precious than rubies : and all the things thou canst
desire are not to be compared to her.' All the gold of Ophir, and all
the silver of the Indies, which are but the guts and garbage^ of the
earth, are nothing, yea, less than nothing, compared with God. God is
a portion more precious than all those things which are esteemed most
precious. A man may desire, what not ? he may desire that all the
mountains in the world may be turned into mountains of gold for his
use ; he may desire that all the rocks in the world may be turned into
the richest pearls for his use ; he may desire that all the treasure that
is buried in the sea may be brought into his treasuries ; he may desire
that all the crowns and sceptres of all the princes and emperors of the
world, may be piled up at his gate, as they were once said to be at
Alexander's ; yet all these things are not comparable to a saint's portion,
3'^ea, they are not to be named in that day, wherein the excellency of a
saint's portion is set forth. Horace writes of a precious stone that was
more worth than tw<^ty thousand shekels, and Pliny valued the two
precious pearls of Cleopatra at twelve hundred thousand shekels.' But
what were these, and what were all other precious stones in the world,
but dung and dross, in comparison of a saint's portion ? Philip, iii. 7, 9.
I have read a story of a man, whom Chrysostom did feign to be in prison.
Oh, saith he, if I had but liberty, I would desire no more ! He had it.
Oh then, if I had but for necessity, I would desire no more ! He had it.
Oh then, had I for a little variety, I would desire no more ! He had it.
Oh then, had I any office, were it the meanest, I would desire no more !
He had it. Oh then, had I but a magistracy, though over one town only,
I would desire no more ! He had it. Oh then, were I a prince, I would
» Spelled 'garbidge.'— G. » Nat. Hist. lib. ix. c. 58.— G,

Lam III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 39

desire no more ! He had it. Oh then, were I but a king, I would
desire no more ! He had it. Oh then, were I but an emperor, I would
desire no more ! He had it. Oh then, were I but emperor of the whole
world, I would then desire no more ! He had it ; and yet then he
sits down with Alexander, and weeps that there are no more worlds for him
to possess. Now did any man enjoy what he is said to desire, it would
be but a very mean portion compared with God. We may truly say of
all the honours, riches, greatness, grandeur, and glory of this world, com-
pared with God, as Gideon sometimes said of the vintage of Abiezer,
' The gleanings of Ephraim are better than the vintage of Abiezer,'
Judges viii. 2 ; so the very gleanings, yea, the vsmallest gatherings of
God, are far better, and more excellent and transcendent, they are more
satisfying, more delighting, more ravishing, more quieting, and more
contenting than all earthly portions are or can be. What comparison is
there between a drop of a bucket and the vast ocean ? between a weak
drop, which recollecting all its force, yet hath not strength enough to
fall, and the mighty waters ? Or what comparison is there between the
dust of the balance and the whole earth ? Why, you will say, there
is no comparison between these things ; and I will say, there is less be-
tween all finite portions, and such an infinite portion as God is. For
this is most certain, that there must needs be always an infinite distance
between what is finite and what is infinite; and such a portion God is.
By all that hath been said, it is most evident that God is an incompar-
able portion.

But now all earthly portions are comparable portions. You may easily
and safely compare one earthly portion with another, one prince's re-
venues may be comparable to another's, and one great man's lordships
may be comparable to another's, and one merchant's estate may be com-
parable to another's, and one gentlen^en's lands ma,y be comparable to
another's, and one wife's portion may be comparable to another's, and
one child's portion may be comparable to another's, &c., but God is an
incomparable portion. There is no comparison to be made between
God and other portions. And thus I have in these fifteen particulars
fully discovered the excellency of the saints' portion above all other
portions.

And, therefore, I shall now come to the second thing, and that is, to
shew you,

II. Upon what grounds their title unto God as their portion is
founded and bottomed ; and they are these that follow : —

(1.) First, The free favour and love of God, the good will and plea-
sure of God, is the true ground and bottom of God's bestowing of himself
as a portion upon his people, Deut. vii. 6-8 ; Ezek. xvi. 1-15. There
was no loveliness nor comeliness in them that should move him to bestow
himself upon them. They had neither portion nor proportion, and there-
fore there was no cause in them why God should bestow himself as a
portion upon them. God, for the glory of his own free grace and love,
hath bestowed himself as a portion upon those who have deserved to
have their portion amongst devils and damned spirits, in those torments
that are endless, ceaseless, and remediless. The Ethnics^ feign, that
their gods and goddesses loved some certain trees, for some lovely gooil
' That i8, the heathens, applied to all nations, non-Jewish and non-Christian. — G.

'40 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

that was in them ; for Jupiter loved the oak for durance, and Neptune
the cedar for stature, and Apollo the laurel for greenness, and Venus the
poplar for whiteness, and Pallas the vine for fruitfulness ; but what
should move the God of gods to love us, who were so unworthy, so filthy,
so empty, so beggarly, that were trees indeed, but such as Jude mentions,
'corrupt, fruitless, twice dead, and plucked up by the roots'? ver. 12.
The question may be resolved in three words, Amat quia amat, he loves
us because he loves us. The root of all divine love to us lieth only in
the bosom of God. But,

(2.) Secondly, Their title to God as their portion is founded upon
God's free and voluntary donation of himself to them in the covenant
of grace, Ezek. xi. 19 ; Heb. viii. 10-13. In the covenant of grace, God
hath freely bestowed himself upon his people : Jer. xxxii. 88, 40, ' And
they shall be my people, and I will be their God : and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them,
to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me.' The covenant of grace is the great charter, it is
the Magna Charta of all a saint's spiritual privileges and immunities.
Now in this great charter, the Lord hath proclaimed himself to be his
people's God: Jer, x. 16, 'The portion of Jacob is the former of all
things ; the Lord of hosts is his name.' He that is the former of all
things, even the Lord of hosts, is the portion of Jacob ; and he is Jacob's
portion, by virtue of that covenant of grace, which is a free, a full, a rich,
and an everlasting covenant : a covenant that he will never break, nor
alter, nor falsify ; a covenant that he hath sworn to make good, as you
may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.' That
covenant of grace, whereby God gives himself to be his people's God and
portion, he is bound to make good by his oath ; and, therefore, certainly
whoever is forsworn, God will never be forsworn. The Egyptians, though
heathens, so hated perjury, that if any man did but swear ' By the life
of the king,' and did not perform his oath, that man was to die, and no
gold was to redeem his life, as Paulus Fagius observeth in his comment
on Genesis.'' To think that God will not make good that covenant that
he hath bound himself by oath to make good, is blasphemy, yea, it is to
debase him below the very heathens. All laws, both divine and human,
have left no such bond of assurance to tie and fasten one to another, as
that of an oath or covenant ; which, as they are to be taken in sincerity,
so they are to be kept inviolably. Certainly, the covenant and oath of the
great God, is not like a gipsy's knot, that is fast or loose at pleasure.
Whoever breaks with him, yet he will be sure, faithfully and inviolably
to keep his covenant and his oath with his. But,

(3.) Thirdly, Their title to God as their God and portion, is founded
and bottomed upon that marnage union that is between God and his
people, Jer. iii. 13, 14. Hosea ii. 19, 20, 23, 'And I will betroth thee
unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness,
and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies : I will betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness ; and thou shalt know the Lord. And I
will sow her unto me in the earth ; and I will have mercy upon her
that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them that are not my

' Ps Ixxxix. 34, 85 ; Isaiah liv. 9, 10 ; Ps. cxi. 5 ; Ps. cv. 9 ; Mic. vii. 20 ; Heb. vi. 13-19
Luke i. 73. * Inserted in the Critici Sacri. — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 41

people, Thou art my people ; and they shall say, Thou art my God.' This
threefold repetition, ' I will betroth thee,' ' I will betroth thee,' ' I will
betroth thee,' notes three things,

[1.] First, the certainty of their marriage union and communion
with God.

[2.] Secondly, The excellency and dignity of their marriage union
and communion with God. And,

[3.] Thirdly, The dijfficulty of believing their marriage uvdon and
communion with God. There is nothing that Satan doth so much envy
and oppose, as he doth the soul's marriage union and communion with
God ; and therefore God fetches it over again and again and again, ' I
will betroth thee unto me,' &c. And so in that Isaiah Ixi. 10, ' I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me
with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.' And so, chap.
Ixii. 5, ' For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry
thee : and as a bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God
rejoice over thee.'' I have read of five sisters, of the same birth, pedigree,
and race, whereof one was married to a knight, another to an earl, a third
to a gentleman, a fourth to a mean man, and the fifth to a filthy beggar.
Though they were all alike by birth and descent, yet their difference
did lie in their marriage. We are all alike by creation, by the fall, by
nature, and by the first birth ; it is only our marriage union and com-
munion with God that differences us from others, and that exalts and
lifts us up above others. Look, as the husband is the wife's by marriage
union and communion, so God is the believer's God and portion, by virtue
of that marriage union and communion that is between God and the
believer. And let thus much suffice for the second thing.

III. I shall come now to the third thing, and that is, to maJce some
improvement of this blessed and glorious truth to ourselves; and,
therefore.

Is it so, that God is the saint's portion, and that he is such an excellent,
and such a transcendent portion above all other portions, as hath been
fully evidenced ? Then,

[1.] First, Let not the saints that have God for their portion fret and
vex themselves, because of those earthly portions that God commodity
bestoivs upon the worst of men. There is a great aptness in the best
of men to envy those earthly portions that God often bestows upon the
worst of men. The lights of the sanctuary have burnt dim, stars of no
small magnitude have twinkled, men of eminent parts, famous in their
generations for religion and piety, have staggered in their judgments,
to see the flourishing estate of the wicked.^ It made Job to complain,
Job xxi. 7-16, and chap. xxiv. 12, and Jeremiah to expostulate with God,

' What was said by one of the Rabbins concerning Methuselah's wife, that she had nine
husbands in one, is very applicable to the believer that hath God for his husband.

* Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher, seeing Harpalus, a vicious person, still thriving in
the world, he was bold to say, that wicked Harpalus his living long in prosperity, was an
argument that God had cast off his care of the world, that he cared not which end went
forward ; and no wonder if this heathen stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked, when
80 many of the precious sons of Zion have stumbled at that stumbling-stone. [Harpalus :
Pausania, i. 37 ; Athen. xiii.; Diod. xvii. 108. — G.]

42 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24<.

chap. xii. 1, 2, and David even to faint and sink, Ps. Ixxiii. To see the
prosperity of the ungodly, to see the wicked in wealth and the saints
in want, the wicked in their robes and the saints in their rags, the
wicked honoured and the saints despised, the wicked exalted and the
saints debased, the wicked upon thrones and saints upon dunghills, is
a sight that hath sadly put the best of men sometimes to it. But this
is a temper of spirit that doth noways become those that have God for
their portion ; and therefore the psalmist, in the 37th Psalm, cautions
the saints against it no less than three several times, as you may see in
verses 1, 7, 8. There is nothing that doth so ill become a saint that hath
God for his portion, as to be sick of the frets ; and to prevent this mis-
chief, this sickness, the precept is doubled, and redoubled, 'fret not,
fret not, fret not.' Though they that have sore eyes are offended at
bright clear lights, yet they that have God for their portion should never
fret or fume, storm or rage, because some are greater than they, or richer
than they, or higher than they, or more honourable than they, because
all their prosperity is nothing but an unhappy happiness ; it is nothing
but a banquet, like Haman's, before execution ; and what man is there,
that is in his wits, that would envy a malefactor who meets with honour-
able entertainment as he is going along to execution ? All a wicked
man's delicate meats, his fine bits, and his murdering morsels, are sauced,
and all his pleasant and delightful drinks are spiced, with the wrath and
di.spleasure of an angry God ; and why then should you fret and vex at
their prosperity ? What madness and folly would it be in a man that
is heir to many thousands per annum, to envy a stage player that is
clothed in the habit of a king, but yet not heir to one foot of land, no,
nor worth one penny in all the world, and who at night must put off
his royal apparel, and the next day put on his beggarly habit ? Oh,
sirs ! it will be but a little little while before the great God will disrobe the
wicked of all their prosperity, felicity, and worldly glory, and clothe
them with the rags of shame, scorn, and contempt for ever ; and there-
fore, oh what folly and madness would it be for those that are heirs of
God, and joint heirs with Christ of all the glory of heaven, to envy the
prosperity of the wicked, Rom. viii. 17.

The prosperity of the wicked lays them open to the worst and greatest
sins.

[1.] First, It lays tkem open to all uncleaninees and Jilthiness,
Jer. V. 7, 8.

[2.] Secondly, It loiys them open to pride and contempt of God, Ps.
Ixxiii. 3-13, Deut. xxxii. 15.

[3.] Thirdly, /^ lays thenn open to vex, oppress, tyrannize, persecute,
insult, and triumph over the poor people of God, as you may see in
Pharaoh, Saul, Ahab, Jezebel, Haman, and the scribes and pharisees.

[4.] Fourthly, It lays them, open to a neglect and slighting of the
ways of God, and of the otyJlinances of God, Job xxL 5-16 ; Mai. iii. 13-15 ;
Jer. xxii. 21. Wheu the protestants in France were in their prosperity,
they slighted powerful preachings, &c., and began to affect a vain frothy
way of preaching and living, which ushered in the massacre upon them.
Moulin' hit it, when, speaking of the French protestants, he said, when the
papists hurt us and persecute us for reading the scriptures, we burn with
' Peter du Moulin, D.D.— G.

Lam. III. 2^.] an ark for all god's noahs. 43

zeal to be reading of them ; but now persecution is over, our Bibles are
like old almanacs.

[5.] Fifthly, It lays them open to a stupidness, unmindfulnesa, and
forgetfulness of the afflictions of the people of God, Amos vi. 1-8.
Pharaoh's chief butler was no sooner set down in the seat of prosperity,
but quite contrary to his promise, he easily forgets Joseph in misery.

[6.] Sixthly, It layeth them open to dreadful apostasy froTn the
ways and worship of Ood, Deut. xxxii. 15-18. No sooner was Israel
possessed of the good land that flowed with milk and honey, &c., but
they forsook the true worship of God, and fell to the worshipping of
idols, for which at last the good land spewed them out as a generation
cursed and abhorred by God.

[7.] Seventhly, It lays them open to all carnal security, as you may
see in the old world : their prosperity cast them into a bed of security,
and their security ushered in a flood of sin, and that flood of sin ushered
in a flood of wrath. Mat. xxiv. 37-39.

[8.] Eighthly, It lays them open to idolatry, which is a God-provoking
arid a land-destroying sin, Hosea ii. 6-8, and chap. iv. 6, 7, &c. Ah,
sirs ! who can seriously consider of the dreadful sins that the prosperity
of the wicked lays them open to, and yet fret and vex at their prosperity?

Again, as their prosperity lays them open to the greatest sins, so their
prosperity lays them open to the greatest temptations. Witness their
tempting of themselves, and their own lusts, and witness their temptings
of others to the worst of wickedness and villanies, and witness their fre-
quent tempting and provoking of the great God to his own face, and
witness their daily, yea, their hourly tempting of Satan to tempt their own
souls. O sirs ! as there is no condition that lays persons open to such
great transgressions as prosperity doth, so there is no condition that lays
persons open to such horrid temptations as prosperity doth ; and why
then should God's holy ones envy wicked men's prosperity, and worldly
glory, &c. ^

Again, Their prosperity, and worldly felicity and glory, is all the
poHion, and all the heaven and happiness that ever they are like to
have : Ps. xvii. 1 4, ' From men of the world, which have their portion in
this life.' Certainly, men whose hearts are worldly, whose minds are
worldly, whose spirits are worldly, whose desires are worldly, whose hopes
are worldly, and whose main ends are worldly, have only the world for
their portion ; and what a pitiful perishing portion is that ! Men that
choose the world as their portion, and that delight in the world as their
portion, and that trust to the world as their portion, and that in straits
run to the world as their portion, and that take content and satisfaction
in the world as their portion ; doubtless these have never known what it
is to have God for their portion. That is a very heart-cutting and soul-
killing word that you have in that Mat. vi. 2, ' Verily I say unto you,
that they have their reward.' The scribes and pharisees proposed to
themselves, the eyes of men, the praise of men, and the applause of men,
for a reward of their alms, &c., and Christ tells them, that they have
their reward ; not God's reward, but theirs ; that is, that reward that
they had propounded to themselves, as the prime and ultimate end of
their actions ; and doubtless that word was a thunderbolt to Dives, 'Son,
remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, and like-

44f AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

wise Lazarus his evil,' &c., Luke xvi. 25. Wicked men have their best
here, their worst is to come ; they have their comforts here, their tor-
ments are to come ; they have their joys here, their sorrows are to come ;
they have their heaven here, their hell is to come. Gregory being ad-
vanced to great preferment, professed that there was no scripture that
struck so much terror and trembling into his heart, as that scripture
did, 'Here you have your reward.' Had wicked men but their eyes in
their heads, and a little understanding in their hearts, and life in their
consciences, they would quickly conclude that it is hell on this side hell,
for a man to have his portion in this world ; and why then should you
envy the prosperity of the wicked ?

Again, All their prosperity is cursed unto them, ; as you may see by
comparing the scriptures in the margin together.' All their comforts
are cursed without doors, and all their comforts are cursed within doors ;
there are snares on all their tables, and poison in all their cups, and the
plague in all their brave clothes, &c. Dionysius the tyrant, to shew
Damocles, one of his flatterers, the felicity, or rather the infelicity, of
a king, attired him as a king, and set him at the table, served as a
king ; and whilst he was in his imperial robes, he caused a naked sword,
with the point downward, to be hung just over his head by a horse hair,
which made Damocles to tremble, and to forbear both meat and mirth.'
Though the feast was a royal feast, and the attendance royal attendance,
and the music royal music, yet Damocles, for his life, could not taste of
any of those varieties that were before him, nor take any comfort or
contentment in any other part of his royal entertainment, because of
the sword, the sword, that hung but by a single hair over his head.
O sirs ! a sword, a sharp sword, a two-edged sword, a sword of dis-
pleasure, a sword of wrath, a sword of vengeance, hangs over the head
of every wicked person when he is in his most prosperous and flourish-
ing condition ; and had sinners but eyes to see this sword, it would be
as the handwriting upon the wall ; it would cause their thoughts to be
troubled, and their countenances to be changed, and their joints to be
loosed, and their knees to be dashed one against another ; and why,
then, should Christians fret and vex at the prosperity of the wicked ?

Again, When wicked men are at the highest, then are they nearest
their fall ; as you may see in that 37th Psalm, and that 73d Psalm,
and in those great instances of Pharaoh, Adoni-bezek, Benhadad, Ahab,
Sennacherib, Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Herod, &c.'
Look, as the ship is soonest cast away when she is top and top-gallant,
so when wicked men are top and top-gallant, when they are at the
height of all their pomp, bravery, and worldly glory, then God usually
tumbles them down into the very gulf of misery. The gi-eat ones of
the world have suddenly fallen from their highest honours and dignities,
and have been sorely and sadly exercised with the greatest scorns and
calamities. Let me give you this in a few remarkable instances.

Valerian, the Roman emperor, fell from being an emperor to be a
footstool to Sapor, the king of Persia, as often as he took horse.*

' Deut. xxviii. 15-68 ; Lev. xxvi. 14-39 ; Prov. iii. :<3 ; Mai. ii. 2.

• Vide Cicero Tusc. Quasi. [Cf. Index under Damocles for former references. — G.]

s Exod.xiv. ; Judges i. 6,7 ; 1 Kings xx. and xxii.; 2 Kings xix. ; Esther vi. 4 ; Dan. v.

* Amm. Marcel, xxiii. 5; Trehell. Polh. Frag. Vit. Valerian; Aurel. Vict.de Goes,
xxxii. £pit. xxxii. ; Eutrop. ix. 6. — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 45

Valeris the emperor, a furious Arian, being wounded in a fight with
the Goths, in his flight he betook himself to a poor cottage, wherein he
was burnt by the Goths.^

Aurelianus, the Roman emperor, brought Tetricus^ his opposite, and
the noble queen Zenobia of Palmerina,' in triumph to Rome in golden
chains.

Bajazet, a proud emperor of the Turks, being taken prisoner by Tam-
berlain,* a Tartarian emperor, he bound him in chains of gold, and used
him for a footstool when he took horse ; and when he ate meat, he made
him gather crumbs under his table and eat them for his food.

Caesar, having bathed his sword in the blood of the senate and his
own countrymen, is, after a while, miserably murdered in the senate by
his own friends, Cassius and Brutus, to shew that they are but the
scourges and rods of the Almighty, which he will cast into the fire as
soon as he hath done with them.

The victorious emperor, Henry the Fourth, who in sixty-two pitched
battles for the most part became victorious, fell to that poverty and misery
before he died, that he was forced to petition to be a prebend in the church
of Spire to maintain him in his old age, which the bishop of that place
denied him ; whereupon he brake forth into that speech of Job, ' Have
pity upon me, O my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched
me,' Job xix. 21. He died of grief and want.

And Procopius reports of king Guidimer, who was sometimes a potent
king of the Vandals, that he was brought so low as to entreat his friend
to send him a sponge, a loaf of bread, and an harp : a sponge to dry up
his tears, a loaf of bread to maintain his life, and an harp to solace him-
self in his misery.

Dionysius, king of Sicily, was such a cruel tyrant that his people
banished him. After his banishment he went to Corinth, where he
lived a base and contemptible life. At last he became a schoolmaster,
that so, when he could no longer tyrannize over men, he might over
boys.

Great Pompey, that used to boast that he could raise all Italy in arms
with a stamp of his foot, had not so much as room to be buried in.

And William the Conqueror's corpse lay three days unburied, his in-
terment being hindered by one that claimed the ground to be his.

And Pythias pined to death for want of bread, who once was able to
entertain and maintain Xerxes's mighty army.^

And Philip de Comines reports of a Duke of Exeter, who though he
had married Edward the Fourth's sister, yet he saw him in the low
countries begging barefoot.®

And so Belisarius, a most famous general, and the only man living
in his time for glorious victories, riches, and renown, yet in his old age
he had his eyes put out by the empress Theodora; and being led at last
in a string, he was forced to cry out. Date panem Belisario, &c., Give

' Tacitus Hist. i. 7, 52, 67, 61, 66, et alibi ; Plutarch. Otho, c. 6.— G.

* See Dissertation by Do Boze in Memoires de rAcademie de Sciences et Belles Lettres
Vol. xxvi. p. 504 — G.

3 Palmyra. See Treliell. Polis, ^ri^. Tyrann.; Zonarxii, 27.— G. * Tamerlane. G

s Turk. Hist. fol. 220, &c. [KnoUes — G.]

* In the celebrated ' Memoirs,' sub Exeter. — Q.

46 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 21-.

a crust to old blind Belisarius, whom virtue advanced, but envy hath
brought into this great misery. By all these royal instances, you see
the truth of that which once a royal slave hinted to Sesostris. The story
runs thus : —

Sesostris having taken many of his neighbour kings prisoners, he
made them to draw his chariot by turns. Now, it so happened that
one of these royal slaves, as he was drawing in the chariot, had his eye
almost continually fixed on the wheels, which Sesostris observing, asked
him why he looked so seriously upon the wheels. He answered, that
the faUing of that spoke lowest which was even now highest, put him in
mind of the instability of fortune. Sesostris, duly weighing the parable,
would never after be drawn by his royal slaves any more.

By what hath been said, it is more evident that when wicked men
are highest they are nearest their fall; and that none fall so certainly
and so suddenly, and under such dreadful calamities and miseries, as
those that have been the most highly advanced in all worldly dignities
and glories. And why, then, should any fret or vex at their outward
prosperity or worldly felicity ?

Again, God will bt^g them to an account for all tlioae talents of
power, of honour, of riches, of trust, of time, of interest that God hath
given them in the world; and the more they have employed the
liberality and bounty of God against God or his glory, or interest, or
people, the shorter shall be their felicity, and the more endless shall be
their misery. Mat. xxv. 14-31. The greatest account and the greatest
damnation commonly attends the great ones of the world. I have read
of Philip the Third of Spain, whose life was free from gross evils, pro-
fessing that he would rather lose all his kingdoms than offend God will-
ingly ; yet being in the agony of death, and considering more thoroughly
of that account he was to give to God, fear struck him, and these words
brake from him, ' Oh, would to God I had never reigned I Oh that those
years I have spent in my kingdom, I had lived a private life in the wil-
derness ! Oh that I had lived a solitary life with God, how much more
confidently should I have gone to the throne of God ! What doth all
my gloiy profit me now, but that I have so much the more torment in
my death, and the greater account to give up to God V I have read of
a soldier, who, being to die for taking a bunch of grapes contrary to his
general's command, as he was going along to execution, he went eating
of his grapes, whereupon one of his fellow-soldiers rebuked him, saying,
What! are you eating your grapes now you are going to execution?
The poor fellow replied, Prithee, friend, do not envy me my grapes; for
I shall pay a dear price for them, I shall lose my life for them ; and so
accordingly he did. So I saj^ Oh you that have God for your portion,
do not envy, do not fret and vex, at the prosperity of the wicked ; for
what though they have more than their heart can wish, what though
they live in pleasure and wallow in aU carnal and sensual delights, &c.,
yet they have a sad account to give up to God, and they shall pay dear
at last for all their worldly enjoyments. For without sound repentance
on their sides, and pardoning grace on God's, they shall not only lose
their lives, but they shall also for ever lose their immortal souls ; and
therefore never fret at their prosperity.

O sirs, do not you remember that Lazarus did not fret nor fume

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 47

because Dives had robes for his rags, and delicates for his scraps ? &c.
for he very well knew that though he was sine domo, yet not sine
Domino. He had a guard of glorious angels to transport his holy,
precious, heaven-born soul into Abraham's bosom. He knew that it
was better to beg on earth, than to beg in hell. O sirs, what is dark-
ness to light, earth to heaven, chaff to wheat, tin to silver, dross to gold,
or pebbles to pearls ? No more are all earthly portions to that God
who is the saints' portion ; and, therefore, let not the saints, that have
such a matchless portion, envy the prosperity and felicity of wicked
men. It is the justice of envy to kill and torment the envious; and,
therefore, shun it as you would posion in your meat, or a serpent in the
way. A man were better have a serpent tumbling up and down in his
bowels, than to have envy a-gnawing in his soul. Envy is as pernicious
a wickedness, as it is a foolish and a groundless wickedness. Envy is a
scourge to scourge the soul; it is a serpent to sting the soul; it is a
poi.son to swell the soul; it is a saw to saw the soul; it is a moth that
corrupts the soul, and it is a canker that eats up the soul; and there-
fore fly from it, as you would fly from the most cruel and destroying
adversary. O sirs, to be angry, because God is bountiful to others ;
to frown, because God smiles upon others; to be bitter, because God is
sweet in his dealings with others; and to sigh, because God multiplies
favours and blessings upon others; what is this but to turn others' good
into our own hurt, others' glory and mercy into our own punishment
and torment ? And if this be not to create a hell in our own hearts, I am
much mistaken. I shall conclude this first inference with the counsel
of the prophet in that Ps. xlix. 1(5, 17, 'Be not thou afraid when one
is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased ; for when he dieth
he shall carry nothing away ; his glory .shall not descend after him.' When
the bodies of the wicked are rotting in their graves, and their souls are
roaring in hell, none of their worldly greatness, pomp, state, glory,
gallantry, riches, rents, or revenues, shall descend after them to
administer one drop of comfort to them; and therefore never envy their
outward prosperity or worldly glory, &c. But,

(2) Secondly, If the saints have such an excellent, such a transcen-
dent, and such a matchless portion, oh then, let them he content with
their present condition, let them sit down satisfied and contented,
though they have hut a handful of meal in their harrel, and a little
oil in a cruse, 1 Kings xvii. 12. sirs, in having of God you have
much, in having of God you have enough, in having of God you have
all ; and why then should you not sit down quiet with your present
allowance ? Certainly, if much will not satisfy you, if enough will not
satisfy you, if all will not satisfy you, nothing will satisf}'^ you: Heb.
xiiL 5, ' Let your conversation be without covetousness (or love of silver,
as the Greek word signifiesj; and be content with such things as you
have (or as the Greek hath it, a^xou/zico/ ro7j rra^ovsiv, be content with pre-
sent things): for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.'
There are five negatives in the Greek, ' I will not, not, not, not, not
leave thee nor forsake thee ;' fully to assure and fully to satisfy the
people of God that he will never forsake them, and that he will ever-
lastingly stick close to them. What doth this unparalleled gemination,
' I will never, never, never, never, never,' import but this, ' I will ever,

4-8 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

ever, ever, yea and for ever and ever take care of thee, and look after
thee, and be mindful of thee.' Though they had changed their glory
for contempt, Heb. xi. 36-38, their fine raiment for sheep-skins and
goat-skins, their silver for brass, their plenty for scarcity, their fulness
for emptiness, their stately houses for holes and caves, and dens of the
earth, yet they are to be contented and satisfied with present things,
upon this very ground, that God will always cleave to them, and that
he will never turn his back upon them. The Hebrews had been stripped
and plundered of all their goods that were good for any thing, and yet
they must be contented, they must sit down satisfied, with their hands
upon their mouths, though all were gone, Heb. x. 34. Though men cannot
bring their means to their minds, yet they must bring their minds to
their means, and then they will sit down in silence, though they have
but a rag on their backs, a penny in their purse, and a crust in their cup-
boards, &c. O sirs ! a little will serve nature, less will serve grace, though
nothing will serve men's lusts ; and why then should not Christians be
contented with a little?^ O friends ! you have but a short journey to go,
you have but a little way home, and a little will serve to bear your charges
till you come to heaven, and therefore be contented with a little. To have
more than will serve to bring a man to his journey's end is but a bur-
den. One staff is helpful to a man in his journey, but a bundle is hurt-
ful ; and this, doubtless, Jacob well understood when he made that
proposal in Gen. xxviii. 20, 21, * If God will give me bread to eat, and
raiment to put on, then shall the Lord be my God.' Jacob doth not
say. If God will give me delicates and junkets to eat, he shall be my
God ! Oh no ! But if he will give me but bread to eat, though it be
never so coarse, and never so black, and never so dry, he shall be my
God. He doth not say. If God will give me so many hundreds, or so
many thousands a year, he shall be my God ! Oh no ! But if he will
give me bread to eat, he shall be my God. Nor he doth not say, If
God will give me so many hundred pounds in my purse, a comfortable
habitation, and a thriving trade, he shall be my God ! Oh no ! But if
he will give me bread to eat, he shall be my God. Nor he doth not
say. If God will give me costly apparel, or rich and royal raiment to
put on, he shall be my God ! Oh no ! But if God will give me rai-
ment to put on, though it be never so mean and poor, he shall be my
God. If Jacob may but have a little bread to feed him, and a few
clothes to cover him, it is as much as he looks for. Look, as a wicked
man in the fulness of his sufficiency is in straits, as Job speaks. Job xx.
22, so a holy man, in the fulness of his straits, enjoys an all-sufficiency
in God, as you may see in Jacob. O Christians ! though you have
but little, yet you have the highest and the noblest title that can be to
that little that you do enjoy ; for you hold all in capite, as the apostle
sheweth in that large charter of a Christian, ] Cor. iii. 21-23, which the
wicked do not. Now, a hundred a year upon a good title is a better
estate than a thousand a year upon a cracked, crazy title. Saints have
the best title under heaven for all they enjoy, be it little or be it much.
But all the titles that sinners have to their earthly enjoyments are but
crazy titles, yea, in comparison of the saints' titles, they are no titles.

' Nature is content with a little, as not to starve, not to thirst, saith Galen,

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 49

Again, That little that a saint hath, he hath it from the special love
and favour of God ; he hath it from, a reconciled God, Prov. xv. 17.
Now, a little from special love is better than a great deal from a general
providence. A penny fr-om a reconciled God is better than a pound
from a bountifril God ; a shilling from God as a father is a better estate
than an hundred from God as a creator. The kiss that a king gave to
one in the story, was a greater gift than the golden cup that he gave
to another ; a little, with the kisses of God's mouth, is better than all
the gold of Ophir, Cant. i. 2. A drop of mercy from special love is
better than a sea of mercy from common bounty. Look, as one draught
of clear, sweet spring water is more pleasing, satisfying, and delightful
to the palate than a sea of brackish salt water, so one draught out of
the fountain of special grace is more pleasing, satisfying, and delightful
to a gracious soul than a whole sea of mercy from a spring of common
grace : and therefore do not wonder when you see a Christian sit down
contented with a little.

Again, That little that a Christian hath shcM he certainly blessed
and sanctified to him, 1 Tim. iv. 3-5 ; Titus i. 15 ; Jer. xxxii. 41, &c.
Though thy mercies, Christian, are never so few, and never so mean,
yet they shall assuredly be blessed unto thee. The Lord hath not only
promised that he will bless thy blessings to thee, but he hath also sworn
by himself that in blessing he will bless thee ; and how darest thou
then, O Christian, to think that the great and faithful God will be
guilty of a be, or that which is worse, of perjury ? Gen. xxii. 16, 17.
Now, a little blessed is better than a great deal cursed ; a little blessed
is better than a world enjoyed ; a pound blessed is better than a thou-
sand cursed ; a black crust blessed is better than a feast cursed ; the
gleanings blessed are better than the whole harvest cursed ; a drop of
mercy blessed is better than a sea of mercy cursed ; Lazarus's crumbs
blessed was better than Dives his delicates cursed ; Jacob's Uttle blessed
unto him was better than Esau's great estate that was cursed unto him.
It is always better to have scraps with a blessing than to have manna
and quails with a curse ; a thin table with a blessing is always better
than a full table with a snare, Ps. Ixxviii. 18, 32 ; a thread-bare coat
with a blessing is better than a purple robe cursed ; a hole, a cave, a
den, a barn, a chimney-corner, with a blessing, is better than stately
palaces with a curse ; a woollen cap blessed is better than a golden
crown cursed ; and it may be that emperor understood as much, that
said of his crown, when he looked on it with tears, If you knew the
cares that are under this crown, you would never stoop to take it up.*
And, therefore, why should not a Christian be contented with a little,
seeing his little shall be blessed unto him ? Isaac tills the ground, and
sows his seed, and God blesses him with an hundred fold. Gen. xxvl 1 2 ;
and Cain tills the ground, and sows his seed, but the earth is cursed to
him, and commanded not to yield to him his strength. Gen. iv. 12. Oh,
therefore, never let a Christian murmur because he hath but a little,
but rather let him be still a-blessing of that God that hath blessed his
little, and that doth bless his little, and that will bless his little to him.

Again, That little estate that a righteous man hath is most com/monly

» Cyrufl.— G.

VQL. IL D

60 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

a more lasting, a more abiding, a more permanent, and a more en-
during estate than the great and large estates of the wicked are, Pro v.
XV. 16, and xvi. 8. Ps. xxxvii. 16, ' A little that a righteous man hath,
is better than the riches of many wicked.' One old piece of gold is
worth more than a thousand new counters, and one box of pearls is
more worth than many loads of pebbles, and one hundred pounds a
year for ever is better than many hundreds in hand. It is very observ-
able the psalmist doth not simply say, the estate, but the rich estate ;
the riches not of one, or a few, but of many wicked, are not comparable
to that little that a righteous man hath. The Hebrew word l^J^'i, Ha-
mxyn, that is here rendered riches, signifies also a multitude, or an
abundance, or store of riches.^ A little that a righteous man hath is
better than the multitude of riches, or the abundance of riches, or the
store of riches that many wicked men have ; and he gives you the
reason of this in the l7th verse : ' For the arms of the wicked shall be
broken, but he upholdeth (or under-props) the righteous.' By ' the arms
of the wicked,* you are to understand their strength, their valour, their
power, their wit, their wealth, their abundance, which is all the arms
they have to support and bear up themselves in the world with. Now,
these arms shall be broken, and when they are broken, then, even then,
will God uphold the righteous, that is, God will be a continual over-
flowing fountain of good to his righteous ones, so that they shall never
want, though all the springs of the wicked are dried up round about
them.

O Sirs ! there are so many moths, and so many dangers, and so
many crosses, and so many losses, and so many curses that daily attends
the great estates of wicked men, that they are very rarely long-lived.
Ah ! how many in this great city are there that have built their nests
on high, and that have thought that they had laid up riches for many
years, and that have said in their hearts, that their lands, and stocks,
and trades, and houses, and pompous estates should abide for ever, who
are now broken in pieces like a potter's vessel. Ah ! how often doth
the pride, the oppression, the lying, the cheating, the over-reaching,
the swearing, the cursing, the whoring, the covetousness, the drunken-
ness, and the wantonness of the wicked, cut the throat of all their
mercies ! These are the wickednesses that as a fire bums up all their
outward enjoyments, and that turns their earthly paradise into a real
helL It is the wickedness of the wicked that causeth their prosperity
to wither, and that provokes God to turn their plenty into scarcity,
their glory into contempt, and their honour into shame. It is very
observable, that in the holy Scriptures the prosperous estates of the
wicked are frequently compared to things of an abrupt existence,^ to a
shadow which soon passeth away; to chaff, which a puff, a blast of wind
easily disperseth and scattereth; to grass, which quickly withereth
before the sun ; to tops of corn, which in an instant are cut off; to the
unripe grape, which on a sudden drops down ; yea, to a dream in the
night ; and what is a dream, but a quick fancy, and a momentary
vanity ? All the riches that the wicked gain, either by their trades, or by

* From this word Bamon comes the word Mammon, Luke xvi. 9.
» Job xiv. 2; xxi. 17, 18; Isa. xxix. 5; 2 Kings xix. 26; Job xxiv. 24; xv. 33;
ZZ.8.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 51

their friends, or by their great places, or by their high offices, or by their
subtle contrivances, or by their sinful compliances ; and all the honour
they gain in the court, or in the camp, or in the school, is but light and
inconstant ; it is but like the crackling of thorns under a pot. They
are fading vanities, that commonly die before those that enjoy them
are laid in the dust.

Oh, therefore, let all Christians be contented with their little, seeing
that their little shall outlast the large estates of wicked and ungodly
men. A man that hath God for his portion can truly say that which
no wicked man in the world can say, viz., * Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord for ever,' Ps. xxiii. 6. The psalmist doth not say that good-
ness and mercy should follow him a day, or a few days, or many days,
but that 'goodness and mercy should follow him all the days of his life.'
The Hebrew word radaph, that is here rendered to follmv, signifies to
persecute ; saith the psalmist, * Goodness and mercy shall follow me, as
the persecutor follows him he persecutes;' that is, it shall follow me frf
quently, it shall follow me constantly, it shall follow me swiftly, it sha.
follow me earnestly, it shall follow me unweariedly. The word signifies^
a studious, anxious, careful, diligent following ; it is a metaphor that is
taken from beasts and birds of prey, that follow and fly after their prey
with the greatest eagerness, closeness, and unweariedness imaginable.
Why thus should mercy and loving-kindness follow David all the days
of his life; and if in a temptation, he should prove so weak and so
foolish as to run from goodness and mercy, yet goodness and mercy
should follow him, like as the sun going down followeth the passenger
that goeth eastward with his warm beams.

O, but now the mercies of the wicked are short-lived. Though the
wicked flourish and spread themselves like a green bay tree one day,
yet they are cut down the next, and there is neither root nor branch
to be found, tale nor tidings to be heard of them ; for in a moment,
they, with all their greatness, state, pomp, and glory, are utterly van-
ished and banished out of the world, Ps. xxxvii. 35-37. And so, Ps.
xxxiv. 10, ' The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that
seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.' Young lions are lusty,
strong, fierce, and active to seek their prey, and have it they will if it
be to be had : and yet for all that they shall lack and suffer hunger.
By young lions, the learned understand,

[1.] First, All wicked rulers; men that are in the highest places and
authority, as the lion is the king of beasts, Prov. xxviii. 15, Ezek.
xxxii. 2.

[2.] Secondly, By lions they understand all cruel oppressors, that are
still oppressing and grinding of the faces of the poor: Prov. xxx. 30 ;
* rich cormorants,' as the Septuagint renders it, ' who live on the spoil
of the poor, and are never satisfied.'

[3.] Thirdly, By lions, they understand the tyrants and the mighty
Nimrods of the world, which are sometimes called lions, Jer. ii. 15,
1 Chron. xi. 22, Nahum ii. 13.

[4.] ATid lastly. By lions, they understand all the crafty and subtle
politicians of the earth : Ezek. xxxviii. 13, 'The lion lurks very craftily
and, secretly for his prey.' The sum of all is this, That wicked men

52 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

that are in the highest authority, and that great oppressors, cruel
tyrants, and crafty politicians shall be impoverished, and brought to
penury, beggary, and misery. And this we have often seen verified
before our eyes.

O Christian ! what though thou hast but a little of this world, yet
the God of all mercies, and all the mercies of God, the God of all com-
forts, and all the comforts of God, are thine ; and what wouldst thou
have more ? In God is fulness, all fulness, infinite fulness ; and if thi.s,
with a little of the world, will not satisfy thee, I know not what will.
If a God for thy portion will not content thee, all the world will never
content thee. Shall Diogenes, a heathen, be more content with his
tub to shelter him, and with his dish to drink in, than Alexander was
with all his conquests?' And shall not a Christian sit down contented
and satisfied in the enjoyment of God for his portion, though he hath
but a tub to shelter him, bread to feed him, and a dish of water to
refresh him ? I shall conclude this head with a weighty saying of
Cato's, Si quid est quo utar utor, si non seio quia sum ; mihi vitio
vertunt, quia multis egeo, et ego illis, quia nequeunt egere. I have
neither house, nor plate, nor garments of any price in my hands ; what
I have I can use ; if not, I can want it : some blame me because I want
many things, and I blame them because they cannot want.* Oh let
not nature do more than grace ! Oh let not this heathen put Chris-
tians to a blush ! But,

(3.) Thirdly, If God be the saint s portion, the sinners are much mis-
taken, that judge the saints to be the most unhappy men in the world.
There are no men under heaven in such a biassed and happy estate as
the saints are, Baalam himself being judge, Num. xxiii. 5-11. A man
that hath God for his portion, is honourable even in rags, Ps. xvi. 3. He
liath some beams, some rays, of the majesty and glory of God stamped
upon his soul, and shining upon his face, and glittering in his life; and
he that is so blind as not to behold this, is worse than Balaam the witch.
Though the blind Jews could see no form, nor comeliness, nor beauty in
Christ that they should desire him, Isa. liii. 2 ; yet the wise men that came
from the east could see his divinity sparkling in the midst of the straw ;
they could see an heavenly majesty and glory upon him when he lay
among the beasts, when he lay in a manger, Luke ii. 7. Witness their
tedious journey to find him, and witness their worshipping of him, and
witness those rich and royal presents that they brought unto him, Mat.
ii. 11. So though the blind sots of the world can see no lovehness nor
comehness,.no beauty nor glory, in the saints, or upon the saints, that
should render them amiable and desirable in their eyes, yet God, and
Christ, and angels, and those that are wise in heart and wise to salva-
tion, can see a great deal of divine beauty, majesty, and glory upon all
those that have God for their portion. There is no happiness to that
of having God for a man's portion : Ps. cxliv. 15, ' Happy is that people
that is in such a case' (but give me that word again), *yea, happy is that
people whose God is the Lord.' He that hath not God for his portion

' The immortal ' tub,' belonging to the Metroum or temple of the mother of the gods.
Cf. Seneca, Ep. 99. Lucian, Quomodo Conscr. Hist. ii. p. 364. Diog. Laert. vi, 23 ;
Jnvenal xiv. 308; also Plutarch, Alexander, c. 14 — G.

* Aulus Gelliua. [Cato, sub Indice. — G.]

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 53

can never be happy, and he that enjoys God for his portion can never
be miserable. Augustine, speaking of one who, passing by a stately
house which had fair lands about it, and asking another whom he met
to whom that house and lands belonged, he answered, to such an one.
Oh, says he, that is a happy man indeed. No, says the other, not so
happy as you think; for it is no such happiness to have that house and
land, but he is happy indeed that hath the Lord for his God, for that is
a. privilege that exceeds all things whatsoever. Fch-, saith he, he that
hath honour and riches may go to hell for all them, but he that hath
God to be his God, is sure to be everlastingly happy. According as a
man's portion is, so is he. Now, if God be a man's portion, who is the
spring, the fountain, the top of all excellency and glory, then certainly
that man must needs be an excellent man that hath God for his por-
tion ; and upon this score it is that the righteous man is more excellent
than bis neighbour.' Let the righteous man's neighbour be never so
great, and never so rich, and never so mighty, and never so noble, yet
if he hath not God for his portion, the righteous man is more excellent
than he. And the reason is evident, because he hath that God for his
portion that is most eminent and excellent. O sirs ! if God be most
excellent, if God be alone excellent, then they must needs be most ex-
cellent that have God for their portion. It is very observable that,
according to the excellency of God, the excellency of the saints is in
some proportion hinted at in Scripture ; as in that Deut. xxxiii. 26, 29,
' There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun ;' and presently it follows,
'Happy art thou,-0 Israel; who is like unto thee?' or. Oh the happi-
nesses of thee, O Israel ! Oh the multiplied happiness, the heaped-up
happiness, that attends Israel ! The saints that have God for their por-
tion are the world's paragons; they are worthies 'of whom this world is
not worthy ;' they are such great, such noble, such worthy worthies, that
this world is not worthy to think on them, to look on them, to wait on
them, or to enjoy their company. One saint that hath God for his por-
tion, is more worth than all the millions of sinners in the world that
have not God for their portion. God delights to reflect his glory upon
his saints; for as there are none like to God, so there are none like to
the people of God. Look, as God is a nonsuch, so his people are a
nonsuch ; and so in that 2 Sam. vii. 22, 23, ' Wherefore thou art great,
O Lord God ; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides
thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears; and what one
nation in the earth is like thy people V Look, as the excellency of God
rises, so in a proportion the excellency of the saints rises ; and look, as
there are no gods in all the world that are so excellent as God is, so
there are no people in all the world that are so excellent as the people
of God are. Every one that hath God for his portion resembles the
child of a king, as Zeba and Zalmunna said to Gideon of his brethren.
Judges viii. 18. If you look upon their divine and heavenly origin, you
shall find that they are bom of the blood-royal, and that they are his
sons who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords; yea, all the saints that
have God for their portion are kings : Rev, i. 6, 'And hath made us kings

' Prov. xii. 26. A man that hath God for his portion, doth as much excel and out-
shine such as have only Mammon for their portion, as the sun excels and out-shines the
stars, t

54 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. fLAM. III. 24.

and priests unto God and his Father.' ^ They have the power, sovereignty,
and authority of kings, they arc privileged as kings, they are guarded
as kings, they are adorned as kings, they are entertained as kings, they
feed as kings, they feed high, they live upon God and Christ, and all
the glory of heaven ; and they are clothed as kings, they are clothed
with Christ's righteousness, and with the garments of joy and gladness.
Kings have great alliance, and so have the saints that have God for
their portion. Kings have a very great influence, and so have they that
have God for their portion. A man in rags that hath God for his por-
tion is a more honourable person than the greatest monarch on earth
that hath only the world for his portion. I have read of Alexander the
Great, and of Pompey the Great, and of Charles the Great, and of Abner
the Great, and of Herod the Great ; but what were all these great men
but grasshoppers to the saints that have God for their portion ? Men
that have had God for their portion have been very famous, illus-
trious, and glorious, when they have been friendless, and houseless, and
penniless ; yea, when they have been under the swords, and saws, and
haiTOws of persecution.^ When Maximian, the tyrant, had plucked out
one of Paphnutius the Confessor's eyes, that good emperor Constantine
saw such a lustre, beauty, and glory upon Paphnutius, that he fell upon
him and kissed him ; and he kissed that very hole most wherein one of
the Confessor's eyes had been, as being most ravished and delighted with
that hole. His name that hath God for his portion shall live, when the
name of the wicked shall rot, Prov. x. 7, Ps. cxii. 9. His name shall be
written in golden characters upon marble, when the name of the wicked
shall be written in the dust.

The blind besotted world are sadly out, who are ready to set the
crown of honour and happiness upon any heads, rather than upon theirs
that have God for their portion. Look, as Samuel, beholding the
beauty and stature of Eliab, would needs have him anointed, and the
crown set upon his head, when the crown was designed for David at the
sheep-fold, 1 Sam. xvi. 6, 12, so vain men are very apt to set the crown
of happiness upon their heads who have the greatest share in this world,
whenas the crown of happiness and blessedness is only to be set on their
heads that have God for their portion. What the Queen of Sheba said
of Solomon's servants, ' Happy are thy men, happy are these thy ser-
vants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom,'
1 Kings X. 8, is here very applicable to the saints : * Happy, happy,
yea, thrice happy are those precious sons and daughters of Sion that
have God for their portion.' A man that hath God for his portion shall
live happily and die happily, and after death he shall remain happy to
all eternity ; and therefore we may well cry out, ' Oh, the happiness and
blessedness of that man that hath God for his portion 1' But,

(4.) Fourthly, If the saints have such an excellent, such a matchless,
portion, oh, then, let them never set their hearts and affections upon
any earthly portions, Prov. xxiii. 5. It is true, O.Christian, thou mayest
lay thy hand upon an earthly portion, but thou must never set thy heart
upon an earthly portion : Ps. Ixii. 10, 'If riches increase, set not thy
heart upon them.' The Hebrews put the heart for the thoughts, affec-

' Rev. xvii. 14, v. 10 ; Daniel vii. 27 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23 ; Ps. xxxiv. 14 ; Heb. i. 14 ;
Ps. xlv. 13 ; I Cor. i 30. * As you may see in the 10th and 11th chaps, of the Hebrews.

Lam. III. 24«.] an ark for all god's noahs. 55

tions, love, desire, joy, hope, confidence, &c. If riches increase, oh, set
not thy thoughts upon them ; if riches increase, oh, set not thy affec-
tions upon them ; if riches increase, oh, set not thy love upon them,
set not thy desires upon them, set not thy joy and delight upon them,
nor never place thy hope or confidence in them. Oh ! what a shame
and dishonour would it be to see men of great estates to rake in dung-
hills, and to sweep channels, and to carry tankards of water, and to cry
trifles up and down the streets ! And is it not a greater shame, a
greater dishonour, to see tliose that have the great God for their portion,
to set their hearts and affections upon a little white and yellow clay ?
It was a generous speech of that heathen, Themistocles, who, seeing
something glister like a pearl in the dark, scorned to stoop for it him-
self, but bid another stoop, saying. Stoop thou, for thou art not Themis-
tocles.^ Oh ! it is below a generous Christian, a grsicious Christian, a
noble Christian, that hath God for his portion, to stoop to the things of
this world. A true-bred Christian will set his feet upon those very
things that the men of the world set their hearts : Rev. xii. 1 , ' And
there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars.' The church is compared to a woman for her weakness, for her
lovingness,for her comeliness, and for her fruitfulness ; and being clothed
with the Sun of righteousness, she hath the moon, that is, the world,
under her feet. The church treads under her feet all temporary and
transitory things, which are as changeable as the moon. She treads
upon all worldly and carnal enjoyments and contentments, as things
below her, as things not worthy of her. What vanity is it for a great
man to set his heart on bird's nests, and paper kites that boys make
fly in the air ? And as great, yea, a greater vanity it is for the saints
that have God for their portion, to set their hearts upon the poor little
low things of this world. It is not for you to be a-fishing for gudgeons,
but for towns, forts, and castles, said Cleopatra to Mark Antony. So say
I, it is not for you that have Ciod for your portion, to be a-fishing for
the honours, riches, and preferments of the world ; but for more
grace, more holiness, more communion with God, more power
against corruptions, more strength to withstand temptations, more
abilities to bear afiiictions, more sense of divine love, and more assur-
ance of interest in Christ, and in all that glory and happiness that
comes by Christ. When Alexander heard of the riches of India, he
regarded not the kingdom of Macedonia, but gave away his gold ; and
when he was asked, what he kept for himself? he answered, Spem
tnajorum et meliorwrn, the hope of better and greater things.^ O sirs !
when you look upon those riches of grace, those riches of glory, those
riches of justification, those riches of sanctification, and those riches of
consolation that are in that God that is your portion, how should you
disregard, how should you despise, how should you scorn the great
things, and the gay things of the world ! It was a notable speech of
Erasmus, if his wit were not too quick for his conscience ? I desire, said
he, neither wealth nor honour, no more than a feeble horse doth an
heavy cloak-bag. O Christians ! you have many thousand excellencies

• Plutarch in Life of Themistocles. — G.

(* Plutarch: Alexander. — G. » Melchior A dam : Erasmus. — G.

56 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

in God to set your affections upon, and you have many thousand excel-
lencies in Christ to set your aftections upon, and you have many thou-
sand excellencies in the Spirit to set your affections upon, and you have
many thousand excellencies in the covenant to set your affections upon,
and you have many thousand excellencies in the gospel to set your
affections upon, and you have many thousand excellencies in the ordi-
nances to set your affections upon, and you have many thousand
excellencies in promises to set your affections upon, and you have many
thousand excellencies in prophecies to set your affections upon, and
you have many thousand excellencies in rare providences to set your
affections upon, and you have many thousand excellencies in the saints
to set your affections upon ; and therefore, for shame, set not your
affections upon things below, set not your hearts upon things that
perish. Col. iii. 1. A man can never come to set his heart upon any
earthly portion, but that God will either embitter it, or lessen it, or
cloud it, or wholly strip him of it ; and therefore sit loose, I say again,
sit loose in your affections to all worldly enjoyments. But,

(5.) Fifthly, If the saints have such a glorious, such an incomparable
portion ; then let them he cheerful and comfortable under aU worldly
crosses, losses, and troubles. Acts v. 17-42, Rom. v. 2-4. With what
a Roman spirit do many vain men of great estates bear up under great
losses and crosses ; and shall not grace do more than nature 1 Shall not
the Spirit of God do more than a Roman spirit ? O sirs, how can you
look upon God as your portion, and not bear up bravely under any
worldly loss? Heb. x. 34. 'For ye had compassion of me in my bonds,
and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that
ye have in heaven a better, and an enduring substance.' They had
God for their portion, and the joy of the Lord was their strength, and
therefore they could rejoice in whatever damage came upon them by
the hand of violence. And so David could comfort himself in his God,
and encourage himself in his God, when Ziklag was burned, his wives and
children carried captive, and the people in a readiness to stone him, 1 Sam.
XXX. 6. Now all was gone, he looks up to God as his portion, and so he
bears up bravely and cheerfully in the midst of all extremity of misery.^
And so Habakkuk was a man of the same noble temper, as you may
see in that Hab. iii. 17, 18 : ' 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 rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation. Although the fig-tree shall not
blossom, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.' Ay, but that is nothing, to
rejoice in the Lord as long as there is fruit in the vines ; ay, but
saith he, ' Though there be no fruit in the vines, yet I will rejoice in
the Lord.' Ay, but that is nothing, to rejoice in the Lord so long as
the labour of the olive doth not fail ; ay, but saith he, ' Though the
labour of the olive shall fail, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.' Ay, but
that is nothing, to rejoice in the Lord so long as the fields do yield their
meat ; ay, but saith he, ' Though the fields shall yield no meat, yet I
will rejoice in the Lord/ Ay, but that is nothing, to rejoice in the

^ Better is that hell on earth which makes way for heaven, than that heaven on earth
which makes way for helL

Lam. III. 24] an ark for all god's noahs. 57

Lord, so long as the flock is not cut off from the fold ; ay, but saith
he, ' Though the flock shall be cut off from the fold, yet I will rejoice
in the Lord." Ay, but that is nothing, to rejoice in the Lord, so long
as there be herds in the stalls ; aye, but saith he, ' Though there be no
herd in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of
my salvation.' Habakkuk could rejoice in the Lord, and joy in that God
that was his portion, not only when all delightful comforts and content-
ments should fail, but also when all necessary comforts and contentments
should fail. Habakkuk was a man of raised spirit, he knew that he
had that God for his portion that did contain in himself all comforts
and contentments, and that could easily make up the want of any
comfort or contentment, and that would certainly lie himself in the
room of every comfort and contentment, that either his children should
need or desire; and in the power of this faith he rejoices and triumphs
in a day of thick darkness and gloominess : 1 Sam, i. 5, 18, ' But unto
Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loveji Hannah, and her
countenance was no more sad.' O my brethren, it doth no ways
become those that have God for their portion to walk up and down the
world with clouded countenances, with sadded countenances, or with
dejected countenances, &c., and therefore, under all your crosses and
losses, wipe your eyes, and walk up and down with pleasant counte-
nances, with cheerful countenances, and with smiling countenances, and
this will be an honour to God, and an honour to religion, and an honour
to profession, and an honour to that saintship that is too much slighted
and scorned in the world.

Indeed, when wicked men are exercised with crosses and losses, it is
no wonder to see them take on like madmen, and see them take on bit-
terly, like Micah, when he cried out, ' They have taken away my gods,
and what have I more ? and what is this that ye say unto me. What
aileth thee ?' Wicked men's bags and goods are their gods ; they are
their portion, they are their all ; and when these are gone, all is gone
with them ; when these are taken away, all is taken away with them ;
and therefore it is no wonder to hear them cry out, ' Undone, undone !'
and to see them sit down and weep, as if they were resolved to drown
themselves in their own tears. But you that have God for your por-
tion, you have such a portion that shall never be taken from you. As
Christ told Mary, ' Thou hast chosen the better part that shall never be
taken from thee,' Luke x. 42 ; and therefore it highly concerns you to
bear up bravely, as well when you have but little, as when you have
much ; and as well when you have nothing, as when you have every-
thing. You shall be sure to enjoy all in God, and God in all ; and what
would you have more ? Seneca once told a courtier that had lost his
son, that he had no cause to mourn either for that or aught else, because
Caesar was his friend ! O then, what little cause have the saints to
mourn for this or that loss, considering that God is their friend ; yea,
which is more, that God is their portion. I have read of a company of
poor Christians, who, being banished to some remote parts, and one
standing by, seeing them pass along, said, that it was a very sad condition
that those poor people were in, to be thus hurried from the society of
men, and to be made companions with the beasts of the field ; True,
said another, it were a sad condition indeed, if they were carried to a

58 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

place where they could not find their God ; but let them be of good
cheer, for God goes along with them, and will follow them with the
comforts of his grace wheresoever they go. Would it not make a man
either sigh or laugh to see a man lament and take on bitterly for the
loss of his shoe-strings, when his purse is safe ; or for the loss of a little
lumber, when all his goods are safe ; or for the burning of a pig-stye,
when his dwelling-house is safe ; or for the loss of his scabbard, when
his life is safe ? And why, then, should a Christian lament and take
on for the loss of this or that, so long as his God is safe, and his portion
is safe ? But,

(6.) Sixthly, If the saints have such an excellent and such a trans-
cendent portion, as hath been discovered, then away with all sinful
shifts, ways, courses, and compliances to gain an earthly portion.
Was it not horrid, yea, hellish baseness in Ahab, who had a whole
kingdom at his devotion, to possess himself of poor Naboth's vineyard,
by false swearing, hypocrisy, treachery, cruelty, and blood ? 1 Kings xxi.
But, certainly, it is a far greater baseness and wickedness in those that
have God for their portion, or at least pretend to have God for their
portion, to be a-sharking,^ and a-shifting, and a-complying with the lusts
of men, and with the abominations of the times ; and all to hold what
they have, or else to raise themselves, and greaten themselves, and en-
rich themselves, by others' ruin. These men might do well to make that
Jer. xvii. 11 their daily companion : ' As the partridge sitteth on eggs,
and hatcheth them not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right,
shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.'
The crafty fox in the fable hugged himself to think how he had cozened
the crow of his breakfast ; but when he had eaten it, and found him-
self poisoned with it, he wished that he had never meddled with it.
O sirs ! there is a day a-coming, wherein men shall wish that they
had never laboured to sin themselves into honours, riches, preferments,
high offices, and high places, when God shall let some scalding drops of
his wrath to fall upon their spirits, who have sold all Christ's and Chris-
tians' concernments, and their own consciences, to gain riches and high
offices ! How will they curse the day wherein they were born, and be
ready, by the knife or the halter, to put an end to their most wretched
days ! Oh what a sad and lamentable thing would it be to see men
worth many thousands a-year a-purloining from others ! But it is a far
more sad and lamentable thing to see men who pretend to have God
for their portion, to act all this, and more than this, and all to lay up
an earthly portion for themselves and others. How many be there
in these days who pretend very high towards God, and yet ' sell the
righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes,' Amos ii. 6 ; yea,
that pollute the name of God, the worship of God ; and that slay the
souls of men for handfuls of barley, and pieces of bread ; and that will
say anything, or swear anything, or bow, or crouch to anything, for a
piece of silver and a morsel of bread, or to be put into one of the priest's
offices, Ezek. xiii. 19, 1 Sam. ii. 36. Christian, thou hast all honours
and riches and preferments in that God that is thy portion ; and why
then shouldst thou go about to sin thyself into the enjoyment of those
things which thou hast already in thy God ? Hast thou forgot that

' * Swindling.' — G,

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 59

Solomon got more hurt by his wealth, than ever he got good by his
wisdom ? and that David was best in a wilderness, and that our sto-
machs are usually worse in summer, and that the moon is furthest from
the sun when it is fullest of light ; and that all that a man gets by break-
ing with God and his conscience, he may put in his eye ; and that the
coal that the eagle carried from the sacrifice to her nest, set all on fire.*
Have you forgotten what is said of Abraham in that Gen. xiii 2, viz.,
' That lie was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold ?" The Hebrew
word cabbedh, that is here rendered rich, signifies heavy, to shew that
riches are a very heavy burden, and oftentimes an hindrance in the way
to heaven. Oh ! how vain, how uncertain, how vexing, and how divid-
ing are the great things of the world ! How unfit do they make many
men to live, and how unwilling do they make many men to die ! Oh
what is gold in the purse, when there is guilt upon the conscience !
What are full bags, when sin and wrath are at the bottom of them ! O
sirs ! you have an infinite fulness in that God that is your portion, and
that fills all in all ; and whv then should you break the hedge to gain
the world ? But,

(7.) Seventhly. If the saints have such an excellent, glorious, and
incomparable portion, 1 Cor. i. 31, oh then let them glory in their por-
tion, let them rejoice and delight thernselves in their portion. Man is
a creature very apt and prone to glory in earthly portions, when he
should be a-glorying in the Lord : Jer. ix. 23, 24, * Thus saith the Lord,
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man
glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him
that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that
I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteous-
ness in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord ;' Isa.
xli. 16, ' Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One
of Israel ;' and chap. xlv. 25, * In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory." Oh how should the saints, that have God for
their portion, make their boast of their God, and rejoice in their God,
and glory in their God ! Shall the men of the world glory in an earthly
portion, and shall not a saint glory in his heavenly portion ? Shall they
glory in a portion that they have only in hope, and shall not a Chris-
tian glory in that portion that he hath already in hand ? Shall they
glory in a portion that they have only in reversion, and shall not a
saint glory in that portion that he hath in present possession ? Shall
they glory in their hundreds and thousands a year, and shall not a
Christian glory in that God that fills heaven and earth with his glory ?
In all the scriptures there is no one duty more pressed than this, of
rejoicing in God ; and indeed, if you consider God as a saint's portion,
there is everything in God that may encourage the soul to rejoice in
liim, and there is nothing in God that may in the least discourage the
soul from rejoicing and glorying in him.^ O Christians, the 'joy of
the Lord is your strength,' Neb. viii. 10 ; it is your doing strength, and
your bearing strength, and your suffering strength, and your prevailing
strength ; it is your strength to work for God, and it is your strength

' .^sop: [Balorius].— G.

* Compare these scriptures together: Philip, iii. 1, iv. 4; Ezek. x. 17; Joel ii. 23; Pa.
xxxiji. 1, lixix. 12, 13, tjdix. 1, 2.

60 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

to wait on God, and it is your strength to exalt and lift up God, and it
is your strength to walk with God ; it is your strength to live, and your
strength to die, and therefore be sure to keep up your joy in God. It
is one of the saddest sights in all the world to see a man that hath God
for his portion, with Cain to walk up and down this world with a de-
jected countenance. It was holy joy and cheerfulness that made the
faces of several martyrs to shine as if they had been the faces of angels.
One observes of Crispina, that she was cheerful when she was appre-
hended, and joyful when she was led to the judge, and meiTy when she
was sent to prison, and so she was when bound, and when lift up in a
cage, and when examined, and when condemned.^ O Christians ! how
can you number up the several souls that you deject, the foul mouths
that you open, and the bad reports that you bring upon the Lord and
his ways by your sad, dejected, and uncomfortable walking! It is very
observable that the Lord takes it so very unkindly at his people's hands
when they go sighing, lamenting, and mourning up and down, whenas
they should be a-rejoicing and a-delighting of themselves in him and
his goodness, that he threatens to pursue them to the death with all
manner of calamities and miseries upon that very score : Deut. xxviii.
47, 48, ' Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness,
and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore
shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee,
in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things ;
and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed
thee.' But,

(8.) Eighthly. If the saints have such a great, such a large, and such
an all-sufficient portion as hath been shewed they have, then certainly
they shall never want anything that is good for them. David tells
you that his cup run over, Ps. xxiii. 5, 6. The words are an allusion
to the Hebrew feasts. David's table was richly and nobly spread, both
in sight and spite of all his enemies. In one God is every good ; and
what can he want that enjoys that God ? God is a bundle of all good-
ness and sweetness. And look, as God is the best God, so he is the
greatest and the fullest good. He can as easily fill the most capacious
souls up to the very brim with all inward and outward excellencies and
mercies, as Christ did once fill those water-pots of Galilee up to the
very brim with wine, John ii. 1-11. If God hath enough in himself
for himself, then certainly he hath enough in himself for us ; that water
that can fill the sea can much more easily fill my cup or my pot : ' My
people shall be satisfied with goodness, saith the Lord,' Jer. xxxi. 14 ;
' And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not
turn away from them to do them good, yea, I will rejoice over them to
do them good ; and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my
whole heart, and with my whole soul,' Jer. xxxii. 40, 41 ; ' My God shall
supply all your need,' Philip, iv. 19, or, ' My God shall ("^rXi^^usu") fill up
all your need,' as he did the widow's vessels in that 2 Kings iv. 3-6.
Godliness hath the promise both of this life and that which is to come,
1 Tim. iv. 8. He that hath God for his portion shall have all other
things cast into his store, as paper and packthread is cast into the bar-
gain, or as an handful of corn is cast into the corn you buy, or as huck-
* August, in Ps. cxxxviL [Clarke as before. — G.]

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 61

sters cast in an overcast among the fruit you buy, or as an inch of
measure is given into an ell of cloth, Mat. vi. 25, 31-33. O sirs, how
can that man be poor, how can that man want, that hath the Lord of
heaven and earth for his portion ? Surely he cannot want light that
enjoys the sun, nor he cannot want bread that hath all sorts of grain
in his bams, nor he cannot want water that hath the fountain at his
door ; no more can he want anything that hath God for his portion,
who is everything, and who will be ever3rthing to every gracious soul.
O sirs ! the thought, the tongue, the desire, the wish, the conception,
all fall short of God, and of that great goodness that he hath laid up for
them that fear him, Ps. xxxi. 19 ; and why then should they be afraid of
wants ? Ps. civ. 10-31. How doth that pretty bird the robin-redbreast
cheerfully sit and sing in the chamber window, and yet knows not
where he shall make the next meal, and at night must take up his
lodging in a bush. Oh what a shame is it that men that have God for
their portion should act below this little bird. I have read of famous
Mr Dod, who is doubtless now high in heaven,' who intended to marry,
was much troubled with fears and cares how he should live in that con-
dition, his incomes being so small that they would but maintain him in
a single condition ; and looking out at a window, and seeing a hen
scraping for food for her numerous brood about her, thought thus with
himself : This hen did but live before it had these chickens, and now
she lives with all her little ones ; up6n which he added this thought
also, I see the fowls of the air neither sow nor reap, nor gather into
barns, and yet my heavenly Father feeds them, Mat. vi. 25 ; and thus
he overcame his fears of wanting.^ O Christians! you have such a
Father for your portion, as will as soon cease to be, as he will cease to
supply you with all things necessary for your good. It was a good say-
ing of one, I would desire neither more nor less than enough ; for I may
as well die of a surfeit as of hunger, and he is rich enough that lacketh
not bread, and high enough in dignity that is not forced to serve.
Plutarch's reasoning is good, «■« '"wv p/X5v 'xa.yra. xotm, friends have all
things in common ; but God is our friend, ergo we cannot want; a
rare speech from an heathen. Rather than Israel should want, did
not God feed them with manna in the wilderness ? and rather than
Elijah and the widow should not have their wants supplied, did
not God work a miracle, by causing the handful of meal in the
barrel, and the little oil in the cruse, to last and hold out till he
supplied them in another way ? Rather than Elijah shall want, God
will feed him with a raven, and by that miraculous operation save him
from a perishing condition. O sirs ! all the attributes of God are so
engaged for you that you cannot want, and all the promises of God are
60 engaged to you that you cannot want, and all the affections of God
are so set upon you that you cannot want ; and why then should you
fear wants ? O sirs ! hath God given you his Son, his Spirit, his grace,
his glory, yea, himself, and will he deny you lesser things,^ Rom. viii. 32.
Hath he given you those things that are more worth than ten thousand

• Died 1645, aged 96 ; for other references to this holy and venerable man, see Index,
mb nomine. — G.

» See Life of Dod in Brook's ' Puritans,' Vol. iii. seq. — G.

' Gregory the great was wont to say, that he was a poor man, whose soul was void of
grsuse, pot he whose coffers were empty of money.

62 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

worlds, and will he not give you bread to eat, and raiment to put on ?
Hath he given you those spiritual riches that infinitely exceed and excel
all the riches, rubies, and pearls in the world ; and will he deny you a
little money in your purses to bear your charges till you come to heaven?
Hath he given you a crown, and will he deny you a crust ? Hath he
given you his royal robes, and will he deny you a few rags ? Hath he
given you a royal palace, and will he deny you a poor cottage to shelter
you from the stormy winter and from the scorching summer ? yea, doth
he feed his enemies, and clothe his enemies, and protect his enemies,
and provide for his enemies, which are the generation of his wrath and
curse, and will he not do as much for you, O ye of little faith ? Will he
do so much for them that hate him, and will he not do as much for you
that love him ? Doubtless he will. Will he feed the ravens, and pro-
vide for the ox and the ass, and clothe the grass of the field ; and will
he suffer you, who are his love, his joy, his delight, to starve at his feet,
for want of necessaries ? Surely no.

But suppose you were under many real wants, yet certainly this very
consideration, that the Lord is your portion, should quiet your hearts,
and bear up your spirits bravely under them all. Jerome tells us of one
Didymus, a godly preacher, who was blind ; Alexander, a godly man,
coming to see him, asked him, whether he was not sorely troubled and
afflicted for want of his sight. Oh yes, said Dydimus, it is a very great
affliction and grief to me. Whereupon Alexander chid him, saying.
Hath God given you the excellency of an angel, of an apostle, and are
you troubled for that which rats and mice, and brute beasts enjoy ? O
sirs ! if God hath given you himself for a portion, then certainly it is a
sinful thing, a shameful thing, an unworthy thing for you to be so
troubled, afflicted, and grieved, because you want this and that worldly
contentment and enjoyment, which God bestows upon such whose
wickedness hath debased them below the ox and the ass, I mean, men
of beastly spirits, and beastly principles, and beastly practices, Isa. i. 2, 3.
Look, as Benjamin's mess was five times greater than his brethren's,
Gen. xliii. 34 ; so those that have God for their portion have five
thousand times a greater portion than the wicked of the world, whose
portion only lies in perishing trifles, and in tried vanities; and therefore
there is no just reason, no Scripture reason, why they should be afraid
of wants. But,

(9.) Ninthly, If the saints have such a great, such a large, such an
all-sufflcient, such an infinite, and such an incomparable portion, as hath
been made evident they have, oh then a/way wUh all iriordinate cares
for the things of this life. Oh say to all vexing, wasting, distracting, and
disturbing cares, as Ephraim once said to his idols, ' Get you hence, for
what have I any more to do with you?' Hosea xiv. 8. Christ's counsel
should lie warm upon every man's heart that hath God for his portion,
'Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or. What shall we drink 1
or. Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' Mat. vi. 31, and so should the
apostle's, ' Cast all your care on him; for he careth for you,' 1 Peter v. 7,
and so should the psalmist's also, ' Cast thy burden (or as the Greek well
turns it, thy care) upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee : he shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved,' Ps. Iv. 22. Some write, that
lions sleep with their eyes open and shining ; but the Lion of the tribe

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 63

of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the keeper of Israel, never slum-
bers nor sleeps ; his eyes are always open upon the upright ; he still
stands sentinel for his people's good, and therefore why should inordinate
cares eat up the hearts of Christians? O Christians! of all burdens
the burden of cavking cares will sit the heaviest upon your spirits.
There is no burden that will bow you and break you like this. In-
ordinate cares vex the heart, they divide the heart, they scratch and
tear the heart, they pierce and wound the heart through and through
with many sorrows, 1 Tim. vi. 10. Inordinate cares will either crowd
out duties, as in Martha, Luke x. 40, or else they will crowd into duties
and spoil duties, as in that Luke viii. 14, * the cares of the world choke
the word.' Look, as Pharaoh's ill-favoured lean kine ate up the fat.
Gen. xlL 4, so all inordinate ill-favoured cares will eat up all those fat and
noble cares for God, for his glory, for heaven, for holiness, for grace, for
glory, for power against corruptions, for strength to resist temptations,
and for support and comfort under afflictions, &c., with which the soul
should be filled and delighted. Oh that you would for ever remember
these few things, to prevent all inordinate, distrustful, and distracting
cares.

[1.] First, That they are a dishcmour and a reproaxih to the all-
sujfficiency of Ood ; as if he were not able to supply all your wants, and
to answer all your desires, and to succour you in all your distresses, and
to deliver you out of all your calamities and miseries, &c.

[2.] Secondly, Inordinate cares are a dishonour and a reproach to
the omnisdency of God} As if your wants were not as well known to
him as his own works, and as if he had not a fixed eye upon all the
straits and trials that lies upon you, and as if he did not know every
burden that makes you to groan, and did not behold every affliction that
makes you to sigh, and did not observe every tear that drops from your
eyes, &c. ; whereas his eye is still upon you : Deut. xi. 11, 12, "But the
land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and
drinketh water of the rain of heaven ; a land which the Lord thy God
careth for : the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the
beginning of the year, unto the end of the year.' And do you think
that he will not have as great a care, and as tender a regard of you who
are his jewels, his treasure, his joy, yea, who are the delight of his soul,
and the price of his Son's blood ?

[3.] Thirdly, Inordinate cares are a disJixynour and a repi^oach to
the authority of God. As if the earth were not the Lord's and the ful-
ness thereof, and as if all creatures were not at his command and at his
dispose, whenas he is the great proprietaiy, and aU is his by primitive
right, and all the creatures are at his service, and are ready at a word
of command to serve where he pleaseth, and when he pleaseth, and as
he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth. Pa xxiv. 1 ; Ps. 1. 1 0.

[4.] Fourthly, Inordinate cares are a dishonour and a reproach to
the mercy, bounty, and liberality of God. They proclaim God to be a
hard master, and not to be of so free, so noble, and so generous a spirit,
as Scripture and the experiences of many thousands speaks him to
be. I have read of a duke of Milan, that marrying his daughter to a
son of England, he made a dinner of thirty courses, and at every course
' Ps cxxxix. 11 ; Pb. xl. 5 ; Job. xxxi. 4 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 9, &c.

64 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

he gave so many gifts to every giiest at the table, iis there were dishes
in the course. Here was a rich and royal entertainment, here was noble
bounty indeed ; but this bounty is not to be named in the day wherein
the bounty and liberality of God to his people is spoken of Princes'
treasures have been often exhausted and drawn dry, but the treasures
of God's bounty and liberality were never, nor never shall be, exhausted
or drawn dry.^ O sirs ! you are as well able to tell the stars of heaven,
and to number the sands of the sea, as you are able to number up the
mercies and favours of God that attends his people in one day, yea, that
attends them in one hour of the day, or in one minute of an hour; such
is his liberality and bounty towards them. God is always best, when he
is most in the exercise of his bounty and liberality towards his people.
His favours and mercies seldom come single. There is a series, a con-
catenation of them, and every former draws on a future ; yea, such is the
bounty and liberality of God, that he never takes away one mercy, but
he hath another ready to lay in the room of it ; as Joshua began to shine
before Moses his candle was put out ; and before Joshua went to bed,
Othniel the son of Kenaz was risen up to judge. Eli was not gathered to
his fathers, before Samuel appeared hopeful ; nor Sarah was not taken
away till Rebekah was ready to come in her stead. The Jews have a
saying, that never doth there die any illustrious man, but there is an-
other born as bright on the same day.

[5.] Fifthly, Inordinate cares are a reproach and a dishonour to
the fidelity of God. As if he were not the faithful witness, the faithful
God, that hath bound himself by promise, by covenant, and by oath, to
take care of his people, and to provide for his people, and to look after
the welfare of his people.'* God is that ocean and fountain from whence
all that faithfulness that is in angels and men do issue and flow, and
his faithfulness is the rule and measure of all that faithfulness that is
in all created beings, and his faithfulness is unchangeable and perfect
Though the angels fell from their faithfulness, and Adam fell from his,
yet it is impossible that ever God should fall from his. God's faith-
fulness is a foundation-faithfulness ; it is that foundation upon which
all our faith, hope, prayers, praises, and obedience stands ; and there-
fore,, whoever is unfaithful, God will be sure to shew himself a faithful
God, in making good all that he hath spoken concerning them that fear
him. I had rather, said Plutarch, that men should say there was never
any such person in the world as Plutarch, rather than say that Plutarch
is unfaithful. Men were better say that there is no God, than to say
that God is an unfaithful God ; and yet this is the constant language
of inordinate cares. O sirs ! God's goodness inclines him to make good
promises, precious promises ; and his faithfulness engages him to make
those promises good, 2 Peter i. 4. If the word be once gone out of his
mouth, heaven and earth shall sooner pass away, than one jot of that
word shall fail. Mat. v. 18. Men say and unsay what they have said ;
they often eat their words as soon as they have spoke them ; but so
will not God. This faithfulness of God Joshua stoutly asserts to the
height ; he throws down the gauntlet, and doth, as it were, challenge

• Mercy and bounty is as essential to God, as light is to the sun, or as heat is to the fire.
» Rev. i. 6, iii. 14 ; Isa. xlix. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 9, x. 13 ; 2 Thes. iii. 3 ; Heb. x. 23 ; Rev.
xix. 11 : Heb, vi. 13-19.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 65

all Israel to shew but that one thing that God had failed them in of all
the good things that he had promised, Joshua xxiii. 14, 15. If God in
very faithfulness afflicts his people to make good his threatenings, oh,
how much more in faithfulness will he preserve and provide for his
people, to make good his promises ! Ps. cxix. 75. God hath never
broke his word nor cracked his credit by deceiving, or by compounding
for one penny less in the pound than what he hath promised to make
good. God stands upon nothing more than his faithfulness, and glories
in nothing more than his faithfulness ; and yet all inordinate cares
leaves a blot upon his faithfulness. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly. Inordinate cares are a reproach to the pity
and compassion of God, Mat. vi. S2. They speak out God to be a God
of no pity, of no bowels, of no tenderness ; whereas God is all pities, all
bowels, all compassions, all tendernesses : Ps. ciii. 13, ' Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.' There is
an ocean of love and pity in a father's heart to his children, Gen. xxxiii.
13, 14; and there is much more in God's to his. Hence he is called
the Father by way of eminency ; and indeed, originally and properly,
there is no Father to him, there is no Father like him, there is no
Father besides him ; and he is called the Father of all mercies, because
all the mercies, all the pities, all the bowels, all the compassions that
are in all the fathers on earth, are but a drop of his ocean, a spark of
his flame, a mite out of his treasury.' That father that sees his child
in want, and pities him not, and pitying, if able, relieves him not, for-
feits the very name of father, and may better write himself monster than
man. I have read of a young man who, being at sea in a mighty storm,
was very merry when all the passengers were at their wit's end for fear,
&c. ; and when he was asked the reason of his mirth, he answered, that
the pilot of the ship was his father, and he knew that such was his
father's pity and compassion, that he would have a care of him. O sirs !
whatever storms the people of God may be in, yet such is his pity and
compassion towards them, that he will be sure to have a care of them.
Tlie Lord is all that to his people, and will be all that to his people, yea,
and infinitely more than that which Isis Mammosa was to the Egyp-
tians, a god full of dugs ; and whilst he hath a breast, there is no reason
why his children should fear the want of milk. That golden promise,
Heb. xiii. 5, were there no more, hath enough in it to steel and arm the
soul against all inordinate cares. The Greek hath five negatives, and
may thus be rendered : ' I will not, not leave thee, neither will I not,
not forsake thee.'^ Five times, as one well observes, is this precious
promise renewed, that we may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of
its consolations, that we may milk out and be delighted with the abun-
dance of its glory. O sirs ! shall the word, the promise, the protest of
a king, arm us and cheer us up against all inordinate cares, and shall
not the word, the promise, the protest of the King of kings, so often
repeated, much more arm us against all base, distrustful, and distracting
cares ? O Christians ! the remembrance of this blessed truth, that God

' Eph. iii. 16. God is pater miserationum ; 1am pius nemo, tam pater nemo, saith Bernard.
- ei) (in ou S« at) firi, never, in no wise, in no case ; whatever 1 do, 1 will not do this,
whatever shift 1 make.

VOL. II. E

66 AN ARK FOR ALL QOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

is your portion, should make you sing care away, as that famous martyr
said, ' My soul is turned to her rest ; I have taken a sweet nap in
Christ's lap ; and therefore I will now sing away care, and will be care-
less, according to my name.'' If the sense of God's being a man's
portion will not bum up all those inordinate cares that commonly fills
his head, and that disturbs, and distracts, and racks his heart, I profess
I cannot tell what will. It was a strange speech of Socrates, a heathen :
Since God is so careful for you, saith he, what need you be careful for
anything yourselves ? But,

(10.) Tenthly, If God be the saints' portion, then all is theirs. As
he said, Ghristus mens et omnia, Christ is mine, and all is mine ; so
may a Christian say, DeiLS 'm,eus et omnia mea, God is mine, and all is
mine.* If God be thy portion, then heaven and earth are thine ; then
all the good and all the glory of both worlds are thine ; then all the
upper and the nether springs are thine : 1 Cor. iii. 21, ' AH things are
yours ;' ver. 22, ' whether Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas, or the world, or
life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are yours.' The
scope of the apostle is not to shew that such as are saints, and have
God for their portion, have a civil and common interest in all men's
earthly possessions ; but it is to shew that aU things are prepared,
ordered, and ordained by God to serve the interest of his people, to
work for the good of his people, and to help on the happiness and
blessedness of his people. All the gifts, and all the graces, and all the
experiences, and all the excellencies, and all the mercies of the ministers
of the gospel, whether they are ordinary or extraordinary, are all for
the information, edification, confirmation, consolation, and salvation of
the church ; and all the good and all the sweet of the creatures are to
be let out for the good of the people of God, and for the comfort of the
people of God, and for the encouragement of the people of God ; all
changes, all conditions, all occurrences, shall be sure ' to work together
for their good,' Rom. viii. 28, that have God for their portion. What-
ever the present posture of things are, or whatever the future state of
things shall be, yet they shall all issue in their good, in their profit, in
their advantage, that have God for their portion. Look, as the wife
communicates in her husband's honour and wealth, and as the branches
partake of the fatness and sweetness of the root, and as the members
derive sense and motion from the head ; so the saints communicate in
all that good which in God is communicable to them. God is commu-
nicative, as the fig-tree, the vine, and the olive is. sirs ! if God be
your portion, then every promise in the book of God is yours, and every
attribute in the book of God is yours, and every privilege in the book
of God is yours, and every comfort in the book of God is yours, and
every blessing in the book of God is yours, and every treasury in
the book of God is yours, and every mercy in the book of God is
yours, and every ordinance in the book of God is yours, and every sweet
in the book of God is yours ; if God be yours, all is yours. When Alex-
ander asked king Porus, who was then his prisoner,^ how he would be
used ? he answered in one word, Baff/X/xwj, like a king. Alexander again

• John Carless in a letter to Mr Philops. — Acts and Mon. fol. 1743, &c. [Foxe by
Townsend, vol. viii. p. 172, and sub nomine. — G.]

* Cf. Sibbes's Works, Vol. ii., note w, p. 195. — G. ^ Plutarch in Apophthegmata.

Lam. III. 24..] an ark for all god's noahs. 67

replying, Do you desire nothing else ? No, saith he, all things are in
BasiXijcuc, in this one word, like a king; so all things are in this one
word, ' The Lord is my portion.' He that hath God for his portion,
hath all things, because God is all things ; he is a good that contains
all good in himself. All the good that is to be found in honours, in
riches, in pleasures, in preferments, in husband, in wife, in children, in
friends, &c., is to be found only and eminently in God. You have all
in that great God that is the saints' great all. Col. iii. 11. But,

(11.) Eleventhly, If God be the saint's portion, and such a portion as
I have at large discovered him to be, then certainly God is no injurious
poiiion, no mischievous pooiion, no huftful portion, nx) prejudicial
portion. Surely there can be no danger, no hazard, no hurt in having
God for a man's portion. Oh ! but oftentimes earthly portions do a
great deal of hurt, a great deal of mischief ; they ruin men's bodies,
they blast and blot men's names, and they lay men open to such sins,
and snares, and temptations, that for ever undoes their immortal souls.
Oh what a trappan^ are worldly portions to most men ! yea, what fuel
are they to corruption ! and how often do they lay persons open to de-
struction ! Eccles. V. 13, ' There is a sore evil which I have seen under
the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.'
Though riches in themselves are God's blessings, yet through the cor-
ruptions that are in men's hearts, they prove weapons of wickedness
and engines to evil * There is a sore evil,' the Septuagint reads it, in-
firmitas pessiTna, a sore disease ; Pagnin and Arias Montanus reads it
mala injirmitas, an evil disease ; others read it languor 'pessimus, a
sore weakness. The Hebrew word, cholah, signifies such a sore evil as
sticks close and is not easily removed ; they are kept a thousand thou-
sand ways for their hurt. Latimer, in a sermon before king Edward
the Sixth, tells a story of a rich man, that when he lay upon his sick
bed, some told him that came to visit him, that by all they were able
to discern he was a dead man ; he was no man for this world. As soon
as ever he heard these words, saith Latimer, What, must I die ? said
the sick man : send for a physician ; wounds, sides, heart, must I die,
and leave these riches behind me ? wounds, sides, heart, must I die, and
leave these things behind me ? and nothing else could be got from him
but wounds, heart, sides, must I die, and leave these riches behind me ?
Do you think, sirs, that riches were not kept for this man's hurt? With-
out a perad venture in this man's heart was writ ' the god of this pre-
sent world.'

And the same father Latimer elsewhere saith, that if he had an
enemy to whom it was lawful to wish evil, he would chiefly wish him
great store of riches, for then he should never enjoy any quiet. As I
have read of one Pheraulas,'^ a poor man, on whom king Cyrus be-
stowed so much that he knew not what to do with his riches ; being
wearied out with care in keeping of them, he desired to live quietly,
though poor, as he had done before, than to possess all those riches with
discontent ; therefore he gave away all his wealth, desiring only to en-
joy so much as might relieve his necessities, and give him a quiet pos-
session of himself

Queen Mary said, when she was dying, that if they should open her
• ^repan,' = snare. — G. * Xenophon, Cyrop. ii. 3, sec. 6, 7, and viii. 8.— G.

68 AN ARK FOB ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

when she was dead, they should find Calice ' lying at ihe bottom of her
heart, implying that the loss of it broke her heart.

The historian observes that the riches of Cyprus invited the Romans
to hazard many dangerous fights for the conquering of it.

When the Indians had taken some of the Spaniards, who made gold
their god, they filled their mouths with it, and so choked them ; they
melted their gold, and poured it down their throats, resolving that they
should have their fill of gold, who preferred gold before the lives and
souls of men.^ How many millions of bodies and souls have the
Spaniards destroyed, to possess themselves of the riches of the WevSt
Indies ! But let me a little further shew you how hurtful, how danger-
ous and pernicious earthly riches, earthly portions, are oftentimes to
their owners ; and this I shall do by a brief induction of these par-
ticulars.

[1.] First, RieJies encourage and advantage persons to make the
strongest and the stoutest opposition agaitist anything that is good}
Rich persons usually are the greatest opposers both of religion and of
religious persons : James ii. 6, 7, ' But ye have despised the poor. Do
not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats ?
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called V
And this you may see also in the rich citizens of Jerusalem, and in king
Herod ; and the very same spirit you may run and read in the scribes
and pharisees, who were the rich and the great men of the times, and
the very same opposing spirit lives and works strongly in the hearts of
many great ones this day. But,

[2.] Secondly, Earthly portions do estrange the heart from God ; as
you see in the prodigal, Luke i. 5, and in those wealthy monsters
that say unto God, ' Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge
of thy ways ; what is the Almighty, that we should serve him 1 and
what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ?' Job xxi. 13-15.
But,

[3.] Thirdly, As earthly portions do estrange the soul from God; so
they do often swell the soul, and puff up the soul, Ps. x. 1-7, &c.
Salvian counts pride the rich man's inheritance. Men's minds ebb and
flow with their means, their blood commonly rises with their outward
good. Pride, saith Bernard, is the rich man's cousin, it blows him up
like a bladder with a quill, it makes him grow secure, and so prepares
him for sudden i-uin : so that he may well sing his part with those sad
souls, 'What hath pride profited us ? or what profit hath the pomp of
riches broijght us ? All those things are passed away like as a shadow,
and as a post that passeth by,' Wisd. v. 8, 9. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Eartldy ricftes commonly cast men into a deep sleep
of security.* Thus they served David in that Ps. xxx. 6, 7, and thus
they served the fool in the Gospel, Luke xii. 16-22, and thus they
served the old world ; and so they did Sodom and Gomorrah afterwards,
and so they did the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and
their hosts, Judges viii. 11, 12, and so did the people of Laish, in that

' 'Calaia.' — G. 2 Done to Crassus. See Index, «/i nowitne. — G.

• Not only the history of the ten persecutions, but also all other histories do very
strongly evince this.

* Amos i. 12-14 ; ponder the words.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs, 69

Judges xviii, 6-28 ; and so the peace, plenty, aud prosperity of the
Bohemians cast them into so great a security, that they began to grow
very loose and base in their lives, and very cold and careless in the
things of God, and in all their soul-concernments ; insomuch that many
of their most pious and prudent men did presage, that certainly some
horrible storm would suddenly arise, and that some dreadful tempest
without all peradventure would beat upon them ; and accordingly it
came to pass. Alexander slew him whom he found asleep on the
watch ; and God finding the Bohemians in a deep sleep of sin and
security, he brought the devouring sword upon them. Mercury could
not kill Argus, till he had cast him into a sleep, and with an enchanted
rod closed his eyes. No more can the devil or the world hurt any
man, till by dandling of him on the knee of prosperity, they come to
lull him asleep in the bed of security. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Earthly riches do frequently divert the souls of men
from, embracing and closing with the golden seasons and ojppoHu-
nities of grace. Riches are the thorns that choke the word, and that
make men barren and unfruitful under the word. Mat. xiii. 22. Rich
Felix had no leisure to hear poor Paul, though the hearing of a sermon
might have saved his soul, and made him happy in both worlds. Acts
xxiv. 24-27 ; and the rich fool in the Gospel was so taken up in pulling
down his barns, and in building of them greater, and in bestowing of
his fruits and his goods, that he had no time to prevent the ruin of his
soul, Luke xii 15-22 ; and Dives was so taken up with his riches,
pomp, state, and with his royal apparel, royal attendance, and royal
fare, that he never minded heaven, nor never dreaded hell, till he did
awake with everlasting flames about his ears, Luke xvi. 19-31. Sicily
is so full of sweet flowers, that dogs cannot hunt there ; ' and so what
do all the sweet profits, pleasures, and preferments of this world, but
make men lose the scent of grace, the scent of glory, the scent of
holiness, and the scent of happiness.^ It is true, rich men will have
their eating times, and their drinking times, and their trading times,
and their sporting times, and their sleeping times, and that which is
worse, their sinning times, &c. But ah, how rare is it to see rich men
covet after hearing times and praying times, and reading times, and
meditating times, and mourning times, and repenting times, and
reforming times. Rich men will have time for everything, but to
honour God, exalt Christ, obey the Spirit, love the saints, attend
ordinances, and save their own immortal souls. Oh the time, the
thoughts, the strength, the spirits that rich men spend and consume
upon their riches, whilst their precious souls lie a-bleeding to death,
and an eternity of misery is posting upon them. But,

[6.] Sixthly, Earthly riches commonly load the soul with a multi-
tude of cares, fears, griefs, and vexations, which do mightily disturb
the soul, distract the soul, yea, often rack, torture, and torment the
soul. "What if such a friend should be unfaithful to his trust ? what if
such a ship should miscarry ? what if such an one should break, that
owes me so much ? what if my title to such a lordship should not

^ Query «reed '?— G. « Diodorus Siculus [tub voce. — G.]

' Some say, where gold grows, no plant will prosper ; certainly, where riches bear the
bell, no good, no grace, will thrive or prosper.

70 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

prove good ? what if flaws be found in my evidences for such and such
lands ? what if fire should consume my habitation ? what if thieves
should rob me of my treasure ? &c., and what do all these wJiats
tend to, but to break a man's heart in a thousand pieces ? But,

[7.] Seventhly, Earthly riches are many times fuel for the greatest
and the grossest sins; as pride, oppression, revenge, cruelty, tyranny,
gluttony, drunkenness, wantonness, and all manner of uncleanness and
filthiness. Riches are a bawd to those very sins that require the
largest stock to maintain .them. Vices are more costly than virtues.
Virtue observes a mean, but vice knows none ; vice is all for extremes ;
witness the prodigious wickedness of these times.^ But,

[8.] Eighthly, Earthly riches are many times reserved as witnesses
against the rich in the great day of their account. James v. 1-3, ' Go
to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come
upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered ; and the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have
heaped treasure together for the last days.' The rust of the rich man's
cankered gold and his moth-eaten apparel shall be brought in as dread-
ful witnesses against him in the great day. The poet feigned Pluto
to be the god of riches and of hell too, as if they were inseparable. By
all these particulars you see how hurtful, how prejudicial earthly por-
tions often prove to their owners.

Oh, but now God is a portion that will never hurt a man, that will
never harm a man, that will never in the least prejudice a man.
Among all 'the spirits of just men made perfect,' Heb. xii. 22, 23,
there is not one to be found that will give in his witness against this
sweet and blessed truth that I have asserted; and among all the saints
on earth you shall not find one, but will with both hands readily sub-
scribe to this glorious maxim, viz.. That God is such a portion, that
hath never hurt them, that hath never harmed them, yea, that he is
such a portion that hath done them good all their days, and one upon
whom they have lived, and by whom they have been maintained ever
since they ' hung upon the breasts,' Ps. xxii. 9. Holy Polycarp hit it,
when he said, ' This sixty-eight years have I served the Lord, and he
never did me any hurt; and shall I now forsake him?^ Surely no.
But now earthly riches, for the most part, do a world of mischief and
hurt to their owners. Oh the souls that earthly riches have pierced
through and through with many sorrows ! Oh the minds that earthly
riches have, blinded ! Oh the hearts that earthly riches have hardened !
Oh the consciences that earthly riches have benumbed ! Oh the wills
that earthly riches have perverted ! Oh the affections that earthly
riches have disordered ! Oh the lives that earthly riches have corrupted !
And Oh the souls that earthly riches have destroyed ! But,

[9.] Ninthly and lastly, Eaiihly riches, for tJie most part, make men
unwilling to die. Oh how terrible is the king of terrors to the rich
and the great ones of the world, 1 Sam. xxviii. 20, Dan. v. 1-7. And
so Henry Beaufort, that rich and wretched cardinal, in the reign of
Henry the Sixth, perceiving death at hand, spoke thus : Wherefore

* Compare these scriptures together, Ps. Ixxiii. 1-13, Deut. xxxii. 15-17, Jer. v. 7, 8
Hosea xiii. 6, Jamea v. 1-7. " Martyred. — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an aek for all god's noahs. 71

should I die, being so rich ? If the whole realm would save my life, I .
am able either by policy to get it, or by riches to buy it ; fie, quoth he,
will not death be hired ? will moaey do nothing ?^ It is reported that
Queen Elizabeth could not endure so much as to hear death named ;
and Sigismund the emperor, and Louis the Eleventh, king of Fraace,
straitly charged all their servants, that when they saw them sick, they
should never dare to name that bitter word death in their ears.
Vitellius, an emperor of Rome — a notorious glutton, as you may easily
judge, by his having at one supper two thousand fishes, and seven
thousand birds — when he could not fly death, he made himself drunk
that he might not be sensible of the pangs of death.* It was a very
prudent and Christian speech of Charles the Fifth to the duke of Venice,
who when he had shewed him the glory of his princely palace and
earthly paradise, instead of admiring it, or him for it, he only returned
him this grave and serious Tnemento, Hcec sunt qucB faciunt invitos
mori, these are the things which make us unwilling to die, &c. And
by daily experience we find that of all men wealthy men are most un-
willing to die. Oh, but now God is such a portion as fits and disposes
the soul to die, yea, as makes the soul look and long for death, and that
makes death more desirable than life itself. A man that hath God for
his portion, that hath God in his arms, may well sing it out with old
Simeon, ' Lord, let thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word :
for mine eyes hath seen thy salvation,' Luke ii. 25, 29, 30 ; and with
Paul, ' 1 desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ,' Philip, i. 23 ; and
with the church, ' Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe, or
to a young hart upon the mountain of spices,' Cant, viil 1 4 ; and,
' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,' Rev. xxii. 20. Did Christ die for
me that I might live with him ? I will not therefore desire to live long
from him. All men go willingly to see him whom they love, and shall
I be unwUling to die that I may see him whom my soul loves ? Surely
no. Augustine longed to die that he might see that head that was once
crowned with thorns. The dying words of my young Lord Harrington
were these : ' O my God, when shall I be with thee ?'^ Cyprian could
receive the cruellest sentence of death with a Deo gratias; and holy
Andrew saluted the cross on which he was to be crucified, saying, 'Take
me from men, and restore me to my master.' And so Laurence
Saunders, when he was come to the stake at which he was to be burnt,
he kissed it, saying, * Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting
life.* But,

(12.) Twelfthly, If God be the saints' portion, oh then let the saints
still think of Ood, and look upon God under this notion. A man that
hath God for his portion should always have very high, noble, sweet,
and precious thoughts of God. It becomes not those that have God for
their portion to be always looking upon God as an angry God, or as a
displeased Father, or as an incensed judge, or as an enraged enemy, or
as a bitter friend. When God would make known his name, his nature,
his glory to Moses, he proclaims himself to be, 'The Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long-sufifering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keep-

* A great man wrote thus a little before his death, Spes et fortuna valete.

• Erasmus hit it when he said, Timor mortis p^OT quam ipsa mors.

» Funeral Sermon by Stock, 1610.— G. * Clark, at b^ore.—0^

72 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

. ing mercies for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,'
Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. And certainly to keep up such precious thoughts
and notions as these are of God, is that work of works that lies upon
every man's hand that hath God for his portion. Osirs! there is a very
great aptness and proneness, even in those that have God for their
portion, to have black, dark, hard, dismal, and dreadful thoughts and
apprehensions of God, as you may see in Asaph, Heman, Job, David,
&c.^ By nature we are as full of hard thoughts of God, as hell is full
of sin ; and when the heart is not mightily over-awed by the Spirit of
God and overpowered by the grace of God, there all manner of dark
and dismal apprehensions of God abounds. Besides, Satan knows very
well that our corrupt natures are made up of sad and hard thoughts of
God ; and therefore he will use all his power and craft to blow up every
spark, every hard thought of God, into aflame, especially when outward
troubles and inward distresses are upon us. What says Satan ? Dost
thou think that God loves thee ? O Christian, when he deals thus
sharply and severely with thee, doth he pretend kindness to thee, and
yet hide his face from thee, and set thee up as a mark to shoot at ?
How can he be thy friend, who hath cast thee down at thine enemies'
feet, and given thee up into their paws and jaws ? How canst thou
think that he hath any pity and compassion towards thee, who makes
no better provision for thee ? What vanity is it to believe that he will
give thee a crown, that denies thee a crust ? And that he will give thee
an house not made with hands, and yet suffer thee to be turned out of
house and home ? And that he will do so much for thee in another
world, who doth so little for thee in this world ? &c. And thus Satan
takes his opportunities to provoke corrupt nature and to kill the soul
with hard thoughts of God. And certainly that Christian is a very great
stranger to his own heart, that is not able to say from experience that
it is one of the highest and hardest works in this world to keep up good
and gracious thoughts of God, to keep up honourable and noble thoughts
of God, in a suflering condition or under dark and dismal dispensations.
Oh, but now those that have God for their portion, they should abandon
and abhor all hard thoughts of God, yea, how severe soever the dealings
of God are towards them, yet it is their duty and their glory to keep
up very sweet and precious thoughts of God, Ps. Ixxiii. 1. sirs! the
more choice and honourable thoughts you keep up of God in your own
souls, the more you will love the Lord, and the more you will delight
in the Lord, and the more content and satisfaction you will take in the
Lord. Such Christians that take a pleasure to be still a-representing
of God to themselves in the most hideous, terrible, and amazing shapes,
they kill their love and their joy, and they create a hell of torments in
their own souls. Well, Christians ! let me put a cluster of the grapes
of Canaan into your hands at once, and that by telling of you, that the
more glorious and blessed thoughts you keep up in your souls of God,
the more spiritual, the more frequent, the more fervent, the more
abundant, the more constant, and the more unwearied you will be in
the work of the Lord, and the more all your graces will be acted,
exercised, strengthened, and increased, yea, and the more your evidences
for heaven will be cleared, your gracious experiences multiplied, your
* Fs. Izxyii. and Ixxxviii ; Job hi.; Fs. Ixxiii. 11-14.

Lam. III. 24-.] an ark for all god's noahs. 78

communion with God raised, your way to glory facilitated, and all your
sufferings sweetened ; and therefore never let noble and precious
thoughts of God die in your souls. Though he frown upon thee, O
Christian, yet say, he is thy portion ; and though he chides thee, yet
say, he is thy portion ; and though he corrects thee, yet say, he is thy
portion ; and though he deserts thee and carries it strangely towards
thee, yet say, he is thy portion ; and though he snatches many a mercy
from thee, yet say, lie is thy portion ; and though he multiplies thy
burdens upon thee, yet say, he is thy portion ; and though he writes
bitter things against thee, yet say, he is thy portion ; yea, though he
should pass a sentence of death upon thee, yet still say, he is thy por-
tion. O Christians, this would still raise an heaven in your hearts, if
under all dispensations you would still look upon God as your portion,
and live upon God as your portion. But,

(13.) Thirteenthly, If God be a believer's portion, then never let a
believer he afraid to die or unwilling to die. Let them be afraid to
die that have only the world for their portion here, and hell for their
portion hereafter; but let not a saint be afraid of death, that hath for
his portion the Lord of life.^ A man that hath God for his portion
should rather court death than tremble at it ; he should rather sweetly
welcome it than turn his back upon it ; for death to such an one is but
the way to paradise, the way to all heavenly delights, the way to those
everlasting springs of pleasure that are at God's right hand, the way to
life, immortality, and glory, and the way to a clear, full, constant, and
eternal fruition of God, Ps. xvi. 11. Augustine upon those words, Exod.
xxxiii. 20, 21, 'Thou canst not see my face and live,' makes this short
but sweet reply, ' Then, Lord, let me die, that I may see thy face.'
Death is a bridge that leads to the paradise of God. All the hurt that
it can do is to bring a believer to a full enjoyment of his portion.* When
Modestus, the emperor's lieutenant, threatened to kill Basil, he answered,
If that be all, I fear not ; yea, your master cannot more pleasure me
than in sending me unto my heavenly Father, to whom I now live, and
to whom 1 desire to hasten. Old Alderman Jordan used to say that
death would be the best friend he had in the world, and that he would
willingly go forth to meet it ; or rather say with holy Paul, ' O death,
where is thy sting ?' triumphing over it. What is a drop of vinegai*
put into an ocean of wine ? what is it for one to have a rainy day, who
is going to take possession of a kingdom ? A Dutch martyr feeling the
flame to come to his beard, ' Ah, said he, what a small pain is this, to
be compared to the glory to come !'* Lactantius boasts of the brave-
ness of that spirit that was upon the martyrs in his time. Our chil-
dren and women, not to speak of men, saith he, do in silence overcome
their tormentors, and the fire cannot so much as fetch a sigh from them.
John Noyes took up a faggot at the fire and kissed it, saying, ' Blessed
be the time that ever I was bom, to come to this preferment.'* Never

* See twenty arguments in my 'String of Pearls,' to move you to be willing to
die. — G.

* Bernard saith that he heard his brother Gerard, when just in dying, rejoice and
triumphingly say, Jam mors mihinon stimulus sedjubilut.

3 [Foxe.] Acts and Mon., 813. [By 'Dutch' is meant High Dutch, i.«. German;
' Dentsch: of. stib voce, in Foxe, by Townsend, vol. iv. pp. 282-284. — G.]

* Clare's ' Martyrologie,' as before, p. 49.J. — G.

74 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

did neckerchief become me so well as this chain, said Alice Driver,
when they fastened her to the stake to be burnt.' Mr Bradford put off
his cap, and thanked God, when the keeper's wife brought him word
that he was to be burnt on the morrow.* Mr Taylor fetched a frisk
when he was come near the place where he was to suffer.^ Henry and
John, two Augustine monks, being the first that were burnt in Ger-
many, and Mr Rogers, the first that was burnt in Queen Mary's days,
did all sing in the flames ;* and be of good cheer, said the woman-mar-
tyr to her husband that was to suffer with her, for though we have but
an ill dinner on earth, we shall sup with Christ in heaven. And what
said Justin Martyr to his murderers, in behalf of himself and his fellow-
martyrs? ' You may kill us, but you can never hurt us.' Ah, Christians!
how can you read over these choice instances and not blush* and not be
ashamed to consider what a readiness, what a forwardness, and what a
noble willingness there was in these brave worthies to die and go to
heaven, and to be fully possessed of their God, of their portion, whilst
you shrug at the very thoughts of death, and frequently put that day
far from you, and had rather, with Peter, fall upon ' building of taber-
nacles,' Mat. xvii. 4, than, with Paul, ' desire to be dissolved, and to be
with Christ,' Philip, i. 23. Christians! how justly may that father
be angry with his child that is unwilling to come home ! and how justly
may that husband be displeased with his wife who is unwilling to ride
to him in a rainy day, or to cross the sea to enjoy his company ! And
is not this your case ? is not this just your case, who have God for your
portion, and yet are unwilling to die, that you may come to a full en-
joyment of your portion ? But,

(J 4.) Fourteenthly, and lastly, If God be the saint's portion, then
let all the saints give all diligence to make this clearly and fully ovi
to their own souls, that God is their portion, 2 Pet. i. 5-8. Next to a
man's having God for his portion, it is the greatest mercy in this world
for a man to know that God is his portion, and to be able groundedly
to say with the church, ' The Lord is my portion,' saith my soul. Now
this is a work that may be done. I suppose there is never a believer
on earth but may attain unto this personal evidence and certainty of
knowledge that God is his portion. Express promises speaks out such
a thing as this is : Zech. xiii. 9, ' They shall call upon my name, and I
will hear them ; I will say, It is my people, and they shall say, It is my
God ;' so Ezek. xxxiv. 30, ' Thus shall they know that I the Lord their
God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my
people, saith the Lord ;' Ps. ix. 18, ' For the patient abiding of the meek
shall not be forgotten for ever.' God will as soon put the faith of re-
liance and the faith of assurance to a blush, as he will put the faith of
expectance to a blush :' Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satis-
fied, they shall praise the Lord that seek him ; your heart shall live for
ever.' First or last, such as seek him shall have such an answer of their
prayers as shall turn their prayers into praises, and their petitions into
thanksgivings : Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, * The Lord will give grace and glory, and

* Clarke's Martyrologie, p. 504. — G.

» Ibid., p. 440, 454 — G, ^ ibid., p. 442.— G. * Ibid., sub nomimbus—G.

' Heb. i. 37. M(«j«» JV»», ?«■«». Here are two diminutives in the Greek, a little, little
vhile, to note that God will not in the least delay his coming to his people.

Lam. III. 24.] an aek for all god's noahs. 75

no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' God
will be an universal, all-sufficient, and satisfactory good to them that
walk uprightly. The Lord is as full of goodness as the sun is full of
light, and he will as freely, and as fully, and as impartially communi-
cate his goodness to them that walk uprightly, as the sun doth her light
both to the just and the unjust, Mat. v. 45. As under the name of no
good thing will he withhold, all temporal good things are to be under-
stood, so under the name of grace all spiritual good things are to be
understood, and under the name of glory all eternal good things are to
be understood. And now, if God will give all spiritual and all eternal
good things to his people, how can he then but sooner or later give a
clear and satisfactory evidence into his people's bosoms that he is their
portion ? And not only express promises, but also the graces of the
Spirit and the testimony of the Spirit confirms the same thing. The
language of every saving grace is this : The Lord is thy portion, thou
believing soul ; and the language and testimony of the Spirit is the
same : Rom. viii. 15, * Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father;' ver. 16, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness with
our spirits that we are the children of God.' Shall an instinct in nature
teach young ones to know their dams, and shall not the Spirit of God,
by a divine instinct, teach the saints to know God to be their God, and
to be their portion also? Surely yes. Though this or that particular
Christian may go to his grave without a satisfactory evidence ih his
own bosom that God is his portion, yet in an ordinary course, at first
or last, God doth give his people some assurance that he is their por-
tion, yea, rather than they shall always live or die without assurance of
their salvation, and that he is their portion, he will work a miracle to
assure them of his love.

I have both heard and read of a rare story of Mrs Honywood, a famous
profcwssor of the gospel, and one that for many years together lay under
the burden of a wounded spirit, and was much troubled in mind for want
of assurance that God was her portion, and that she should be saved
from wrath to come. At length there came a godly minister to her,
who endeavoured to settle her faith and hope in Christ ; and pressing
many gospel promises upon her, she took it with a kind of indignation
and anger that he should offer to present any promises to her, to whom,
as she thought, they did not belong ; and having a Venice-glass in her
hand, she held it up, and said, Speak no more to me of salvation, for I
shall as surely be damned as this poor brittle glass shall be broke against
the wall, throwing it with all her force to break it. But it so pleased
God that, by a miraculous providence, the glass was preserved whole.
The minister, beholding the miracle, took up the glass, and said unto
her, 'Behold, God must work a miracle before you, before you will
believe.' And for ever after that day she had very strong assurance of
her salvation, and that God was her portion ; and so lived and died in
a sweet and comfortable sense of the love and favour of God.

Now, to provoke you to labour with all your might to attain to a
clear, personal, satisfactory evidence in your own bosoms that God is
your portion, do but seriously consider and lay to heart the rare and
singular advantages that will redound to your souls by this means. I
shall jOnly touch upon some, by which yourselves may guess at others.

76 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

[1.] First, By this means your hearts will come to be fixed, settled,
and established. A man's soul never comes to be fixed and settled by
knowing in the general that God is the saint's portion, but by a personal
evidence and certainty of knowledge that he is his particular portion.
Whilst a man's particular propriety is unsettled, all is unsettled in his
soul ; but when a man's particular propriety is settled, when he can say.
This God is my God, and the Lord is my portion, then all is settled,
then all is at peace in the soul, Ps. Ivii. 7, cviii. 1, cxii. 7. A man that
hath God for his portion, if he do not know it, will still be like a ship
at sea in the midst of a storm, tossed here and there, and now rolling
on one side and then on the other, and never quiet, never lying still ;
but a man that hath God for his portion, and knows it, he is like a ship
in a good harbour, that lies quiet and still; yea, he is like mount Zion,
that cannot be removed. But,

[2.] Secondly, A clear, personal evidence that God is a man's portion,
will rid his soul of all sinful doubts. O Christians ! now your hearts are
as full of doubts as hell is full of darkness. One day you doubt whether
your graces are true, and another day you doubt whether your comforts
are true. Now, you doubt of your saintship, and anon of your sonship,
and then of your heirship. Sometimes you doubt of your communion with
God, sometimes you doubt of your acquaintance with God, and sometimes
you doubt of your acceptance with God. One hour you doubt of the favour
of God, and the next hour you doubt of your access to God. And as it is
thus with you, so it will be thus with you till you come to have some clear
satisfaction in your own spirits that God is your portion. O Christians !
had you but once a personal evidence in your own bosoms that God is your
portion, all those doubts that are bred and fed by ignorance and unbelief,
and that rob the soul of all joy, comfort, and content,and that render men
babes in Christianity, and that cast reproach upon God, Christ, and the
promises, &c., and that do most gratify and advantage Satan to tempt and
try your souls, would vanish and disperse as the clouds do before the sun
when it shines in its brightness. Till a Christian's eyes be opened to
see God to be his portion, his heart will be full of doubts and perplexi-
ties. Though Mary Magdalene was very near to Christ, yet she stands
sighing, mourning, and complaining, that 'they had stolen away her
Lord,' John xx. 3 3-16. A Christian may have God for his portion, yet
till he comes to see God to be his portion, he will spend his days in
sighing, mourning, and complaining. O Christians ! till you come to
see God to be your portion, your doubts will lie down with you and
rise with you, they will talk with you and walk with you, till they make
your lives a very hell. It was an excellent speech of Luther, ' The whole
Scripture,' saith he, ' doth principally aim at this thing, that we should
not doubt, but that we should hope, trust, and believe that God is a
merciful, bountiful, and gracious God to his people.' And what will
bring a man's heart over to answer to this blessed aim of the Scripture?
Certainly nothing below an assurance that God is his portion. It was
a noble resolution of blessed Bradford, who, in one of his epistles,
saith thus : ' O Lord, sometimes methinks I feel it so with me, as if
there were no difference between my heart and the hearts of the wicked.
My mind is as blind as theirs, and my will as stout, stubborn, and re-
bellious as theirs; and ray affections are as much disordered as theirs,

Lam. hi. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 77

and my conscience as much benumbed and stupefied as theirs, and my
heart as hard and flinty as theirs, &c.; shall I therefore conclude that
thou art not my Father ? Nay, I will reason otherwise,' saith he ; ' I
do believe thou art my Father; I will come unto thee, that thou mayest
enlighten this blind mind of mine, and bend and bow this stout and
stubborn will of mine ; and that thou mayest put order into these dis-
ordered affections of mine, and that thou mayest put life and quickness
into this stupefied and benumbed conscience of mine, and that thou
mayest put softness and tenderne.ss into this hard and flinty heart of
mine.'^ And thus he nobly reasoned himself, and believed himself, out
of all his fears and doubts. There is no such way for a man to be rid
of all his fears and doubts, as to live in the sight and faith of this truth,
that God is his portion.

Plutarch reports of one, who would not be resolved of his doubts,
because he would not lose the pleasure in seeking for resolution, like to
him that would not have his physician to quench the thirst he felt in his
ague, because he would not lose the pleasure of drinking; and like those
that would not be freed from their sins, because they would not lose the
pleasure of sinning. But I hope better things of all those that have
God for their portion, than to find them in love with their doubts, or
to be unwilling to be rid of their doubts. Next to a man's going to
hell, it is one of the greatest afflictions in the world for a man always
to live in doubts about his going to heaven. Next to damnation, it is
one of the greatest troubles that can attend a Christian, to be always
exercised and perplexed with doubts about his salvation. Next to being
damned, it is the hell of hells to live in continual fears of damnation. Now
the only way to prevent all this, is to know that God is your portion.
But,

[3.] Thirdly, A clear, personal evidence that God is a man's portion,
will exceedingly sweeten all the crosses, losses, and changes that shall
attend him in this world. Habakkuk knew that God was the God of
his salvation ; and that he was his portion ; and therefore he rejoices :
' Though the fig-tree did not blossom, and though there were no fruit in
the vines ; and though the labour of the olive did fail, and the fields did
yield no meat, and the flocks were cut off from the fold, and there were
no herd in the stalls,' Hab. iii. 17, 18. And the same noble temper
was upon those worthies in Heb. x. 34, ' They took joyfully the spoiling
of their goods, knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better
and an enduring substance.' They took joyfully the spoiling of their
earthly portions, being well assured in their own souls that they should
enjoy an heavenly portion, an everlasting portion. And so the apostles
knew that they had ' an house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens,' 2 Cor. v. 1 ; and this carried them bravely through honour
and dishonour, through evil report and good report, and through
all weaknesses, sicknesses, distresses, wants, dangers, and death ;
and this made their heavy afflictions light, and their long afflictions
short, and their bitter afflictions sweet, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. This was that
tree which, being cast in the waters of Marah, made them sweet, Exod.
XV. 23-25 ; and this was that that did unsting all their crosses, losses,
and reproaches, and that made them rejoice and sing under those very
1 As before, see Index sub nomine. — G.

78 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

burdens and trials that would have broke the necks, backs, and hearts
of others, Acts v. and xvi. When a man hath a clear personal evi-
dence that God is his portion, then no outward changes will make any-
considerable change in him. Though Laban had changed Jacob's wages
ten times, yet Jacob was Jacob still, Gen. xxxi. 7. Let times change, and
men change, and powers change, and nations change, yet a man that hath
God for his portion, and knows it, will never change his countenance,
nor change his Master, nor change his service, nor change his works, nor
change his ways. Under all changes he will still be sernper idem,
always the same. Many great and dreadful changes passed upon
Joseph, but yet under all Joseph's bow ' abode in strength,' Gen. xlix.
23, 24. When a man knows that God is his portion, whatever changes
may pass upon him, yet his bow will still abide in strength. Marcellus
the pope would not change his name, according to the custom of other
popes, to shew his immutability, and that he was no changeling ;' but
how many are there in these days, who were looked upon as better
men, who have changed their names, their notes, their coats, their prin-
ciples, their practices, and all for worldly advantages. These change-
lings, that change from better to worse, and from naught to be very
naught, yea, stark naught, are the worst and the naughtiest of men,
and deserve to be hanged in chains ; and certainly, when the wrath of
God breaks forth, these changelings shall be as stubble before it, Mai.
iv. 1, Heb. X. 38. God abhors none as he doth those who run from him
to serve other lords, and who gad about to change their way : Jer. ii.
36, 37, ' Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ? thou
also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. Yea,
thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head ; for
the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in
them.' There is nothing that will keep a man from apostasy, and from
making a defection from God, his ways, his worship, his glory, &c., like
a blessed persuasion that God is his portion, 2 Peter i. 5-11. But,

[4.] Fourthly, A clear personal evidence that God is a man's por-
tion, will exceedingly raise and advance the comfort and joy of a man's
heart. It is not merely my having of God for my portion, but it is my
seeing, it is my knowing, it is my fruition of God as my portion, that is
the true spring of all delight, comfort, and consolation. When a man's
interest in God is clear, then all the precious promises will be full wells
of salvation, and full breasts of consolation to him, but till then they
will be but as dry breasts, as barren heaths, as a fruitful wilderness,
and as empty wells.^ Whilst a man is doubtful whether God be his
God, it is certain that the spring of joy and comfort will run low in his
soul ; whilst a man lives in fear that his title and interest is not good,
how can he rejoice ? When a man's interest in God is clear, then his
heaven of joy begins. A man that hath God for his portion, and knows
it, cannot but live in a paradise of joy, and walk in a paradise of joy,
and work in a paradise of joy, and eat in a paradise of joy, and recreate
himself in a paradise of joy, and rest in a paradise of joy ; he cannot
but have an heaven of joy within him, and an heaven of joy about him,

> Qii. Marcellus IL, who was pope only twenty-three days — G.

2 2 Peter i. 4 ; Isa. xii. 3, and Ixvi. 2. Without delight the soul cannot live : take
away all delight, and the soul dies, saitb Augustine.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 79

and an heaven of joy over him. All his looks will speak out joy within,
and all his words will speak out joy within, and all his works will speak
out joy within, and all his ways will speak out joy within. I remember
a notable saying of one, How sweet was it to me of a sudden to be
without those sweet vanities ! and those things which I was afraid to lose,
with joy I let go ; for thou, who art the true and only sweetness,
didst cast out those from me, and instead of them didst enter in thyself,
who art more delightful than all pleasure, and more clear than all light.^
When a man's interest in God is clear, his joy will be full, John xvi. 24;
when a man is happy, and knows it, he cannot but rejoice; when a man
hath God for his portion, and knows it, all the world cannot hinder the
strong consolations of God from rising high in his soul. Why have the
saints in heaven more joy and delight than the saints on earth, but be-
cause they have a clearer and a fuller knowledge of their interest and
propriety in God than the others have ? The knowledge of a man's
propriety^ in God is the Comfort of comforts. Propriety makes every
comfort a pleasurable comfort, a delightful comfort. When a man walks
in a fair meadow, and can write mine upon it, and into a pleasant garden,
and can write mine upon it, and into a fruitful corn-field, and can write
mine upon it, and into a stately habitation, and can write Tnine upon it,
and into a rich mine, and can write mine upon it, oh how doth it please him !
how doth it delight him ! how doth it joy and rejoice him ! Of all words
this word meum is the sweetest and the comfortablest. Ah ! when a man
can look upon God, and write meum; when he can look upon God, and
say. This God is my God for ever and ever ; when he can look upon
God, and say, This God is my portion ; when he can look upon God, and
say with Thomas, ' My Lord and my God,' John xx. 28, how will all the
springs of joy rise in his soul ! Oh who can but joy to be owner of that
God that fills heaven and earth with his fulness ? who can but rejoice
to have him for his portion, in having of whom he hath all things, in
having of whom he can want nothing ? The serious thoughts of our
propriety in God will add much sweet to all our sweets, yea, it will
make every bitter sweet. When a man seriously thinks. It is my God
that cheers me with his presence, it is my God that supports me with
his power, it is my God that guides me by his counsel, it is my God
that supplies me with his goodness, and it is my God that blesses all
my blessings to me ; it is my God that afflicts me in love, it is my God
that hath broken me in my estate and in my credit, it is my God that
hath sorely visited such a child, it is my God that hath passed a sen-
tence of death upon such a friend, it is my God that hath thus strait-
ened me in my liberty, and it is my God that hath thus cast me down
at my enemies' feet, &c., how doth these thoughts cheer up the spirit
of a man, and make every bitter sweet, and every burden light unto
him.

A beautiful face is at all times pleasing to the eye, but then espe-
cially when there is joy manifested in the countenance. Joy in the
face puts a new beauty upon a person, and makes that which before
was beautiful to be exceeding beautiful ; it puts a lustre upon beauty.
And so doth holy joy put a divine beauty and lustre upon all the ways
of God, and upon all the people of God. And therefore, it highly con-

* Augustine in his Confessions. * ' Property' = ' interest'. — G.

80 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

cems all Christians, as they would have an heavenly beauty, lustre, and
glory upon them, to rejoice; and that they may rejoice, it doth as highly
concern them to know their interest and propriety in God. But,

[5.] Fifthly, A clear personal evidence that God is a man's portion
will vetnf much raise him in his communion with God, and exceedingly
sweeten his fellowship with God} There are no Christians on earth
that have such high, such choice, such free, such full, such sweet, and
such uninterrupted communion with God, as those that have a clear
sight of their interest and propriety in God. The spouse, in that book
of Solomon's Song, again, and again, and again sings and sounds out
her propriety and interest in Christ : Cant. ii. 16, * My beloved is mine,
and I am his.' Cant. vi. 3, ' I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.'
Cant. vii. 10, ' I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me.' Now,
mark, how doth the sense of this her propriety in Christ work ? Why,
it works very highly, very strongly, very inflamingly, very affectionately :
Cant. i. 2-4, ' Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy
love is better than wine: because of the savour of thy good ointments,
thy name is as ointment poured forth, and therefore do the virgins
love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee : the king hath brought
me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will
remember thy love more than wine : the upright love thee.' Ver. ] 3,
* A bundle of myrrh is my beloved imto me ; he shall lie all night be-
twixt my breasts.' Chap. ii. 3-6, ' As the apple-tree among the trees of
the wood, so is ray beloved among the sons. I sat down under his
shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet unto my taste. He
brought me to the banqueting-house, and his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.'
And chap. vii. 5, ' The king is held in the galleries.' The spouse had a
clear sight and a deep sense of her interest and propriety in Christ ;
and oh, how high, how close, how full, how sweet, is she in her com-
munion and fellowship with Christ ! It is the sight and sense of pro-
priety and interest that heightens and sweetens that communion that
is between husband and wife, father and child, brother and sister, and
friend and friend ; so it is the sight and sense of a man's propriety and
interest in God that heightens and sweetens his communion and fellow-
ship with God. A clear sight of a man's interest and propriety in God
will exceedingly sweeten every thought of God, and every appearance of
God, and every taste of God, and every smile of God, and every com-
mijnication of God, and every ordinance of God, and every work of God,
and every way of God ; yea, it will sweeten every rod that is in the
hand of God, and every wrinkle that is in face of God, Ps. cxxxix. 17,18.
A man that sees his interest in God, will hang upon him, and trust in
him, though he should write never such bitter things against him, and
though he should deal never so severely with him, yea, though he
shoidd slay him, as you may see in Job xiii. 15. He hit it who said,
A man whose soul is conversant with God shall find more pleasure in
the desert and in death, than in the palace of a prince. Urbanus

* 1 John i. 1-4 ; 2 Cor. 13, 14. Man's summum bonum stands in his communion with
God, as Scripture and experience evidences, Ps. cxliv. 15. My God and I am good com-
pany, said famous Dr Sibbes.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 81

Regius, having one day's converse with Luther, said,' It was one of the
sweetest days that ever he had in all his life. But if one day's com-
munion with Luther was so sweet, oh how sweet must one day's com-
munion with God be. And therefore, as ever you would have high,
and full, and sweet communion with God, keep up a clear sight, a
blessed sense of your interest and propriety in God. But,

[6.] Sixthly, A clear personal evidence that God is a man's portion, is a
ffian's all in all. O sirs ! this is the life of your lives, and the life of your
prayers, and the life of your praises, and the life of your confidences,
and the life of your mercies, and the life of your comforts, and the life
of your hopes, &c. A clear sight of your propriety in God is the very-
life of promises, the life of ordinances, the life of providences, the life
of experiences, and the life of your gracious evidences. It is a pearl of
price ; it is your paradise ; it is manna in a wilderness, it is water out of
a rock, it is a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night ; it is Jacob's
ladder ; it is a salve for every sore, it is physic for every disease, it is a
remedy against every malady ; it is an anchor at sea, and a shield on
shore ; it is a star to guide you, a staff to support you, a sword to defend
you, a pavilion to hide you, a fire to warm you, a banquet to refresh
you, a city of refuge to secure you, and a cordial to cheer you; and
what would you have more ? But,

[7.] Seventhly, and lastly, A clear personal evidence that God is a
man's portion will exceedingly sweeten the thoughts of death, and all
the approaches of death, and all the warnings and forerunners of
death unto him. It will make a man look upon his last day as his
best day, Eccles. vii. 1 ; it will make a man look upon the king
of terrors as the king of desires. Job xviii. 14 ; it will make a man
laugh at the shaking of the sjiear, at the sounding of the trumpet,
at the confused noise of the battle, at garments roUed in blood, at the
. sighs and groans of the wounded, and at the heaps of the slain. It was
the martyrs' clear sight of their interest and propriety in God that
made them compliment with lions, and dare their persecutors, and to
kiss the stake, and to sing and clap their hands in the midst of the
flames, and to tread upon hot burning coals as upon beds of roses, and
divinely to triumph over their tormentors. It was this that made the
primitive Christians ambitious of martyrdom, and that made them
willingly and cheerfully lay down their lives, that they might. Elijah-
like, mount to heaven in fiery chariots. A man that sees his propriety
in God, knows that death shall be the funeral of all his sins, sorrows,
afflictions, temptations, desertions, oppositions, vexations, oppressions,
and persecutions; and he knows that death shall be the resurrection of his
hopes, joys, delights, comforts, and contentments, and that it shall bring
him to a more clear, full, perfect, and constant enjoyment of God : and
this makes him sweetly and triumphantly to sing it out, O death! where
is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?' 1 Cor. xv. 35-37. And
oh that these seven considerations might prevail with all your souls to
be restless, till you have in your own bosoms clear and full satisfaction
that God is your portion. Now this last inference leads me by the
hand to an use of trial and examination. O sirs! if God be the saint's

^ ^ A dam in vit. Begii, p. 78.

VOL. II. p

82 AN AEK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [Lam. III. 24.

portion, the believer's portion, how highly doth it concern every one
that looks upon himself as a saint or as a believer, to search, try, and
examine whether God be his portion or no ?

Quest. But you will say, How shall we know whether God be our portion
or no ? Oh ! were all the world a lump of gold, and in our hands to dis-
pose of, we would give it to know that God is our portion ! Oh ! the
knowledge of this would be as life from the dead ; it would create an
heaven in our hearts on this side heaven ; it would presently put us into
a paradise of pleasure and delight ; but still the question is, How shall
we know it 1 It is an easy thing to say that God is our portion ; but
how shall we come infallibly to know that God is our portion ?

Now, to give clear and full satisfaction to this great and weighty
question, I shall give in these following answers, by which you may
certainly and undoubtedly know, whether God be your portion or no :

[1.] First, If God be thy portion, then thou hast very sweet, pi'ecious,
high, and honourable thoughts of God ; then thy thoughts will still be
running out after God, and thy meditations of him will be sweet.* A
man that hath God for his portion, is always best when his thoughts and
meditations are running out most after God : Ps. civ. 34, ' My medi-
tations of him shall be sweet ; I will be glad in the Lord ;' Ps. Ixiii. 5, 6,
* My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth
shall praise thee with joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon my bed
(or beds, as the Hebrew hath it; David never bedded at home nor abroad,
here nor there, but still his thoughts were running out to God), and
meditate on thee in the night watches;' Ps. cxxxix. 17, 18, 'How precious
also are thy thoughts unto me, O God ! how great is the sum of them !
if I should count them, they are more in number than the sand : when
I awake, I am still with thee.' The psalmist had very frequent, high,
precious, and honourable thoughts of God; he valued nothing at so high
a rate as sweet and noble thoughts of God, and of his power, wisdom,
goodness, faithfulness, and graciousness, &c. David had such precious
thoughts of God, and such great and glorious thoughts of God, and such
infinite and innumerable thoughts of God, that he was as well able to
number the sands of the sea, as he was able to number them up : ' And
when I awake I was still with thee.' He was still a-contemplating upon
God ; he did fall asleep with precious thoughts of God, and he did awake
with precious thoughts of God ; he did rise up with precious thoughts
of God, and he did lie down with precious thoughts of God ; he did go
forth with. precious thoughts of God, and he did return home with pre-
cious thoughts of God. Take a Christian when he is himself, when he
is neither under sad desertions, nor black temptations, nor great afflic-
tions, and he can as soon forget his own and his father's house, the wife
of his bosom, the fruit of his loins, yea, he can as soon forget to eat his
bread, as he can forget his God.

When Alexander the Great had overthrown Darius, king of Persia,
he took among the spoils a most rich cabinet, full of the choicest jewels
that were in all the world ; upon which there rose a dispute before him,
to what use he should put the cabinet ; and every one having spent his

* Lord, saith Austin, the more I meditate on thee, the sweeter thou art unto me.
Jerome calls meditation his paradise, and Theophylact calls it the very gate and portal
by which we enter into glory. To think is to live, saith Cicero.

Lam. III. 24).] an akk for all god's noahs. 83

judgment according to his fancy, the king himself concluded, that he
would keep that cabinet, to be a treasury to lay up the books of Homer
in, which were his greatest joy and delight.' A sanctified memory is a
rich cabinet full of the choicest thoughts of God \^ it is that rich treasury
wherein a Christian is still a-laying up more and more precious thoughts
of God, and more and more high and holy thoughts of God, and more
and more honourable and noble thoughts of God, and more and more
awful and reverent thoughts of God, and more and more sweet and
comfortable thoughts of God, and more and more tender and compas-
sionate thoughts of God, &c. Take a Christian in his ordinary course,
and you shall find that wherever he is, his thoughts are running out
after God ; and about whatever he is, his thoughts are still a-running out
after God ; and into what company soever he is cast, whether they are
good or bad, yet still his thoughts are running out after God, &c.

Look, as an earthly-minded man hath his thoughts and meditations
still exercised ard taken up with the world, as you may see in Haman,
whose neart and thoughts were taken up with his honours, perferments,
riches, wife, children, and friends, &c.:^ Esther v. 10-12, 'Nevertheless
Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he sent and called
for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. And Haman told them of the glory
of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things
wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him
above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said moreover,
Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the
banquet that she had prepared but myself ; and to-morrow am I invited
unto her also with the king.' And the same spirit you may see working
in those that had made gold their god, in that Ps. xlix. 10, 11, 'For he
seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish,
and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their
houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all genera-
tions : they call their lands after their own names.' The Hebrew run-
neth thus : ' Their inwards are their houses for ever,' as if their houses
were got within them. Not only the thoughts, but the very inmost
thoughts, the most retired thoughts and recesses of worldlings' souls, are
taken up about earthly things ; and though they care not whether their
names are written in heaven or no, yet they do all they can to propa-
gate and immortalise their names on earth. And the rich fool was one
in spirit with these the psalmist speaks of, as you may see in that Luke
xii. 16, 22, ' And he spake a parable unto them, saying. The ground of
a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within
himself (the Greek word dnXoyl^iTo is a marvellous proper word for the
purpose ; it signifies to talk with a man's self, or to reason with a man's
self This foolish worldling was much in talking to himself, and in
reasoning with himself about his goods and barns, &c., as the usual

• ^Plutarch: a commonplace of Alexander's ' Lives.' — G.

* Ps. XXV. 1 ; Ps. Ixxxvi. 4 : Ps. cxlii. 8 ; Basil calls meditation on [God] the treasury,
where all graces are locked up.

* The thoughts and hearts of the people of Constantinople were so extremely set upon
the world, and running out after the world, that they were huying and selling in their
shops even three days after the Turks were within the walls of their city; and that was
the rekson that the streets run down with their blood, and the blood of their wives and
children. [Knolle's Turkish History, as before. — G.

84 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

manner of men is that are of a worldly spirit), saying. What shall I do,
because I have no room where to bestow my fniits ? And he said, This
will I do : I will pull down my bams, and build greater ; and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul. Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry.' Among all his worldly thoughts, there is not one thought
of God, of Christ, of grace, of heaven, of holiness, of eternity, to be found.
His thoughts were so taken up with his bags, and his bams, and his
buildings, and his ease, and his belly, that he had no time to think of
providing for another world ; and therefore God quickly despatches him
out of this world, and throws him down from the highest pinnacle of
prosperity and worldly glory into the greatest gulf of wrath and misery,
ver. 20. And this foolish worldling puts me in miud of another, who,
being offered an horse byhisfellow upon condition that he would but say
the Lord's prayer, and think upon nothing but God, which proffer being
accepted, he began : ' Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name.' But I must have the bridle too, said he. No, nor the horse
neither, said the other ; for thou hast lost both already.

When worldlings should most think of God, and be most struck with
the dread and majesty of God, and be most afflicted and taken up with
the glory of God, yet then their thoughts and hearts will be a-gadding and
a-running after the world, as you may see in Ezekiel's hearers ; Ezek.
xxxiii. 30-32, and in Paul's, Philip, iii. 18, 19. When queen Mary was
dying, she said that if they did but open her when she was dead, they
should find Calais lying at her heart. Ah ! how often doth stinking lusts
and rotten towns, and moth-eaten bags, and other trifling vanities, lie
near those hearts where God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and grace, and
ordinances, and saints, and heaven should lie ! Look, as the thoughts
of the men of the world do mainly run out after the world, after their
earthly portions, so the thoughts of those that have God for their por-
tion do mainly run out after God, and they are never so well as when
they are most a-thinking and a-musing on God. But,

[2.] Secondly, If God be thy portion, then in all thy str aits, tHals, trou-
bles, and wants, thou wilt run to thy God, thou wilt fly to the Lord,as to
thy only city of refuge :' 1 Sam.xxx. 6, 'And David was greatly distressed,
for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people
was grieved (or bitter) every man for Tiis sons, and for his daughters ;
but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' When a shower of
stones were coming about David's ears, he runs and shelters himself
under the wings of his God. Though David was an exile in an hea-
thenish country, though Ziklag, the place of his habitation, was burnt,
though he had neither house nor home to flee to, though his wives were
in his enemies' hands, and though his friends and followers were des-
perately incensed, enraged, exasperated, and provoked against him, and
took counsel together about stoning of him, looking upon him as the
author of all their crosses, losses, calamities, and miseries ; yet now he
comforts and encourages himself in the Lord his God : Ps. cxlii. 4, ' I
looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that woiild
know me : refuge failed me ; but no man cared for my soul.' But what

» Ps. xxviii. 1 ; xxxi. 2, 3 ; Ixi. 2 ; Ixii. 2,6,1; xcii. 15 ; xciv. 22 ; xxxii. 1, 2.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 85

doth the psalmist do in this case ? Doth he despair or despond ? No.
Doth he cast away his hope and confidence in God ? No. Why, what
doth he do then 1 Why, when all outward comforts fail him, he runs
to God as to his last refuge : ver. 5, 6, 'I cried unto thee, O Lord : I
said. Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
Attend unto my cry, for J am brought very low : deliver me from my
persecutors, for they are stronger than I.' He doth not run in his straits
from God to the creatures, for that had been to run from the fountain
of living waters to broken cisterns, Jer. ii. 12, 13, John vi. 68, Isa.
xxxiii. 1 6, from the light of the sun to the light of a farthing candle,
and from the Rock of ages to a leaf driven about with the wind, and
from paradise into an howling wilderness, &c. But whither doth he
run then ? Why, he runs to God ; he knew that God was his light, his
life, his love, his peace, his joy, his strength, his shelter, his safety, his
security, his crown, his glory, and therefore he runs to his God. And,
indeed, in times of danger, whither should the child run to shelter him-
self but to his father ? and whither should the wife run but to her
husband ? and the servant but to his master ? and the soldier but to
his stronghold ? and a Christian but to his God 'i Pro v. xviii. 10, 'The
name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and
is safe.' Sometimes by the naime of the Lord we are to understand
God himself, but most commonly God's attributes are called his name,
because by them he is known, as a man is by his name ; and here by the
name of the Lord we are to understand the power of the Lord, for by
that God is known, as men are known by their names. Now God him-
self is a strong tower, and the power of God is a strong tower, yea, it is
a tower as high as heaven, and as strong as strength itself ; it is a tower
so deep no pioneer can undermine it, so thick no cannon can pierce it,
so high no ladder can scale it, so strong that no enemy can assault it or
ever be able to stand before it, and so well furnished and provided for
all purposes and intents, that all the powers of darkness can never dis-
tress it, or in the least straiten it. Now to this impregnable and inex-
pugnable tower the righteous in all their distresses and dangers run.
All creatures run to their refuges when they are hunted and pursued,
and so do righteous souls to theirs. But what doth the righteous man
gain by running to his strong tower ? Why, he gains safety ; he is safe,
saith the text, or rather according to the Hebrew ^iK'J^ exaltatur,^ he is
exalted, he is set aloft, he is a soul out of gunshot, he is a soul out of
all hazard and danger, he is safe in everlasting arms, he is safe in his
strong tower of defence, he can easily overlook all hazards, yea, he can
look upon the greatest dangers with an holy neglect. And when the
burning fiery furnace was heated seven times hotter than at first, whither
doth Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego run ? Why, they run to God :
Dan. iii. 16-18, 'Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, answered and said
to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace ; and he will deliver us out of thy
hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set

* The Hebrew word is from Sagab, that signifies to exalt, or to set aloft.

86 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

up.' And so Moses in that Ps. xc. 1, 'Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling-place in all generations ;' or as the Hebrew hath it, thou hast
been our refuge-place in generation and generation. By this Hebraism,
generation and generation, the prophet sets forth all generations, to
shew that there hath been no generation wherein God hath not been
the refuge of his people. God was a refuge to his people before the
flood, and he hath been a refuge since the flood, and he will be a refuge
to his people, whilst he hath a people in the world. All the time that
Moses and the people of Israel were a-travelling up and down in that
terrible howling wilderness, wherein they were compassed about with
dreadful dangers on all hands, God was a refuge and a dwelling-place
unto them. In all their troubles and travels for four hundred years
together, God was a shelter, a refuge, and an house of defence unto
them. Every man's house is his strong castle, and thither he retreats
when dangers come ; and thus did the people of God in the text. When
dangers threatened them, they still run to their God, they still made their
retreat to the Holy One of Israel. A man that hath God for his por-
tion, when he is at worst can never be houseless nor harbourless. As
long as God lives, he can never want an house, a mansion-house to hide
his head in. All the powers on earth and all the powers of hell can
never unhouse, nor never unharbour, nor never unshelter that man that
hath God for his portion. It was,a witty saying of that learned man
Picus Mirandula, ' God created the earth for beasts to inhabit, the sea
for fishes, the air for fowls, and heaven for angels and stars, so that
man hath no place to dwell and abide in but God alone.' And certainly
he that by faith dwells in God, dwells in the best, the noblest, the
safest, and the strongest house that ever was dwelt in. And so Ps. xci.
1,2,' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my
refuge, and my fortress : my God ; in him will I trust.' In this whole
psalm the safety of a saint is set forth to the life ; to abide under the
shadow of the Almighty, notes the defence and protection of God.
Those words, ' shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,' are a
metaphor taken from a bird or an hen, that hides her young ones under
her wings, and so secures them from the kite, or any other birds of prey.
God never wants a wing to hide his children under ; and look, as little
chickens run under the wings of the hen when danger is near, so the
people of God do commonly run under the wings of God when danger
is near. And certainly, that Christian may well bid defiance to all
dangers, and easily and sweetly sing away all cares and fears, who can
by faith shelter himself and lodge himself under the shadow of Shaddai.
Look, as the worldling in all his straits, troubles, trials, dangers, and
wants, still runs to his bags, to his earthly portion for succour, for com-
fort, for support, for relief, for shelter, for protection,^ Prov. xviii. 11 ;
Mat. xix. 24 ; 1 Tim. vl 17. So a Christian in all his troubles, trials,
and distresses, still runs to his God for shelter, comfort, and support :
Ps. xxxi. 1-3, ' In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust ; let me never be
ashamed : deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to

^ I have read of a wretched worldling, who being sick to death, called for one of his
bags of gold, and laid it to his heart, and then cried out. Oh it will not do, it will not do ;
and then called for another, and still cried out, Oh it will not do, it will not do.

Lam. III. 24.] an akk for all god's noahs. 87

me ; deliver me speedily : be thou my strong rock, for an house of
defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress : therefore,
for thy name's sake, lead me, and guide me.' Ps. Ixi. 2, 3, ' From the
end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed ;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter
for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.' Ps. xciv. 21, 22, * They
gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and con-
demn the innocent. But the Lord is my defence ; and my God is the
rock of my refuge.' Ps. Ivii. 2, ' I will cry unto God most High ; unto
God that performeth all things for me.' Isa. xxv. 9, ' And it shall be
said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited ibr him, and he
will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be glad
and rejoice in his salvation.' Micah vii. 7, ' Therefore I will look unto
the Lord ; I will wait for the God of my salvation : my God will hear.'
Thus you see that the saints in all their straits and trials do still run
to God. They know that that God that is their portion is an all-suffi-
cient God, and that he is a sun and a shield to them that walk uprightly ;
and therefore they delight to be still a running under his shadow. A
man that hath God for his portion, may truly say in his greatest dis-
tresses and troubles. Well, though I have no riches to fly to, nor no
friends to shelter me, nor no relations to stand by me, nor no visible
power on earth to protect me, yet I have a God for my portion that is
always willing to supply me, and able to secure me : Ps. xviii. 1, 2,
' 1 will love thee, O Lord, my strength,' or as the Hebrew hath it, * I
will dearly love the Lord,' or ' I will love him with inmost bowels of
affections,' as a tender-hearted mother loves her dearest babe with the
inmost bowels of affections. ' The Lord is my rock, and my fortress,
and my deliverer ; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust ; my
buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.' In this
verse you have nine several expressions to discover what an all-sufficient
refuge God is to his people in their greatest distresses. When a Chris-
tian is at worst, yet he hath bread celestial, bread to eat that the world
knows not of The grand policy of a Christian to secure himself against
all dangers is to run to God. But,

[3.] Thirdly, If God be thy portion, then thou wUt holdfast thy
portion, and rather part with anything than part with thy portion.
Naboth would not upon any terms part with his inheritance ; he would
rather let all go, yea, his very life go, than let his inheritance go, his
portion go : 1 Kings xxi. 3, ' And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid
it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee ;' or,
as the Hebrew hath it. This be abomination to me from the Lord ; that
is. The Lord keep me from this as from an abominable thing. To alter
or alienate the property of inheritances was expressly forbidden by God
in his law, Lev. xxv. 23 ; Num. xxxvi. 7 ; Ezek. xlvi. 18 ; and therefore
Naboth looks upon Ahab's offer and motion as a detestable and an
abominable thing, and resolves to hold fast his inheritance, whatever it
cost him. So a Christian will hold fast his God, whatever comes on it ;
he will let anything go, rather- than let his God go or his Christ go :
Cant. iii. 4, ' It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found
him whom my soul loveth ; I held him, and would not let him go, until
I Jiad brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of

88 AN AEK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

her that conceived me/* The Hebrew word that is here rendered Jield
is from aehaz, which signifies to hold, as a man would hold his posses-
sion, his inheritance. The word signifies to hold with both hands, to
hold with all one's might and with all one's strength ; and thus the
spouse held the Lord Jesus ; she held him with both hands ; she held
him with all her might and with all her strength ; she held him with
a holy violence, with an holy force ; she held him as a man would hold
his prisoner that had a mind to escape, or as a man would hold his
sword or buckler when his life is in danger. So Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 26,
* And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will
not let thee go, •except thou bless me.' When Jacob was all alone, and
in a dark night, and upon one leg, and when his joints were out of
joint, and he very much over-matched, yet then he holds God fast, he
wrestles and weeps, and weeps and wrestles, he tugs and sweats, and
sweats and tugs, and will not let go his hold, till, like a prince, he had
prevailed with God, Hosea xii. 4. Ruth, you know, was so glued to her
mother Naomi, that no arguments could prevail with her to leave her
mother. She was fully resolved in this, that whither her mother went
she would go, and where her mother lodged she would lodge, and that
her mother's people should be her people, and her mother's God her
God, and that where her mother died there she would die, and there
would she be buried, Ruth i. 14-19. So a man that hath God for his
portion is so glued to his God, that nothing can take him off from fol-
lowing of God and from cleaving to God. When David was in his
■ wilderness condition, yet then his soul followed hard after God, then
his soul stuck close to God : Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, ' O God, thou art my God ;
early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for
thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.' Ver. 8, ' My soul
followeth hard after thee ;' or, as the words may be read, ' My soul
cleaveth after thee.' David's enemies did not follow harder after him
than he followed hard after God. The wife in a man's bosom could not
cleave so close to him as David's soul did cleave close to God when he
was in a wilderness estate, when he was in an afflicted condition. It
is nothing to follow God in a paradise, but it is rare to follow God in a
wilderness ; it is nothing to follow God when the way is strewed with
rose-buds, but it is the glory of a Christian to follow God when the
way is strewed with thorns and briars ; it is nothing to follow God in a
crowd, or with the crowd, but it is the excellency of a Christian to follow
God in a wilderness, where few or none follows after him ; it is nothing
to follow God in the midst of all encouragements, but it is wonderful
to follow God in the midst of all discouragements. Oh the integrity !
oh the ingenuity ! oh the strong intention ! oh the deep affection ! oh
the noble resolution, of that Christian that hangs upon God in a wilder-
ness, and that cleaves to God in a wilderness, and that follows hard
after God in a wilderness ! Look, as Shechem's soul did cleave to
Dinah, and as Jacob's soul did cleave to Rachel, and as Jonathan's soul
did cleave to David in the very face of all hazards, dangers, difficulties,
troubles, trials, and distresses, so the very soul of a man that hath God
for his portion will cleave to God in the very face of all hazards, dangers,

' The motto of a Christian, whilst he is in the wilderness of this world, is self-diffi-
dence and Christ-depeudence, Cant. viii. 5.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 89

difficulties, troubles, trials, and distresses that he meets withal, Ps. xliv.
8-23. It is neither the frowns of men, nor the reproaches of men, nor
the scorns of men, nor the contempts of men, nor the oppositions of
men, nor the treacheries of men, nor the combinations of men, that will
work him to let go his hold of God. A man that hath God for his por-
tion knows that, whilst he holds his God, he holds his life ; and that,
whilst he holds his God, he holds his comfort, his crown, his heaven, his
all ; and therefore he will rather let all go, than let his God go. And
so much the several leave nots that are scattered up and down in the
blessed Scripture doth clearly evidence ; as that in 1 Kings viii. 57,
* The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers : let him not
leave us, nor forsake us ;' and that Ps. xxvii. 9, ' Hide not thy face far
from me ; put not thy servant away in anger ; thou hast been my help ;
leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.' And so Ps.
cxix. 121, ' I iiave done judgment and justice ; leave me not to mine
oppressors.' And so Ps. cxli. 8, ' But mine eyes are unto thee, O God
the Lord : in thee is my trust ; leave not my soul destitute,' or leave
not m}'^ soul naked, as the Hebrew word signifies. And so in that Jer.
xiv. 9, ' Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man
that cannot save ? yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are
called by thy name ; leave us not,' Now in these five scriptures you
have five leave ^ls nots, and what do they import ? Certainly nothing
less than a marvellous unwillingness in the people of God to part with
God, or to let go their hold of God. »

I have read of Cynaegii-us,' an Athenian captain, who, in the Persian
wars, pursuing his enemy's ship, which was laden with the rich spoils
of his country, and ready to set sail, how he first held it with his right
hand till that was cut off, and then with his left hand till that was cut
off, and then with his stumps till his arms were cut off, and then he
held it with his teeth tiU his head was cut off; as long as he had any
life or strength left in him, he would not let go his hold. So a man
that hath God for his portion will rather die at the foot of God than he
will let go his hold of God : Job xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet will
I trust in him.' But,

[4.] Fourthly, If God be thy portion, then thou livest upon God as
upon thy portion. Look, as the men of the world do live upon their
earthly portions, so a man that hath God for his portion lives upon his
God, as you may plainly see by comparing the scriptures in the margin
together.^ Look, how the poor man lives upon his labours, the covetous
man upon his bags, the ambitious man upon his honours, the voluptuous
man upon his pleasures, &c., so doth a Christian live upon his God. In
all his duties he lives upon God, and in all his mercies he lives upon
God, and in all his wants he lives upon God, and in all his straits and
trials he lives upon God, and in all his contentments and enjoyments
he still lives upon God for his justification : Rom. viii. 33, ' It is God
that justifieth,' and he still lives upon God for the perfecting of his
sanctification ; Philip, i. 6, * Being confident of this very thing, that he
which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of

1 Rather Cynsegeirus. Brooks here translates Justin ii. 9. — G.

» 1 §am. XXX. tJ ; Hab. iii. 17, 18 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 26 ; Rom. xiv. 7, 8 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; Phil, i,
21.

90 AN ARK FOR ALL QOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

Jesus Christ ;' and he lives upon God for the maintaining and increas-
ing of his consolation, 2 Cor. i. 3-5. When he is under the frowns of
the world, then he lives upon the smiles of God ; when he is under the
hatred of the world, then he lives upon the loves of God ; and when he
is under the reproaches of the world, then he lives \ipon his credit with
God ; when he is under the threatenings of the world, then he lives
upon the protection of God ; and when he is under the designs and
plottings of the world, then he lives upon the wisdom and counsel of
God ; when he is under the sligh tings and neglects of the world, then
he lives upon the care of God; and when he is under the crosses and
losses of the world, then he lives upon the fulness and goodness of God,
&c. Alexander told his soldiers, I wake that ye may sleep. Most sure
I am, that he that is the saint's portion never slumbers nor sleeps, Ps.
cxxi. 3, 4. God is always watchful and wakeful to do his people good ;
he never wants skill or will to help them, he never wants a purse, a
hand, or a heart to supply them, &c.

O sirs ! Every man singles out something to live upon. Some single
out one thing, some another. Saith the wife, I must live upon my
husband ; says the child, I must live upon my father ; says the servant,
I must live upon my master; says the old, We must live upon the
labours of the young; says the poor. We must live upon the charity of
the rich ; and why then shall not a Christian live upon his God ? A.
Christian that hath God for his portion may say, when he is at worst,
^Well, though I have not this nor that nor the other outward comfort to
live upon, yet I have the power of a God to live on, and I have the pro-
vidence of a God to live on, and I have the promise of a God to live on,
and I have the oath of a God to live on, and I have the love of a God
to live on, and I have the bounty of a God to live on, and I have the
fulness of a God to live on, and I have the care of a God to live on ;
and what can I desire more? John of Alexandria, surnamed the
Almoner, did use yearly to make even his revenues, and when he had
distributed all to the poor, he thanked God that he had now nothing
left him to live upon but his Lord and Master Jesus Christ.^ When
all is gone, yet a Christian hath his God to live upon as his portion,
and that is enough to answer to all other things, and to make up the
want of all other things. Look, as he hath nothing that hath not God
for his portion, so he wants nothing that hath God for his portion. It
was a weighty saying of one [Cajetan], 'The spiritual good of a man
consists in this, that a man hath friendship with God, and consequently
that he lives for him, to him, with him, in him; that he lives for him
by consent, to him by conversation, with him by cohabitation, and in
him by contentation. Old godly Similes said, that he had been in the
•world sixty years, but had lived but seven, counting his life not from
his first birth, but from his new birth. A man lives no longer than he
lives upon God as his portion : when a man begins to live upon God as
his portion, then he begins to live indeed, and not till then. But,

[5.] Fifthly, If God be thy portion, then he carries thy heart from
all other things, Ps. xlil 12. The portion always carries the heart with it*
Mat vi. 20, 21, * But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where

^ Surius de vitis. 8S.

^ Bernard well observes, that a wise man's heart is with the Lord*

Lam. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. 91

neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal : for where your treasure is, there will your hearts be
also.' Ps. Ixiii. 1, ' O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee ' (or,
I will diligently seek thee, as merchants do precious stones that are of
greatest value), * my soul thirsteth for thee.' He doth not say, my soul
thirsteth for water, but my soul thirsteth for thee; nor he doth not say,
my soul thirsteth for the blood of my enemies, but my soul thirsteth
for thee ; nor he doth not say, my soul thirsteth for deliverance out of
this dry and barren wilderness, but my soul thirsteth for thee in a dry
and thirsty land, where no water is ; nor he doth not say, my soul
thirsteth for a crown, a kingdom, but my soul thirsteth for thee, ' my
flesh longeth for thee.' These words are a notable metaphor, taken
from women with child, to note his earnest, ardent, and strong affections
towards God. And so Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, 'My heart and my flesh crieth out
for the living God.' The word that is here rendered crieth, is from
Ranan, that signifies to shout, shrill, or cry out, as soldiers do at the
beginning of a battle, when they cry out, Fall on, fall on, fall on, or
when they cry out after a victory, Victory, victory, victory ! The
Hebrew word notes a strong cry, or to cry as a child cries when it is
sadly hungry, for now every whit of the child cries, hands cry, and face
cries, and feet cries ; and so Ps. cxix. 20, ' My soul breaketh for the
longings it hath unto thy judgments at all times.' Look, as the stone
will stiJl be rolling towards its centre, its place, though it break itself
into a thousand pieces; so a soul that hath God for his portion cannot
rest till he comes to God, till he comes to his centre. It is very ob-
servable, that when the God of glory appeared to Abraham, he made
nothing of leaving his father's house, his kindred, and his country, Acts
vii, 1-5, Gen. xii. 1. A glimpse of that glory works him to give up all
easily, readily, and quietly. A man that can look upon the God of
glory to be his portion, he cannot but look upon the greatest, the
nearest, and the dearest enjoyments of the world, as nothing; he cannot
but look upon honour as a bubble, and worldly pomp as a fancy, and
great men as a lie, and poor men as vanity. He cannot but look upon
his nearest and his dearest relations, his highest and his noblest friends,
his choicest and his sweetest comforts, but as a dream and a shadow
that soon vanisheth away.

It is observable in the courts of kings and princes, that children and
the ruder sort of people are much taken with pictures and rich shows,
and feed their fancies with the sight of rich hangings and fine gay
things ; whereas such as are great favourites at court, pass by all those
things as things that are below them, and as things that are not worthy
of their notice, who have business with the king, and who have the eye,
the ear, the hand, and the heart of the king to take pleasure and
delight in ; so most men admire the poor low things of the world, and
are much taken with them as things that have a great deal of worth
and excellency in them ; but a man that hath God for his portion, the
King of kings for his portion, and all that he hath, he passeth b)'^ all
the gay and gallant things of the world, as things below him, as things
not worthy of him. His business is with his God, and his thoughts, his
heart, and affections are taken up with his God.

Naturalists tell us that the loadstone will not draw in the presence of

92 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

the diamond. O sirs ! whilst a man can eye God as his portion, all the
pride, pomp, bravery, glory, and gallantry in the world will never be
able to draw him from God, Heb. xi. 2-4-27, 35. It is reported that
when the tyrant Trajan^ commanded Ignatius to be ripped up and un-
bowelled, they found Jesus Christ written upon his heart in characters
of gold. Here was an heart worth gold indeed ; Christ carried away
his heart from all other things. So if God be thy portion, he will cer-
tainly carry thy heart away from all earthly things. Look, as earthly
portions carry away worldly hearts from God, Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32 ; Luke
xii. 16-21 ; so when God once comes to be a man's portion, he carries
his heart away from the world, the flesh, and the devil. All the world
cannot keep a man's interest and his heart asunder. If a man make
sin his interest, all the world cannot keep sin and his heart asunder.
If a man make the world his interest, all the power on earth cannot keep
the world and his heart asunder. And so if a man make God his interest,
all the world cannot keep God and his heart asunder : no sword, no prison,
no racks, no flames can keep a man's interest and his heart asunder. A
man's heart will be working towards his interest, even through the very
fire, as you may see in the three children, Dan. iii. 17, 18. Look, as the
needle's point in the seaman's compass never stands still, but quivers and
shakes till it come right against the north pole ; and as the wise men of
the east never stood still till they were right against the star which ap-
peared to them; and as the star itself never stood still till it came right
against that other star, which shined more brightly in the manger than the
sun did in the firmament ; and as Noah's dove could find no rest for the
sole of her foot all the while she was fluttering over the flood, till she
returned to the ark with an olive branch in her mouth : so the heart of
a Christian that hath God for his portion can never rest, can never be
at quiet, but in God. But,

[6.] Sixthly, If God be thy portion, then thovu wiU own thy God, and
stand up courageously and resolutely for thy God} Every man will
own his portion, and stand up stoutly and resolutely for his portion,
and so will every Christian do for his God : Ps. cxix. 46, ' I will speak
of thy testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed.' David was
resolved upon a noble and resolute owning of God and his testimonies
before the greatest and the highest of men ; and this he would do and
not blush, this he would do and not be ashamed, this he would do and
not be daunted.^ It was neither the majesty or authority of princes,
it was neither the power or dread of princes, that could hinder David
from giving in his testimony on God's side, or on truth's side. Joshua
xxiv. 18, 'We will serve the Lord, for he is our God :' vers. 21, 22,
* And the people said unto Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the Lord ;
and Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves,
that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve him ; and they said. We are
witnesses.' Ver. 24, ' And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our
God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.' They had chosen God
to be their God, as God had chosen them to be his peculiar people above

' Spelled ' Tragine.' — G. ' Hietories abound with instances of this nature,

•* A man of no resolution, or of a weak resolution, will be won with a nul, and lost with
an apple ; but a man of a noble resolution will own God in the face of the greatest ina>
esty on earth.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 93

all the nations of the earth ; and therefore, notwithstanding all that
Joshua had objected, they were fully resolved to own the Lord, and to
cleave to the Lord, and to obey the Lord, and wholly to devote them-
selves to the service of the Lord, Having taken the Lord to be their
God, they were firmly resolved to own the Lord really,and to own him fully,
and to own him primarily, and to own him only, and to own him everlast-
ingly. And so Deut. xxvi. 17, ' Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to
be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his
commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice.' They
had avouched God to be their God, and therefore they were resolved
upon all those holy ways and means whereby they might evidence to
the world their owning of God to be their God. And so in that
2 Chron. xxx. 8, ' They yield themselves unto the Lord,' or, as the
Hebrew hath it, ' They give the hand unto the Lord.' You know when
men make covenants or agreements to own one another, or to stand by
one another, they commonly strike hands, or take one another by the
hand. Certainly all those that have the Lord for their portion, have
given their hands to the Lord, that they will own him, and stand by
him, and cleave to him, as Jonathan did to David, or as Kuth did to
Naomi. How stoutly and courageously did the three children own the
Lord, and stand by the Lord in the face of the fiery furnace, Dan. iii.
17, 18 ; and Daniel will, upon choice, be rather cast into the den of
lions than that the honour of God should in the least be clouded, or his
glory darkened by any neglects or omissions of his, chap. vi. And so
did all those worthies, ' of whom this world was not worthy,' Heb. xi.
34. Oh, how did they own God, and stand up for God, notwithstand-
ing the edge of the sword, the violence of fire, the cruel mockings and
scourgings, the bonds and imprisonments, the stoning and sawing
asunder, the temptings and wanderings about in sheep-skins and goat-
skins, and all other trials and torments that did attend them. Basil,
affirms that the primitive Christians did so courageously and resolutely
own God, and stand up for God in the face of the most dreadful suffer-
ings, that many of the heathens, seeing their heroic zeal, courage, mag-
nanimity, and constancy, turned Christians. Domitian raised the second
persecution against the Christians because they would not give the title
of Lord to any but Christ, nor worship any but God alone. Among the
many thousand instances that might be given, let me only give you a
few of a later date, whereby you may see how courageously and reso-
lutely the saints have stood up for God, and owned God, in the face of
the greatest dangers that hath attended them.

Luther owned God and stood up resolutely for God against the world.'
And when the emperor sent for him to Worms, and his friends dis-
suaded him from going, as sometimes Paul's did him, Go, said he, I will
surely go since I am sent for in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
yea, though I knew that there were as many devils in Worms to resist
me as there be tiles to cover the houses, yet I would go : and when he
and his associates were threatened with many dangers from opposers on
all hands, he lets fall this heroic and magnanimous speech, ' Come,.let
us sing the six-and -fortieth Psalm, and then let them do their w^orst.'
And jindeed it was a brave courageous speech of -the same author, who,
1 [Foxe] Acts et Mon. 776. [Sub Worms in Foxe, by Townsend.— G.]

94 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

when one demanded where he would be when the emperor should, with
all his forces, fall upon the elector of Saxony, who was the chief pro-
tector of the Protestants, answered, Aut in coelo aut sub ccelo, either in
heaven or under heaven.

WilHam Flower, the martyr, said that the heavens should as soon fall
as he would forsa.ke his profession, or budge in the least degree from it'

ApoUonius, as Philostratus reports, being asked, if he did not tremble
at the sight of the tyrant, made this answer, God, which hath given him
a terrible countenance, hath given also unto me an undaunted heart.

When the persecutors by their dreadful threatenings did labour to
terrify one of the martyrs, he replied, that there was nothing of things
visible, nor nothing of things invisible, that he was afraid of I will,
saith he, stand to my profession of the name of Christ, and ' contend
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.'

When Bishop Gardiner asked Rowland Taylor if he did not know
him, (fee, he answered, Yea, I know you, and all your greatness, yet you
are but a mortal man ; and if I should be afraid of your lordly looks,
why fear you not God, the Lord of us all ?'

The executioner kindling the fire behind Jerome of Prague, he bade
him kindle it before his face, for, said he, if I had been afraid of it, I
had not come to this place, having had so many opportunities offered
me to escape it ; and at the giving up of the ghost, he said. This soul
of mine in flames of fire, O Christ, I offer thee.'

The German knight, in his apologetical letter for Luther against the
pontifical clergy, saith, I will go through what I have undertaken
against you, and will stir up men to seek their freedom ; I neither care
nor fear what may befall me, being prepared for either event, either to
ruin you, to the great benefit of my oountry, or else to fall with a good
conscience.

When Dionysius was given up to the executioner to be beheaded, he
remained resolute, courageous, and constant, saying, ' Come life, come
death, I will worship none but the God of heaven and earth.'' Thus
you see by these instances that men that have God for their portion
will courageously own God, and bravely and resolutely stand up for
God, whatever comes on it.

The blood that hath been shed in most nations under heaven doth
clearly evidence this, that men will own their earthly portions, and that
they will stand up stoutly, resolutely, and courageously in the defence
of them ; and so certainly will all those own God, and stand up in the
defence of God, his glory, and truth, who have God for their portion.
Take a true bred Christian, when he is himself, take a Christian in his
ordinary course, and he cannot but own his God, and stand up stoutly
and courageously for his God in the face of all difficulties and dangers.
But,

[7.] Seventhly, If God be thy portion, then thou wilt look upon all
things below thy God as poor, low, mean, and contemptible things,
Ps. Ixxiii. 24, 25. A worldly man looks upon all things below his
earthly portion as contemptible ; and so doth a Christian look upon all
things" below his God as contemptible : Philip, iii. 7, 8, 'But what things
were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and

> Clarke, as before. — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 95

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung' (The Greek word (rxOSaXa properly signifies such
sordid, coarse, and contemptible things, which are either cast forth by
dogs, or cast before dogs),^ ' that I may win Christ.' And it is very
obsei-vable, that after this great apostle had been in the third heaven,
and had been blessed with a glorious sight of God, he looked upon the
world as a poor, mean, low, contemptible thing, 2 Cor. xii. 1-3 : Gal. vi.
14, ' God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.'
Paul scorned, despised, and rejected the world, and the world scorned,
despised, and rejected him. Paul cast off the world, and the world cast
off him ; he disregarded the world, and the world disregarded him ; he
was dead to the world, and the world was dead to him. The world
and Paul were well agreed ; the world cared not a pin for Paul, and
Paul cared not a straw for the world. And so when Moses had seen
him that was invisible, when he had taken a full prospect of that other
world, and when he had beheld God as his portion, oh, how doth he
slight, scorn, and trample upon all the honours, preferments; profits,
pleasures, dehghts, and contentments of Egypt, as things below him,
and as things that in no respects were worthy of him, Heb. xi. 24-27.
It is a Eabbinical conceit,^ that Moses being a child had Pharaoh's
crown given him to play withal, and he made no better than a foot-ball
of it, and cast it down to the ground, and kicked it about, as if it
were a sign of his future vilifying and contemning of temporal things.
I shall not much trouble my head about what Moses did when he was
a child ; but of this I am sure, having the word of God for it, ' That
when he was come to years,' Heb. xi. 24, or as the Greek hath it, /isyag
yivotJ^ivog, being grown big, or being grown a great one, and so sufiiciently
understood himself, and knew very well what he did,' he did little less
than make a foot-ball of Pharaoh's crown. Witness his refusing with
an holy scorn and disdain to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
and so to succeed Pharaoh in the throne. And so in that Rev. xii. 1, 2,
' And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars.' The church here is compared to a woman for her weak-
ness, fruitfulness, and loveliness ; and it is observable, that she is
clothed with the sun, that is, with Christ's own comeliness and righteous-
ness, which resembles the sun in its several properties and effects, not
now to be insisted on. Now this woman, the church, is said to have
the moon under her feet. By the moon we are to understand all tem-
porary and transitory things. Now the church treads upon all these
things as trash and trumpery that were much below her, and
despised by her. Look, as the great men of the world do commonly
look upon all portions that are below their own with an eye of scorn,
disdain, and contempt, as Haman did, Esther v. 9-14 ; and as those
bold daring sinners did, Ps. Ixxiii. 4-14. So do those that have God
for their portion look upon all things below their God with an eye of

• Dogs' dung, some interpret the word.
< * Joh. Plantavit. Florileg. Rahbinicxim.

3 Some conclude he was forty years old now from that, Acts vii. 23.

96 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

scorn and disdain. I have read of Lazarus, that after his resurrection
from the dead he was never seen to laugh ; his thoughts, his heart, his
affections were so fixed upon God, and so taken up with God, with his
portion, that he was as a dead man to all the gay and gallant things
of the world, he saw nothing in them worthy of a smile.

And so when once Galeacius, that famous Italian marquis, came to
understand that God was his portion, in the face of the highest offers
imaginable, of honour, favour, profit, and preferment, he cried out.
Cursed be he that prefers all the glory of the world to one day's com-
munion with God.

The old Grecians, who had altogether fed on acorns before, when
bread came in among them, they made no reckoning of their mast, but
reserved it only for their swine.^ And the Lacedaemonians despised their
iron and leathern money, when gold and silver came in use among them.^
So when a man comes once to experience God to be his portion, ah, at
what a low rate will he value the swelling honours, the deceitful riches,
and the vanishing pleasures of this beggarly world, John iv. 14. Chris-
tians are compared to eagles,^ Mat. xxiv. 28. Now the eagle is a kingly,
a princely bird ; it is a bird of a sharp piercing sight, and of a swift and
lofty flight ; it flies high and sets light by things below, except it be
when necessity compels her: and so it is with those that have God for
their portion ; they fly high and they live high, in God, and therefore
they cannot but set light by the toys and trifles of the world. But,

[8.] Eighthly, If God be thy portion, then thy God is most 'pn^ecious
to thee, then thou settest the highest price and value vmaginahle wpon
thy God. Every man sets the highest price upon his portion. Though
a man may set a good price upon his delightful gardens, his pleasant
walks, his delicate fish-ponds, his fruitful trees, his sweet flowers, &c.,
yet it is no price to that which he sets upon his portion. Well, says
a man, though here be an hundred things to delight my eye, and to
please my fancy, and to satiate my appetite, yet I infinitely value my
portion above them all. And who but a fool in folio will value a
thousand a year above a few accommodations that are only for pleasure
and delio-htl So thoiigh a Christian may set a considerable value upon
all his outward comforts and contentments, yet it is no value to that
he sets upon his God, upon his portion. This and that is precious to
me, saith a Christian, but my God is infinitely more precious than all,
Ps. xxiii. 24, 25, iv. 6, 7. A Christian sets up God above his goods,
Heb. X. 34 ; and above his lusts. Gal. v. 24 ; and above his relations,
1 Sara. XXX. 1-7 ; yea, and above his very life : Rev. xii. 11, ' And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tes-
timony, and they loved not their Hves unto the death: Ps. Ixiii. 3, 'Thy
loving-kindness is better than life.' The Hebrew is chaiim, lives.
Put many lives together, yet there is more excellency and glory in the
least beam, in the least discovery of divine love, than there is in them
all. A man may be weary of life, but never of divine love. Histories
tell us of many that have been weary of their lives, but no histories can
furnish us with an instance of any one that was ever weary of divine
love. Look, as the people prized David above themselves, saying,
• Thou art worth ten thousand of us,' 2 Sara, xviii, 3, so they that have
> Euitalh. in Homer. * Seneca, de Benefic. ^ Query ? — G.

Lam. IIT. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 97

indeed God for their portion, oh how do they prize God above them-
selves, and above everything below themselves ! and doubtless they that
in a course do not lift up God above all, they have no interest in God
at alL Whatever a man eyes as his greatest interest, that he sets up
above all, and before all other things in the world. Now if a man eyes
God as his greatest interest, he cannot but set God a-top of all. I
have not faith enough to believe that ever such did truly love God who
love anything more than God, or who set up anything above God, Luke
xiv. 26. Look, as Darius set up Daniel over all, and as Pharaoh set up
Joseph above all, so a man that hath God for his portion, he sets up
God over all, and he sets up God above all. One [Augustine] set so
high a price upon Christ, that he hath long since told us that he would
willingly go through hell to Christ ; and saith another [Bernard], I had
rather be in my chimney-corner with Christ, than in heaven without
him. When one of the martyrs was offered riches and honours if he
would recant, he made this excellent answer. Do but offer me somewhat
that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall see what I will
say to you.^ And I have read of another, that set so high a price upon
the Lord Jesus, that whensoever he did but mention the name of
Jesus, his eyes dropped tears. Were every star in the firmament a
sun, yet a man that hath God for his portion would prize him above
them all;

Do you ask me where be my jewels ? My jewels are my husband,
said Phocion's wife.'' Do you ask me where be my ornaments? My
ornaments are my two sons, brought up in virtue and learning, said the
mother of the Gracchi.^ Do you ask me where be my treasures ? My
treasures are my friends, said Constantius, the father of Constantine.
So if you ask a Christian that hath God for his portion where his jewels,
his ornaments, his treasures, his comforts, and the delights of his soul
are, he will answer you that they are all in God, he will tell you that
God is his portion, and that God is his great all, and that he enjoys all
in God, and God in all, and therefore he cannot but prize God above
all. But to prevent mistakes in this weighty case, let me give you a
few brief hints ; as,

[1.] First, If God be truly precious, to thee, then all of God is pre-
cious to thee; his name is precious to thee, his honour is precious to
thee, his ordinances are precious to thee, his Sabbaths are precious to
thee, his promises are precious to thee, his precepts are precious to
thee, his threatenings are precious to thee, his rebukes are precious to
thee, his people are precious to thee, and all his concernments are pre-
cious to thee. Look, as every sparkling stone that is set round about
a rich 'diamond is precious in the eyes of the jeweller, so is every spark-
ling excellency in God precious in his eyes that sets an high value upon
God. Look, as all of the new-bom babe is precious in the eyes of the
tender mother,* as head, face, hands, arms, body, feet, &c., so all of God
is very precious in his eyes that hath any tender regard of God ; and
look, as all of an husband is precious in the eyes of a loving wife, viz,,

1 Johannes Mollius. [Clarke, as before — G]
« Plutarch, Phocion. s Ibid.— G

\ It was an harlot that would have the child divided, 1 Kings iii. 25, 26.
VOL, II. G

98 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

his person, name, credit, honour, estate, liberty, life, &c., so all of God
is very precious in his eyes that loves God with a real love, with a
superlative love. But,

[2.] Secondly, If God be most precious to thee, then all the dis-
honours that are done to Ood, his truth, his uorshi'p, his ways, his
ordin/inces, his institutions, his government, his people, are most
grievous and burdensome to thee. * The reproaches of them that
reproached thee are fallen upon me,' Ps. Ixix. 9 ; * I beheld the trans-
gressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word,' Ps. cxix.
158. The word that is here translated grieved is from katat, that
signifies to loathe, abhor, and contend : I beheld the transgressors, and
I loathed them ; I beheld the transgressors, and I abhorred them ; I
beheld the transgressors, and I contended with them ; but not so much
because they were mine enemies, as because they were thine. It is
just between God and all those that have a precious esteem of him,
as it is between two lute-strings that are tuned one to another ; no
sooner one is struck but the other trembles. A saint cannot see God
struck but his heart will tremble, Jer. ix. 1-4. A father, lying upon
his death-bed,' called three children to him which he kept, and told
them that one only of them was his natural son, and that the other
two were only brought up by him ; therefore unto him only he gave
all his goods ; but which of those three was his own son he would not
in any wise declare. When he was dead, every one pleaded his birth-
right, and the matter being brought to trial, the judge, for the making,
if possible, a true discovery, took this course. He caused the dead
corpse of the father to be set up against a tree, and commanded the
three sons to take bows and arrows to shoot at their father, to see who
could come nearest to his heart. The first and second did shoot and
hit him, but the third was very much angry and displeased with them
both, and through the natural affection of a child to a father, threw
away his bow and arrows, and would not shoot at all. This being
done, the judge gave this sentence, viz., that the two first that shot at
their supposed father's heart were no sons, but that the third son, that
would not shoot at all, and that was very much displeased with those
that did shoot, was the true son, and that he should have the goods.
O sirs ! every bitter word is an arrow shot at the heart of God, and
every bloody oath is an arrow shot at the heart of God, and every heavy
curse is an arrow shot at the heart of God, and every superstitious cus-
tom is an arrow shot at the heart of God, and every snare that is laid
for the righteous is an an-ow shot at the heart of God, and every yoke
that is laid upon the people of God is an arrow shot at the heart of
God, and every affront that by debauched persons is given to God is an
arrow shot at the heart of God, &c. And what true bred sons, what
ingenuous sons, can see such arrows every hour in the day shot at the
heart of God, and hear of such arrows that are shot a thousand thousand
times in a day at the heart of God, and not grieve and mourn, and not
be afflicted, troubled, displeased, and astonished to see men and to hear
of men that were once made in the image of God to be turned into such
incarnate devils, as thus to deal with God, yea, with such a Grod as can
speak them into hell at his pleasure. But,

' Mr Perkins's ' Government of the Tongue.'

Lam. III. 24.] AN AUK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. 99

[3.] Thirdly, If God be most precious to you, then you will 'part with
anything for God, then you will let go anything, that you may hold
your God, and enjoy your God, Philip, iii. 7, 8, Mat. xiii. 46 ; then
your Isaac shall be made a sacrifice, if God will have it so. Gen. xxii.,
and your Benjamin shall be sent into Egypt, if God will have it so,
Gen. xliii. ; then your Jonah shall be cast overboard, if God will have it
so, Jonah i. ; then out goes the right eye, and off goes the right hand,
upon a divine command ; then you will never cry out. Oh ! this mercy
is too near to me to part with for God, and that comfort is too dear to
me to part with for God, &c. Oh no ; but then you will say, as
the king of Sodom said to Abraham, ' Give me the persons, and take
the goods to thyself,' Gen. xiv. 21. So you will say, ' Give us God, oh give
us God, and let who will take the goods, let who will take the honours,
and the profits, and the pleasures of this world ; it is enough that Joseph
is alive ; it is enough if we may but enjoy our God. A prince will part
with anything rather than he will part with his crown-jewels ; and so will
a Christian rather part with anything, than, upon choice, to part with
his God, whom he values above all the crown-jewels in the world. But,

[4.] Fourthly, If God be most precious to thee, then thou canst never
have enough of God; thou canst never have enough of communion with
God ; thou canst never have enough of the presence of God ; thou canst
never have enough of the Spirit of God ; thou canst never have enough
of the discoveries of God ; thou canst never have enough of the assist-
ance of God ; thou canst never have enough of the secret influences and
incomes of God ; thou canst never have enough of the comforts and
strong consolations of God, &c.^ The grave, the barren womb, the mam-
monist, the pope, the Turk, the devil, and hell, will be as soon satisfied
as thou canst be satisfied without clearer, further, and fuller enjoyments
of God. ' No man,' saith God to Moses, * can see my face, and live,'
Exod. xxxiii. 20 ; upon which words Austin makes this short but sweet
reply, ' Then, Lord, let me die, that I may see thy face.' It is impossible
that ever a man's heart should rest satisfied till he comes to a full and
perfect enjoyment of that which he hath set up as his grand interest, as
his great all. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly. If God be most precious to thee, then thou
wilt give up thyself wholly to God without any reservation. Whatever
a man sets up as his great interest, to that he devotes himself, to the
service of that he wholly gives up himself ; so when a man eyes God as
his most precious interest, and sets up God as his most precious interest,
he cannot but devote himself wholly to God, he cannot but give up him-
self whoUy to God -? Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me.' I am not my
own, nor sin's, nor Satan's, nor the world's, nor friends', nor relations',
, but * I am thine,' I am really thine, 1 am wholly thine, I am only thine,
I am always thine, I am thine to be sanctified, and I am thine to be
saved ; I am thine to be commanded, and I am thine to be ruled. Lord,
I am thine own, and therefore do with thine own as thou pleasest, and
dispose of thine own as thou pleasest. I am at thy foot, willing in
some measure to be anything or nothing, as shall seem best in thine
own eyes. When the keys of the whole house, and of every room in

• Ps^xxvii. 4 ; Ixxxiv. 1-12 ; xlii. 1, 2 ; Ixiii. 1-8 ; Caut. viii. 14 ; Eev. xxii. 20.
2 Cant. ii. 16 ; Acts vii. 2-4 ; xiii. 22 ; Luke v. 6, 7.

100 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24<.

the house, are given up to the king to be at his dispose, at his service,
then he is entertained as a king, and honoured as a king, and valued
and prized as a king; and so when all the keys of the soul, and every
room in the soul, and every faculty of the soul, are given up to God to
be at his dispose, at his service, then God is entertained as a God, and
honoured as a God, and valued and prized as a God, but not till then.
And by these five hints, if you will not put a cheat upon your own souls,
you may know whether God sits in the uppermost room of your hearts
or no, and whether God be set up in your hearts above all, and whether
he be indeed your great all, or your all in all. But,

(9.) Ninthly, If God be thy portion, then there is no loss in all the
world that lies so hard and so heavy upon thee as the loss of thy God.
There is no loss under heaven that doth so affect and afflict a man that
hath God for his portion as the loss of his God. David met with many
a loss, but no loss made so sad and so great a breach upon his spirit as
the loss of the face of God, the loss of the favour of God : Ps. xxx. 6, 7,
* In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour
thou hast made my mountain to stand strong : thou didst hide thy face,
and I was troubled.' The Hebrew word bahal signifies to be greatly
troubled, to be sorely terrified, as you may see in that 1 Sam. xxviii. 21,
' And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled.'
Here is the same Hebrew word bahal} Saul was so terrified, affrighted,
and disanimated with that dreadful news that the devil in Samuel's
likeness told him, that his very vital spirits so failed him that he fell
into a deadly swoon. And it was even so with David upon God's hid-
ing of his face. David was like a withered flower that had lost all itp sap,
life, and vigour, when God had wrapped up himself in a cloud. The life
of some creatures lieth in the light and warmth of the sun ; and so doth
the life of the saints lie in the light and warmth of God's countenance.
And as in an eclipse of the sun there is a drooping in the whole frame
of nature, so when God hides his face, gracious souls cannot but droop
and languish, and bow down themselves before him. Many insensible
creatures, some by opening and shutting, as marigolds and tulips, others
by bowing and inclining the head, as the solsequy'* and mallow-flowers
are so sensible of the presence and absence of the sun, that'there seems
to be such a sympathy between the sun and them, that if the sun be
gone or clouded, they wrap up themselves, or hang down their heads, as
being unwilling to be seen by any eye but his that fills them ; and just
thus it was with David when God had hid his face in a cloud. And it
is very observable that Job did bear up very sweetly, bravely, patiently,
and nobly under all his great losses of children, estate, &c. ; but when
the arrows of the Almighty were got within him, then he complains that
his grief was heavier than the sands of the sea. Job vi. 1-5 ; and when
the face of God was hidden from him, how sadly doth he lament and
bewail the withdrawings of God : * Behold, I go forward, but he is not
there ; and backward, but I cannot perceive him ; on the left hand, where
he doth work, but I cannot behold him ; he hideth himself on the right

' And 80 this Hebrew word bahal you have again in that Dan. v. 9, to express the great
nesa of Belshazzar's trouble and terror when ho saw the handwriting upon the wall, and
wlien none of his wise men could read the writing, &c.

2 The early name of the ' aun-flower.' The solsequium of Linuseus.— G.

Lam. III. 24<.] AN ARK FOK ALL GOD'S NOAHS. 101

hand, but I cannot see him,' Job xxiii, 8, 9. You know there is no pain
more grievous and tormenting than that of breaking the bones. Now
David again and again pitches upon this, to hint unto you that dreadful
smart and pain that his soul was under when he had lost his communion
with God, and when his God was withdrawn from him, and had hid his
face from him, Ps. xxxviii. 8, li. 8. And so the church sadly laments the
loss of her beloved in that Solomon's Song, v. 6, ' I opened to my
beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone. My soul
failed when he spake,' or, ' he was gone, he was gone.' Now this pas
sionate duplication speaks out her very great grief and trouble. Like
a sad widow, she sits down and wrings her hands, and cries out, ' He is
gone, he is gone ;' ' My soul failed me ;' or, as the Hebrew hath it,
Naphshi jatsa, ' my soul went out of me.' I was even as an astonished
creature,! was even as a dead creature, to note how greatly and how deeply
she was troubled and perplexed upon the account of his withdrawing
from her. Oh ! the fear, the terror, the horror, the dread, the grief, the
sorrow that fell upon the spouse's heart when her beloved had turned his
back upon her. And so it was with Mary: John xx. ] 1-13, ' But Mary
stood without at the sepulchre weeping ; and as she wept,she stooped down
and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the
one at the head, and the other at thefeet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
And they said unto her. Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith unto
them. Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where
they have laid him.' Of all losses, Mary was least able to bear the loss
of her Lord. The loss was so great, and so heavy the loss, that she was
not able to stand under it with dry eyes. Mary's mourning for the loss
of her Lord was like that of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon,
Zech. xii. 11. There is no loss that comes so near to a Christian's heart
as the loss of his Lord. A Christian can a thousand times better bear
the loss of his name, which next to his soul and his grace is the best
jewel that he hath in all the world, the loss of his estate, the loss of his
liberty, the loss of his nearest and dearest relations, yea, the very loss of
his life, than he can bear the loss of his God.

You see how sadly Micah takes on for the loss of his wooden gods,
in that Judges xviii. 23, 24, 'And they cried unto the children of l)an:
and they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee,
that thou comest with such a company ? And he^ SE^id, Ye have taken
away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away ;
and what have I more ? and what is that ye say unto me, What aileth
thee ?' Now if Micah was so affected and afflicted upon the\loss of his
idol gods, his wooden gods, what cause theii|iave Chrisfci^n^ to'be deeply
affected and afflicted when they come to vioso^ tjieir God, which is the
true God, the living God, the only God, apd the God of gods ! You
know that when Samson's locks were cut off, his streng,t|i Was gone,
Judges xvi. 19-21; and therefore, though he thp).i^h|, ^ t<> go out, and
do as great things as he had formerly done, yet he fouiad by woful ex-
perience that he could not; for now he was become as another man.
And it is just so with the choicest saints: when their God is gone, their
locks are cut, and their strength is gone, their doing strength, and their
suffering strength, and their bearing strength, and their wrestling
strength, and their prevailing strength, &c., is gone when their God is

102 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

gone ; yea, when God goes, all goes. When the king removes, all his
train follows ; when God goes, comforts go ; when God goes, joys go ;
when God goes, peace goes ; when God goes, prosperity goes ; when God
goes, friends go ; when God goes, all content and satisfaction goes ; and
therefore it is no wonder to see a Christian better bear any loss than
the loss of his God, for in losing of him he loses all at a clap.^ A
Christian counts it his only happiness to enjoy his God, and his only
unhappiness to be deprived of him. The constant language of a Chris-
tian is, * None but God, none but God ;' as it was once the language of
the martyr, ' None but Christ, none but Christ.'^

Outward losses to some men have been unsufferably afflictive. One
being turned out of his estate runs out of his wits, another hangs him-
self with the same hands with which he had formerly told his portion.
Menippus of Phoenicia having lost his goods, strangled himself^ Dinar-
cus Phidon, at a certain great loss, cut his own throat, to save the charge
of a cord.* When Henry the Second heard that his city Mentz was
taken, he let fall this blasphemous speech : I shall never, said he, love
God any more, that hath suffered a city so dear to me to be taken away
from me. And Augustus Caesar [Suetonius], in whose time Christ was
born, was so troubled and astonished at the loss and overthrow that Varus
gave him, that for certain months together he let the hair of his head
and beard grow without cutting, and sometimes he would run his head
against the very doors, and cry out, Quintilius Varus, deliver up my
legions again ; Quintilius Varus, deliver up my legions again, &c.^ I might
give you many sad instances nearer home, but that I love not to harp
upon so sad a string. But certainly no outward losses can lie so heavy
upon the spirit of a worldling, as the loss of God lies upon the spirit of
a saint.® I have read of a religious woman, that having brought forth
nine children, professed that she had rather endure all the pains of
those nine travails at once than endure the misery of the loss of God's
presence. A man can better bear any loss than the loss of his box of
jewels, and tlian the loss of his writings and evidences that he hath to
shew for his estate; and therefore, when his house is on fire, he doth
not cry out. Oh save that bed, or that chest, or that dish, or that stool,
&c. ; but he cries out. Oh save my box of jewels ! oh save my writings !
I care not though aU be consumed, so my box of jewels and my evidences
be but saved. Dfow God is a Christian's box of jewels, he is a Chris-
tian's grand evidence that' » ^he hath to shew for another world; and
therefore his greatest fear is 'of losing his God, and his greatest care is
of keeping has God. If his b<>x of jewels be safe, then all is safe ; but
if they are lost, all is lost; sdad how then is it possible for a Chris-
tian to bear up bravely under the loss of all ? A man may bear up
bravely under the loss of &is lumber, and under the loss of his house-
hold goods, so long as his jewels are safe and his writings are safe ; but
if his box of ^}e"rela should be lost, and his writings should be burnt,
why, then, he wiinga his hands, and cries out. Oh, I am undone ! I am
undone ! I am undone ! So a Christian can bear up bravely under this
worldly loss, and that worldly loss, and the other worldly loss, so long

• Qui tenon habet, Domine Deut, totum perdidit. — Bernard.

* Sanders, also Hudson, as before. — G. ^ Oehler, Varro. — G. * Pheidon : Dut ? — G.
^ Qu. Atrus Varus? -but ?— G- « Compare the 77th and the 88th Psalms together.

Lam. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. ] 03

as he enjoys his God ; but when he hath lost his God, oh then, he cannot
but wring his hands, and cry out, I am undone ! I am undone ! I am
undone ! I have lost my God, and in losing of him, I have lost my life,
I have lost my love, I have lost my joy, I have lost my crown, 1 have
lost my heaven, I have lost my happiness, I have lost my alL O Chris-
tians ! if God be your portion, it will be thus with you upon the loss of
your God. But,

(10.) Tenthly, If God be thy portion, then thou wilt set the highest
price, value, and esteem upcni those that have God for their portion,
Ps. xvi. 3, Prov. xii. 26, and chap, xxviii. 6. A man that hath God for
his portion, never values men for their arts, parts, gifts, gay clothes,
gold chains ; no, nor by their birth, breeding, high offices, or great
places; no, nor by their outward dignities, honours, or riches, &c., but
by their interest and propriety in God. A man that hath God for his
portion, prizes a poor ragged Lazarus that hath God for his portion,
before a rich Dives that hath only gold for his portion. If thou hast
God for thy portion, then there is no man in court, city, or country, to
that man that hath God for his portion ; then there is no man in a
parish, a country, a kingdom, to him that hath God for his portion. A
man that hath God for his portion, hath an higher esteem and a greater
respect for a Job, though stripped of all, and sitting upon a dunghill,
than he hath for a wicked Ahab, though sitting od his royal throne.
Paul set a higher price upon Onesimus, though but a servant, a slave,
because he had God for his portion, than he did upon Nero, though he
was a great and mighty emperor, Philem. 10, 12, 17; 2 Tim. iv. 17. And
king Ingo valued poor ragged Christians that had God for their portion,
above all his glittering pagan nobles that had only the world for their
portion, saying, that when all his pagan nobles should, in all their pomp
and glory, be turned into hell, those poor Christians, that had God for
their portion, should be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.
Look, as men that have their portion in this world do value men ac-
cording to their worldly portions, so that they that have most gold and
silver, and they that have most lordships and lands, they are the best
men, the happiest men, the only men in their eyes ; so a Christian
that hath God for his portion, he sets the highest value upon those that
have God for their portion, and there are no men in all the world that
are so high in his books as they are. A man that hath an interest in
God loves none, nor likes none, nor honours none, nor delights in none,
nor exalts none, nor values none, to those that have God for their por-
tion. Though the men, the great men of this world may sit in the
uppermost seats at his table, yet they that have God for their portion,
sit in the uppermost rooms of his heart. The Jews say, that those
seventy souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, were as much worth as
all the seventy nations in the world. And I may say, that one soul
that hath God for his portion, is more worth than all the souls in the
world that have only the world for their portion. A man that hath
God for his portion, cannot but set a very high value upon all those
that have God for their portion, though in disputable things they may
differ from him. A man that hath God for his portion, had rather live
wit|i those that have God for their portion in a prison, in a dungeon,
thaii live with those that have only the world for their portion in a

104; AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

royal palace ; as Algerius/ an Italian martyr, was wont to say, that he

had rather live in prison with Cato than with Caesar in the senate

house. And Doctor Taylor, the martyr, rejoiced exceedingly that ever

he came into prison, because he came there to have acquaintance with

that angel of God, John Bradford, as he calls him.^ When Joseph was

in Egypt, the Scripture saith, according to the Hebrew phrase, that

* he tied the princes of Pharaoh's court about his heart,' Ps. cv. 22 ; so

a man that hath God for his portion, he doth as it were tie those that

have God for their portion about his heart. Oh, he is always best when

they are most in his eye, and nearest to his heart. It is his happiness

on this side happiness to enjoy communion with them, and it is the

greatest unhappiness in this world to be separated from them, Ps. cxx.

5-7. A man that hath God for his portion, values the company of such

that have God for their portion above all other company in the world,

and he values the favour of such above all other men's favour in the

world, and he values the prayers of such above all other men's prayers

in the world, and he values the counsels of such above all other men's

counsel in the world, and he values the experiences of such above all

other men's experiences in the world, and he values the interest of such

above all other men's interest in the world, and he values the hopes

and expectations of such above all other men's hopes and expectations

in the world, and he values the examples of such above the examples

of all other men in the world, and he values the displeasure and anger

of such above all other men's displeasure and anger in the world. But,

[11.] Eleventhly, If God be your portion, then you are his portion.

If you have an interest in God, then God hath an interest in you ; if

you have a propriety in God, then God hath a propriety in you ; if God

be truly yours, then you are really his : Cant. ii. 16, ' My beloved is mine,

and I am his ;' Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me ;' I am not mine own,

I am not sin's, I am not Satan's, I am not the world's, I am not friends',

I am not relations', but I am thine, save me ; I am really thine, I am

totally thine, I am solely thine, I am everlastingly thine, save me :

Ezek. xvi. 8, ' I entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest

mine ;' Deut. xxxii. 9, 'For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is

the lot of his inheritance.'^ Though God's people are despised of the

world, yet they are dear to God, for they are his portion. In these

words, 'Jacob is the lot of his inheritance,' he alludes to the division of the

land of Canaan, as if the sons of Jacob had fallen to him by lot. The

Lord's people are as dear to God, and as near to God, and in as great

account with God, as earthly portions and inheritances are or can be

among the sons of men : Jer. xii. 10, ' Many pastors have destroyed my

vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my

pleasant portion (or as the Hebrew hath it, my portion of desire or of

delight) a desolate wildernes.' God's people are not only his portion,

but they are his pleasant portion, yea, they are his desirable portion,

his delightful portion. If the Lord be your portion, then you are his

nheritance, Isa. xix. 25 ; and his peculiar treasure. Exod. xix. 5 ; and

' Clarke, as before, p. 187.— G. * Clarke, as before. — 6,

3 There are none that have that \&rp,6 interest and propriety in the saints that God

hath: Zech. ii. 12, 'And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and

shall choose Jerusalem again.'

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 105

his glory, Isa. xlvi. 13 ; and his ornament, Ezek. vii. 20 ; and his throne,
Jer. xvii. 12 ; and his diadem, Isa. Ixii. 3 ; and his jewels, Mai. iii. 17.
These scriptures speak out plainly and clearly that great propriety and
interest that God hath in all those that have a propriety and interest
in him. O sirs ! look, that as in all God hath you have an interest,
so in all that you have God hath an interest ; and look, as what God is,
he is for you, so what you are, you are for God ; and look, as God is
sincerely for you, so you are sincerely for God ; and as God is wholly for
you, so you are wholly for God ; and as God is only for you, so you are
only for God ; and as God is in all things for you, so you are in all things
for God ; and as God is at all times for you, so you are at all times for
God. sirs !• There are none under heaven that have that interest
in you as God hath, if indeed he be your portion. Look what interest
the head hath in the members, the husband in the wife, the father in
the child, the lord in his servant, the general in his soldier, and the
prince in his subject, that, all that, and more than that, hath God in all
those that have an interest in him. There is no man in the world that
hath such an interest in himself, as God hath in him, if indeed God be
his portion. Sin cannot say to a man that hath God for his portion. Thou
art mine ; nor Satan cannot say to a man that hath God for his portion.
Thou art mine ; nor the world cannot say to a man that hath God for
his portion. Thou art mine ; nor the creature cannot say to a man that
bath God for his portion, Thou art mine. It is only God that can say
to such a man, Thoa art mine. As in marriage, none can say. This
woman is mine, but the husband ; so none can say to a man that hath
God for his portion. Thou art mine, but God alone. Look, as no man
can truly say, that God is my Lord, and my God, and my father, and
my friend, and my wisdom, and my counsel, and my righteousness, and
my consolation, and my salvation, and my portion, and my light, and
my life, and my love, and my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
and my strength, and my buckler, and my high tower, and my help, and
my happiness, and my blessedness, and my all in all, but he that hath
God for his portion ; so none but God can look upon a gracious person,
and say. This gracious person is mine ; he is my bride, my child, my
friend, my favourite, my beloved, my darling, my joy, my crown ; his
heart is set upon me, and his love is inflamed towards me, and his trust
and confidence is fixed on me, and his desires and longings are running
out after me, and all his joys and delights are terminated in me. But,
[J 2.] Twelfthly, If God be your portion, then certainly the least of
God is very dear and precious to you. Oh then the least truth of God
will be very precious to you, and the least command of God will be very
precious to you, and the least child of God will be very precious^o you,
and the least concernment of God will be very precious to you. Look,
as the least beam of light is precious, and as the least drop of honey is
precious, and as the least dust of gold is precious, and as the least degree
of health and strength is precious, and as the least measure of liberty is
precious ; so the very least of God is very precious to that man that hath God
for his portion. Look, as every little piece and parcel of a worldly man's
portion is very dear and precious to him, so every little piece and parcel
of God, if I may so speak, is very dear and precious to him that hath
God for his portion. The least glimpse and manifestations of the love

106 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

and favour of God, the least taste of the mercies of God, the least anoint-
ings of the Spirit of God, the least comunications of the grace of God,
and the least drops of the consolations of God, are exceedingly sweet
and precious to him that hath God for his portion. The least good look
that a man hath from God, and the least good word that a man hears
from God, and the least love letter and love token that a man receives
from God, is exceedingly precious to that man that hath God for his
portion, ' One day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere,'
Ps. Ixxxiv. 10. He doth not say, One year in thy courts is better than
a thousand elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere ; nor doth he not say, One quarter of a year in thy
courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, but ' One day in thy courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere ;' nor he doth not say, One month
in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, but ' One day in thy
courts is better than a thousand elsewhere ;' to shew that the very least
of God is exceeding precious to a gracious soul that hath God for his
portion.

Now by these twelve particulars you may all know whether God be
your portion or no, except you are resolved beforehand to put a cheat
upon your own immortal souls, and so to make yourselves miserable in
both worlds. And let thus much suffice for this use of trial and ex-
amination.

Now if, upon trial and examination, any of you shall come to some
comfortable satisfaction in your own spirits, that God is your portion,
and that you have an undoubted interest and propriety in God, oh then
I would upon the knee of my soul entreat and beseech you, I might
say, charge and command you, to evidence and declare to all the world
your interest and propriety in God.

But you will say. How should ive evidence and declare to the world
our interest and propriety in God ? we are willing to do it, if we did but
know how we should do it. Why then, thus:

[1.] First, Evidence and declare your interest and propriety in God,
hy your labouring and endeavouring with all your might to draw
on others to get an interest and 'propriety in God} O sirs ! have
you been convinced of the necessity and excellency of interest and pro-
priety in God ? have you experienced the profit, the sweet, the comfort,
and the happiness of propriety and interest in God ? and how then can
you but strive, as for life, to persuade others to look after their interest
and propriety in Christ, as ihe one thing necessary ? When Samson
had tasted honey, he gg.ve his father and mother some with him. Judges
xiv. 8, 9. O my brethren, propriety and interest in God is so sweet a
mors^l^ that I cannot see how it is possible for a man to taste of it and
not to commend it to others. They that have tasted that the Lord is
gracious, cannot but cry out with the psalmist, ' Oh taste and see that
the Lord is good,' Ps. xxxiv. 8. Propriety and interest in God will
never make a man a churl, it will never work a man to make a mono-
poly of so rare a jewel as that is. Oh the fervent prayers ! Oh the
burning desires ! Oh the vehement wishes ! Oh the strong endeavours
of such that have an interest and propriety in God, to draw on others

' Num. x. 29 : John i. 39-49, iv. 28-30 ; Acts x. 24-27.

Lam. hi. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 1 07

to seek after an interest and propriety in God ! All true propriety and
interest in God is of a diffusive nature ; it is like light, that will spread
itself over all ; it is like leaven, that will run through all ; it is like
Mary's box of sweet ointment, that filled all the house with the sweet
scent thereof If thou art a minister, evidence thy propriety in God
in doing all thou canst to provoke those that are under thy charge to
secure their propriety in God; other things cannot be secured, but
propriety in God may be secured, Acts xxvi. 29. If thou art a magis-
trate that hast a propriety in God, evidence it by doing all thou canst,
by thy commands, and by thy counsel, and by thy example, and by
thy prayers, to persuade and win others over to be restless till they
have secured their interest and propriety in God, Joshua xxiv. 15. If
thou art a father that hast interest and propriety in God, oh, then, let
thy soul be still in travail for thy children, till Christ be formed in
them, till they are new born, and till they have experienced the power
and sweet of propriety and interest in God. But,

[2. J Secondly, Evidence your propriety and interest in God, hy keep-
ing far off from all such sinful courses, practices, and compliances,
that may any ways put yourselves or others to question the ti^th of
your propi^ety and interest in God. Thus did those worthies, * of
whom this world was not worthy,' in that Heb. xi. It is very ob-
servable that when the holy things belonging to the sanctuary were to
be removed, God commanded Aaron and his sons that there should be
a special care had to cover them all over, lest in journeying dust should
any ways soil them. Num. iv. 5-13. O beloved ! it highly concerns you
that have an interest and propriety in God, to look narrowly to your
hearts, words, works, and ways, and to see that there be such a cover-
ing of grace and holiness, such a covering of care, fear, wisdom, watch-
fulness, and circumspection over your whole man, that no scandalous
sins, pollutions, or defilements be found upon you ; according to that
exhortation of the apostle, in that Philip, ii. 15, ' That ye may be blame-
less and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a
crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine (or shine ye) as
lights in the world.' Rev. x;iv. 3-5, chap. iii. 4. I have read of the
dove, that there is such a native dread of the hawk implanted in her,
that she is afraid of every feather that hath grown upon a hawk, and
that she so detests and abhors the very sight of any such feather that
she will fly from it, and keep at the greatest distance imaginable from
it. And shall not that divine fear, O Christians ! that is planted by
the hand of the Spirit in your hearts, be of as great force and preva-
lency to keep your souls from all those enormities and wicked com-
pliances that may in the least occasion you or others to question your
propriety and interest ? Remember Francis Spira, and tremble ! You
know a scrivener may by one great blot at last spoil all that he hath
done for many days before upon a large patent or lease ; so a man may
by one foul blot, by one enormous crime, by one wretched act of com-
pliance, dash and obliterate the fairest copy of a virtuous life, and raze
out all the visible golden characters of divine graces that once seemed
to be printed upon the soul. Look, as one drop of ink coloureth a
whoLe glass of water, so one gross sin, one shameful action, one hour's
compliance with anything of antichrist, will colour and stain all the great

108 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. Ill 24.

things that ever you have suffered, and all the good things that ever
you have performed ; it will stain and colour all the good prayers that
ever you have made, and all the good sermons that ever you have
heard, and all the good books that ever you have read, and all the
good words that ever you have spoke, and all the good works that ever
you have done. And therefore, whatever you do, keep off from sin,
and keep off from all sinful compliances, as you would keep off from
hell itself But,

[3.] Thirdly, Declare and evidence your propriety and interest in
God, hy maintaining and keeping up the sense of your interest and
propi^ty in God, in opposition to all other interest whatsoever.
Maintain your interest in God in opposition to sin's interest, and in op-
position to Satan's interest, and in opposition to the world's interest,
and in opposition to antichrist's interest, and in opposition to all carnal
and superstitious interests, Ps. Ixiii. 1, Rev. xiv. 1-4 : as Moses did, and
as Joshua and Caleb did, and as Mordecai and Nehemiah did, and as
Daniel and the three children did, and as the apostles and the primi-
tive Christians did. Certainly the heart of a gracious man cannot but
rise, and his anger and indignation cannot but swell, against every thing
and every interest that threatens to make a breach upon his inte-
rest and propriety in God, Ps. Ixix. 9. A man that hath an interest
and propriety in God, in the midst of all oppositions, is like a man
made up all of fire, walking in stubble and straw : he overcomes and
consumes all oppositions, and all difficulties are but whetstones to his
fortitude. He encourages his soul in the face of all oppositions and
dangers, as Hezekiah once did his soldiers in that 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8,
' Be strong and courageous, be not dismayed for the king of Assyria,
nor for all the multitude that is with him : for there be more with us
than with him. With him is an arm of flesh ; but with us is the Lord
our God, to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested
themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.' He is a fool,
we say, that will be laughed out of his coat ; but certainly he is a fool,
in folio that will be laughed out of his skin, nay, out of his soul, out of
his profession, out of his eternal salvation ; but doubtless such fools as
these have never experienced the sweet of propriety and interest in
God. Without all peradventure, there were many broad jests and many
bitter scoffs broken upon Noah, whilst he was a-building of his ark. The
people laughed at him, and derided him, and thought the poor old man
doated and dreamed, not, as we say, of a dry summer, but of a wet win-
ter ; but yet Noah's propriety and interest in God being clear, Noah
begins his work, and goes on his work, and never ceases till he had
finished that work that God had set him about.

Alciat observes in one of his Emblems,' that a dog then barketh most
when the moon is at fullest ; but whether it be by some special in-
fluence that it then worketh on the dog, or whether it be occasioned by
the spots in the moon represented unto him in the form and shape of an-
other dog, I shall not conclude ; but yet let the dog bark never so much,
the moon will run her course. She will walk her station securely through
the heavens, though all the dogs in the town bark never so fiercely at
her ; so a man that hath an interest and propriety in God, and knows it,
* Alciati, Emblemata, 1535, &c — G.

Lam. III. 24).] an aek for all god's noahs. 109

he is like the moon, he will hold on his course heavenwards and holi-
nesswards, though all the lewd and debauched wicked wretches in city
and country should bark at him, and deride him, and oppose him, and
speak all manner of evil against him. Propriety and interest in God
will make a man set light by all such paper-shot, yea, it will carry him
through the pikes, not only of evil tongues, but it will also carry him
through the most fierce and eager opposition that either Satan himself,
or any of his instruments, can possibly raise against him. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Declare and evidence your propriety and interest in
God, hy your sweet and noble carriage and deportment towards those
that have an interest and propriety in God. Look, as a child carries
it in a different way to his father to what he doth to others, so you
must carry it in a different way towards those that have an interest and
propriety in God, to what you do towards those that have no interest
nor propriety at all in God, Though a wife be very kind and courteous
to all comers and goers, yet she carries it in a very different way to her
husband from what she doth to all others ; she carries it with a great
deal more kindness, and sweetness, and tenderness, and familiarness,
and nobleness, &c., towards her husband, than she doth towards others,
whether they be friends or strangers ; and just thus should you carry
it towards those that have a propriety and interest in God. I have not
faith enough to believe that such men have any interest and propriety
in God, who carry it very strangely, and proudly, and churlishly, and
scornfully, and deridingly, and tyrannically, and disdainfully, and en-
viously, and maliciously, and rigorously, and sourly, and bitterly, &c.,
towards those that have an interest and propriety in God, and yet carry
it at the same time very fairly, and sweetly, and courteously, &c., towards
such wretches that have no interest or propriety in God at all, yea, to
such that blaspheme his name, and that profane his Sabbaths, and that
pollute his ordinances, and that trample upon his mercies, and that de-
spise his warnings, and that are given up to their own hearts' lusts,
and that live as if there were neither God, nor heaven, nor hell. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Evidence your interest and propriety in God, by doing
such things for God, which such as have no interest in God cannot
do, nor wilt not do, nor have no heart nor mind to do. Evidence
your interest in God, by doing singular things for God, Mat. v. 44-48;
by doing such things for God that are above their reach that have no
interest nor propriety in God at all; as by denying yourselves, your
sinful selves, your natural selves, and your religious selves; and by
keeping a singular guard upon your own hearts, words, and ways; and
by stepping over the world's crown to take up Christ's cross, as Moses
did, Heb. xi. 24; and by lessening yourselves to greaten Christ, as John
did, John iii, 30-Ji2 ; and by lifting up of Christ above your lusts, above
yourselves, above the world, above outward privileges, above your per-
formances, above your arts, parts, and gifts, as Paul did, Philip, iii. 7-9 ;
and by blessing a taking God as well as a giving God, as Job did, Job
i.; and by rejoicing and glorying in all the afflictions and sufferings
that befall you for Christ's sake and the gospel's sake, as the apostles
and primitive Christians did; and by choosing to suffer rather than
to sin, as those worthies did ' of whom this world was not worthy ;' and
by keeping of yourselves from the defilements, pollutions, and abomina-

110 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

tions of the times, as some in Sardis did, Rev. iii. 4 ; and by following
of the Lamb wheresoever he goes, as those hundred, forty and four
thousand did, who had their Father's name written in their foreheads,
chap. xiv. 1-5. sirs ! it is infinitely better not to challenge any in-
terest or propriety in God at all, than to pretend high as to interest and
propriety in God, and yet to do no more for God, nay, it may be not so
much, than they that have no interest nor propriety in God at all. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly. Evidence your interest and propriety in God,
by falling roundly inwith the interest of God, in opposition to all
carnal interests in the world. sirs ! the interest of God will by
degrees eat out and swallow up all other interests in the world. Look,
as Pharaoh's lean kine ate up the fat, Gen, xli. 4, and as Aaron's rod
swallowed up the Egyptians' rods, Exod. vii. 11, 12, so the interest of God
will in time eat up and swallow up all that superstitious carnal worldly
antichristian and Satanical interest that men labour now to uphold, vdth
all their might, Isa. viii. 9, 10. Dan. ii. 35, * Then was the iron, the
clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and
became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind
carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone
that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth.' Verse 44, ' And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed : and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces,
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.' And so
chap. vii. 27, ' And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' Rev. xvii. 12-14, ' And
the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no
kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the
beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over-
come them : for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and they that
are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.' If these scriptures
do not clearly evidence, that the interest of Christ shall swallow up all
other interests, I understand nothing. Now mark, the people of God
are the interest of God, and the gospel of God is the interest of God,
and the ordinances of God are the interest of God, and the institutions
and pure worship of God are the interest of God, &c. And therefore,
all you that have an interest and propriety in God, evidence it by your
ready and resolute falling in with the interest of God. Believe it, they
that fall in with the interest of God, shall fall in with the strongest side,
and will be sure to carry it against ten thousand worlds. What is the
stubble to the flames ? what is weakness to strength ? what is impo-
tency to omnipotency ? what is folly to wisdom ? what is emptiness to
fulness ? No more are all the carnal interests in the world to the
interest of God; and therefore thrice happy is that man that falls timely
and cordially in with the interest of God.

But now, if upon trial and examination any of you shall find that yet
the Lord is not your portion, and this I believe will be the case of
many of you, I would exhort all such persons to labour with all their

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all go»'s noahs. 11 1

might, yea, to labour as for life, to get the Lord to be their portion.
O sirs I this is the one thing necessary, this is the sun among the
stars, this is the work of works that lies upon your hands; when this
is done, all is done; till this be done, there is nothing done that will do
you good in another world. O sirs ! your lives lie upon it, your souls
lie upon it, eternity lies upon it, your all lies upon it; and therefore
you had need be restless till you have gained the Lord to be your
portion.

Now, that I may the more effectually provoke you, and stir you up
to this great and glorious, this necessary and weighty work, give me
leave to propose these following considerations.

[1.] First, Consider that thy p^'esent portion, thy present condition,
is but miserable and cursed, Lev. xxvi. 14-39, Deut. xxviii. 15-68.
All the earth was cursed upon man's fall, and till fallen man comes to
be interested in God, all his earthly enjoyments are cursed unto him ;
his honours are cursed, and his riches are cursed, and his preferments
are cursed, and his pleasures are cursed ; the whole portion of his cup
is nothing but a little cursed vanity : Job xx. 23-29, ' When he is about
to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall
rain it upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron
weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn,
and Cometh out of the body ; yea, the glistering sword cometh out of
his gall: terrors are upon him. The increase of his house shall depart,
and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the
portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto
him by God.' And so chap. xxiv. 18, 'He is swift as the waters; their
portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vine-
yards.' Prov. iii. 33, 'The curse of the Lord is in the house of the
wicked.' Mai. ii. 2, ' If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to
heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even
send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have
cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.' There is a
real curse and a secret curse, an invisible curse and an insensible curse,
that lies upon all their souls that have not God for their portion: Gal.
iii. 10, ' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them.' And as there is a curse
upon all their souls, so there is a curse upon all their comforts, content-
ments, and enjoyments, that enjoy not God for their portion. Till a
man comes to enjoy God for his portion, all his earthly portions are
cursed unto him ; but when a man comes to enjoy God for his portion,
then all his earthly portions are blessed unto him. O sirs ! there is
no mitigating of the curse, there is no reversing of the curse, there is
no altering of the curse, nor there is no taking of the curse from off
your souls, nor from off your earthly portions, but by gaining God to
be your portion. O sirs ! you will live accursed, and you will die accursed,
and you will appear before God accursed, and you will be judged and
sentenced by God accursed, and you will be sent to hell accursed, and
you will remain to all eternity accursed, if God be not your portion : and
therefore oh how should this consideration awaken every sinner to give
God, no rest till he hath given himself as a portion to him. But,

[2.] Secondly, Consider this, tJuit there is yet a possibility of attain-

112 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

ing God to he thy portion, Luke xviii. 27. All the angels in heaven,
and all the men on earth, do not know to the contrary but that God
may be thy portion, even thine. If thou art but heartily willing to be
divorced from that wicked trinity, the world, the flesh, and the devil,
there is no doubt but that God will be thy portion. O sirs ! why hath
God laid open so clearly and so fully the nature and incomparable ex-
cellency of this portion above all other portions before you, but to per-
suade your hearts, and to draw out your souls to look after this portion, and
to make sure this portion, as that wherein all your happiness and bless-
edness lies ? Oh that you were wise to consider that now a prize, an
opportunity, is put into your hands, that may make you for ever ! You
have all the ways, and all the means, and all the helps, and all the ad-
vantages imaginable for the obtaining of God to be your portion ; so
that, if God be not your portion, I shall be so bold to tell you that your
destruction is from yourselves, Hosea xiii. 9. sirs ! though God be a
golden mine, yet he is such a mine that may be come at if you will but
dig, and sweat, and take pains to purpose, Prov. ii. 2-7 ; though he be
a pearl of infinite price, yet Christ can purchase this pearl for you ;
though he be a matchless and incomparable portion, yet he is such a
portion as may be yours, as will be yours, if you are not wanting to
your own souls. Why hath God sent his ambassadors early and late ?
2 Cor. V. 18-20 ; and why hath he, even to a miracle, continued them
amongst you to this very day, but that they should acquaint you with
his wonderful readiness and willingness to bestow himself as a portion
upon you? O sirs ! God is said to be a God of great mercy, and to be
rich and plenteous in mercy, and to be abundant in mercy, and to be
transcendent and incomparable in mercy ; yea, all the mercies of God
are sure mercies, they are royal mercies, they are innumerable mercies,
they are bottomless mercies, they are unchangeable mercies, and they
are everlasting mercies ; and therefore there is no reason for any man
to despair of obtaining of God for his portion.^ But,

[3.] Thirdly, Consider that God is a portion-sweetening portion.
God is such a portion as will sweeten all other portions ; he is a por-
tion that will make every pleasant portion more pleasant, and that will
make every bitter portion sweet. Poverty is one man's portion, and
sorrow is another man's portion, and crosses and losses are a third man's
portion, and reproaches and sufferings are a fourth man's portion, and
sickness and diseases are a fifth man's portion, &c. But now God is a
portion that will sweeten all these portions. You know the tree that
Moses cast into the bitter waters of Marah made them sweet, Exod. xv.
23-25. Now this tree was a type of Christ, who will certainly sweeten
all our bitterest potions. The church complained in that Lament, iii.
15, 'that God had filled her with bitterness' (or, as the Hebrew hath
it, * with bitternesses'), ' and that he had made her drunken with worm-
wood :' and yet this very consideration, that ' the Lord was her portion,'
ver. 24, sweetened all. If God be thy portion, there is no condition
that can make thee miserable ; if God be not thy portiori, there is no
condition that can make thee happy. If God be not thy portion, in the
midst of thy sufficiency thou wilt be in straits ; if God be thy portion,
in the midst of all thy straits thou shalt enjoy an all-sufficiency in an
' Ps. cv. 8 ; Eph. ii. 4 ; Ps. Ixxxvi. 15 ; 1 Peter i. 1,3; Ps. ciii. 11.

Lam. III. 24<.] an aek for all god's noahs. US

all-sufficient God, Job xx. 22. Till God be thy portion, O sinner, thou
wilt never taste anything but death and bitterness in all thy comforts,
and in all thy contentments, and in all thy enjoyments. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Consider that all earthly portions are not of that in-
finite consequence and concernment to you as this portion is. All
earthly portions are but the meat that perisheth, John vi. 27 ; they are
but moth-eaten and canker-eaten treasures, Mat. vi. 19, James v. 3 ;
they are full of uncertainty, yea, they are all over vanity, Eccles. i. 2 ;
they reach not beyond the line of this mortal life ; they can neither
suit the soul, nor fill the soul, nor satisfy the soul, nor save the soul ;
they can neither change the heart, nor reform the heart, nor in the
least better the heart ; they can neither arm a man against temptations,
nor lead a man out of temptations, nor make a man victorious over
temptations ; they can neither direct the conscience when it is in straits,
nor relieve the conscience when it is under distress, nor support the
conscience when it is under guilt, nor heal the conscience when it is
under wounds ; they can neither make our peace with God, nor keep
our peace with God, nor augment our peace with God ; they can neither
bring us to Christ, nor unite us to Christ, nor keep us with Christy
nor transform us into the similitude or likeness of Christ ; they can
neither bring us to heaven, nor fit us for heaven, nor assure us of
heaven. In a word, no earthly portion can free us from death, nor in
the least avail us in the day of wrath. By all which it is most evident
that all earthly portions are of very little Consequence and concernment
to the sons of men, to the souls of men. Oh, but now God is a portion
of infinite consequence and concernment to all the sons and souls of men.
No man can hear as he should, nor pray as he should, nor live as he
should, nor die as he should, till God be his portion ; no man is secure
from temporal, spiritual, or eternal judgments, till God be his portion.
No man can be happy in this world, or blessed in another world, till
God be his portion. O sirs ! it is not absolutely necessary that you
should have this or that earthly portion, but it is absolutely necessary
that you should have God for your portion ; for if God be not your por-
tion, all the angels in heaven, nor all the men on earth, cannot prevent
your being miserable to all eternity.

[5.] Fifthly, Consider, that till a man comes to have God for his
poirtion, he never comes to be temptation-proof A man that hath God
for his portion is temptation-proof; he will say when tempted, as
Themistocles did. Give those bracelets to slaves ; and as Basil did, who,
when he was offered temporary honour, glory, and wealth, &c., answered,
Give me glory which abides for ever, and give me riches which will
endure for ever ; and as he did, who, being tempted with offers of money
to desert his religion, gave this excellent answer, Let not any think
that he will embrace other men's goods to forsake Christ, who hath for-
saken his own proper goods to follow Christ ;' and as that martyr did,
who, when he had riches and honours offered him, if he would recant,

> When Pyrrhns tempted Fabricius the first day with an elephant, so huge and mon-
strons a beast, as before he had not seen, and the next day with money and promises of
honour, he answered, 1 fear not thy force, and I am too wise for thy fraud. If nature?
could do this, grace can do more. [Plutarch, Pyrrhus. — G.]

vol! il h

114 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

answered, Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall see what I will say to you ; and as Hormisda, a noble-
man in the king of Persia's court, did,^ who, because he would not deny
Christ, he was put into ragged clothes, deprived of his honours, and set
to keep the camels ; after a long time, the king seeing him in that base
condition, and remembering his former fortunes, he pitied him, and
caused him to be brought into the palace, and to be clothed again like
a nobleman, and then persuades and tempts him afresh to deny Christ,
whereupon this noble spirit presently rended his silken clothes, saying,
If for these you think to have me deny my faith, take them again ; and
so he was cast out with scorn a second time. And what was that that
made the apostles temptation-proof, and that made those worthies
temptation-proof, Heb. xi., and that made the primitive Christians
temptation-proof, and that made the martyrs in queen Mary's days
temptation-proof? Certainly, nothing more than this very considera-
tion, that God was their portion. Ah ! sinners, sinners, you will cer-
tainly fall, you will readily fall, you will easily fall, you will frequently
fall, you will dreadfully fall before temptations, till you come to enjoy
God for your portion. Every blast and every wind of temptation will
overset and overturn that man that hath not God for his portion. Such
a man may pray a thousand times over and over, * Lord, lead me not
into temptation,' and yet eveiy day fall before tlie least temptation, as
common experience doth abundantly evidence ; whereas a man that
hath God for his portion will stand fast like a rock in all storms, yea,
in the face of all temptations he will be like mount Zion, that cannot be
removed. Luther counsels every Christian to answer all temptations
with this short saying, ' Ghristianus sum,' I am a Christian ;" and I
would counsel every Christian to answer all temptations with this short
saying, ' The Lord is my portion.' Christian, when Satan or the
world shall tempt thee with honours, answer, ' The Lord is my portion' ;
when they shall tempt thee with riches, answer, ' The Lord is my por-
tion ;' when they shall tempt thee with preferments, answer, ' The Lord
is ray portion ;' and when they shall tempt thee with the favours of
great ones, answer, ' The Lord is my portion ;' yea, and when this per-
secuting world shall threaten thee with the loss of thy estate, answer,
* The Lord is my portion ;' and when they shall threaten thee with the
loss of thy liberty, answer, ' The Lord is my portion ;' and when they
shall threaten thee with the loss of friends, answer, ' The Lord is my
portion ;' and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of life,
answer, ' The Lord is my portion.' O sirs ! if Satan should come to
you with an apple, as once he did to Eve, tell him that ' The Lord is
your portion ;' or with a grape, as once he did to Noah, tell him that
' The Lord is your portion ;' or with a change of raiment, as once he did
to Gehazi, tell him that ' The Lord is your portion ;' or with a wedge
of gold, as once he did to Achan, tell him that * The Lord is your por-
tion ;' or with a bag of money, as once he did to Judas, tell him that
' The Lord is your portion ;' or with a crown, a kingdom, as once he
did to Moses, tell him that ' The Lord is your portion.' But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly. If God be not your fortion, you will he
miserable to all eternity. If God be not your portion, wrath must be
• Clarke, as before, p. 60. — G. * Luther in Genesim.

JjAM. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. 115

your portion, hell must be your portion, everlasting burnings must be
your portion, a devouring fire must be your portion, and a separation for
ever from the glorious presence of God, Christ, angels, and ' the spirits
of just men made perfect,' must be your portion ; as you may clearly
see by comparing the Scriptures in the margin together.' If God be
not your portion in this life, you shall never have him for your portion
in another life ; if God be not your portion here, he will never be your
portion hereafter. O sirs ! if death should surprise you before God is
your portion, you will as certainly go to hell, as God is in heaven ; and
therefore it infinitely concerns you to get God for your portion. There
is no way in the world to make the king of terrors to be a king of
desires to thy soul, O man, but by gaining God for thy portion. Of all
terribles, death will be most terrible and formidable to that man that
hath not God for his portion. If thou shouldst live and die, O man,
without having God for thy portion, it had been good for thee that thou
hadst never been born ; and if the day of thy birth had been the day
of thy death, thy hell would not have been so hot as now thou wilt
certainly find it.

But now, methinks, I hear some crying out, O sirs ! what shall we
do that we may have God for our portion ? Oh, had we as many worlds
at our dispose as there be stars in heaven, ^e would give them all that
we might have God for our portion. Oh we now see that we can never
be happy except God be our portion, yea, we now see that we shall be
miserable to all eternity, except God be our portion ; and therefore
what shall we do that we may have God for our portion ?

Well then, if you would indeed have God for your portion, let me thus
advise you ; —

[1.] First, Labour to he very sensible, that by nature you are with-
ovi God, yea, at enmity with God, and alienated from the life and
love of God, and that by nature you are children of wrath and dis-
obedience, and in actual arms and rebellion against the great God}
O sirs, never talk of having of God for your portion, till you come to see
yourselves without God, aud till you come to judge yourselves unworthy
of God. Every man in his natural estate is afar off from God three
manner of ways. Acts ii. 39.

First, In point of opinion and apprehension.

Secondly, In point of fellowship and communion.

Thirdly, In point of grace and conversion.

And till a man comes to be sensible of this, he will never desire God
to be his portion. But,

[2.] Secondly, If you would have God for your portion, then you must
trample upon all other portions in comparison of God? Luther pro-
tested that God should not put him off with the poor things of this world.
Oh, go to God, and say, Lord, thou hast given me a portion in money,
but this money is not thyself ; thou hast given me a portion in lands,
but these lands are not thyself; thou hast given me a portion in
goods, but these goods are not thyself; thou hast given me a portion

» Ps. xi. 6, ix. 17 ; Tsa. xxxiii. 14 ; Mat. xxiv. 51 ; 2 Tlie3. i. 7-10; Heb, xii. 22-24.
* Eph. ii. 12; Rom. viii. 7 ; Eph. ii. I, 2, iv. 18.

3 Artetin prays, Lord, saitli he, whatever thou hast given, take it all away, only give
me thyself.

116 AN ABK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

in jewels, but these jewels are not thyself; and therefore give me thyself,
and I shall say I have enough. Lord, had I all the world for my por-
tion, yet I should be miserable for ever in that other world, except thou
bestowest thyself as a portion upon my soul. O Lord, give me but
thyself, and take away what thou pleasest. Oh give me but thyself,
and take away all, strip me of all, and I shall with Job sit down and
bless a taking God as well as a giving God. Oh go to God, and tell him,
with an humble boldness, that though he hath given thee many good
things, yet all those good things will do thee no good except he bestow
himself upon thee as the only good. Oh tell him that he is the first
good ; tell him that he is the original of all good ; tell him that he is the
greatest good, the noblest good; tell him that he is a superlative good;
tell him that he is an universal good ; tell him that he is an unchange-
able good ; tell him that he is an eternal good ; and tell him that he is
the most soul-suitable and soul-satisfying good. And therefore tell him
that thou canst not tell how to live one day without him ; yea, that thou
knowest not how to be happy one hour without him. But,

[3.] Thirdly, If you would have God for your portion, then of all
precious promises, of all golden promises, plead that most, Zech. xiii. 9,
' They shall call upon my name, and I will hear them ; I will say, It is
my people ; and they shall say. The Lord is my God.' O sirs ! as ever you
would have the great and glorious God for your portion, plead out this
noble promise cordially with God; plead it out affectionately, plead it
out fervently, plead it out frequently, plead it out believingly, plead it
out resolutely, plead it out incessantly. O sirs ! this choice promise is an
hive full of heavenly honey, it is a paradise full of sweet flowers, it is a
breast that is full of the milk of consolation ; and therefore be still a-
su eking at this breast, be still a-pleading of this promise ; follow God
with this promise early and late, follow him with this promise day and
night, follow him with this promise as the importunate widow followed
the unjust judge, Luke xviii. 1, and give him no rest till he hath made
it good to your souls that he is your God, and that he is your portion,
and that he is your salvation, and that he is your all in all. Oh tell
him that above all things in this world your hearts are set on this, to
have God to be your God, to have God to be your portion. Oh tell
him that you cannot, tell him that you dare not, tell him that you may
not, and tell him that you shall not, be satisfied with anything without
God, with anything below God, with anything on this side God, with
anything but God ; and therefore humbly entreat him, and earnestly
beseech him, to be your God, and to be your portion. But,

[4.] Fourthly, If you would have God for your portion, then you must
he willing to he his pmi,ion} God is resolved upon this, that he will
be no man's portion that is not willing to be his. You must make a
resignation of yourselves to God, if ever you would enjoy an interest in
God ; you must be as willing to be his people, as you are willing to have
him to be your God ; you must be as much at God's dispose as earthly
portions are at your dispose, or else there will be no enjoying of God to
be your God. God will engage himself to none that are not willing to
engage themselves to him. He that will not give his hand and his
heart to God, shall never have any part or portion in God. sirs ! as
' Deut. zzzii. 9 ; Jer. xii. 10 ; Zech. ii. 12.

liAil. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. 117

ever you would have God for your portion, it highly concerns you to
give up yourselves to God with highest estimations, and with most
vigorous affections, and with utmost endeavours, according to that pre-
cious promise, Isa. xliv. 5, ' One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and another
shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe
with his hand to the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.'
God stands upon nothing so much as the giving up of yourselves to him,
nor is he taken with nothing so much as the giving up of yourselves to
him. I have read of ^schines, who, seeing his fellow-scholars give great
gifts, viz. gold, silver, and jewels, to his master Socrates, and he being
poor, and having nothing else to bestow, he gave himself, which the
philosopher most kindly accepted, esteeming this present above all those
rich and costly presents that his scholars had presented to him, and
accordingly in love and sweetness he carried it toward him.^ So there is
nothing that God accepts, loves, likes, and esteems, like the giving up of
a man's self unto him. This is a present that God prefers above all the
gold, silver, and sparkling jewels in the world. Well, sirs, remember
this, such as are not as willing to say, Lord, we are thine, as they are to
say. Lord, thou art ours, such shall never have God for their portion. But,
[5.] Fifthly, If you would have God for your portions, then you must
take up Christ in your arms, and treat with God upon the credit of
Christ. There is no acquaintance with God, there is no reconciliation
to God, there is no union nor communion with God, there is no re-
admission into the presence and favour of God, without a mediator.''
God out of Christ is incomprehensible, God out of Christ is exceeding
terrible, an absolute God is a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 9 ; and therefore
says Luther, Nolo Deum ahsolutum, let me have nothing to do with
God himself. The blood of Christ, the blood of the covenant, is that,
and only that, that can cement, reunite, and knit God and man together.
Themistocles, understanding that king Admetus was highly displeased
with him, took up his young son into his arms, and treated with the
father, holding that his darling in his bosom, and thereby appeased the
king's wrath.^ O sirs ! the King of kings is offended with you, and
upon the account of your sins he hath a very great controversy with
you. Now, there is no way under heaven to pacify his wrath, and turn
away his displeasure from you, but by taking up Christ in your arms,
and by presenting all your suits in his name. There is no angel in
heaven, nor no saint on earth, that can, or that dares, to interpose be-
tween an angry God and poor sinners. It is only Christ, the prince of
peace, that can make up a sinner's peace with God, Isa.ix. 6. John xiv. 6,
* Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life ; no man
Cometh unto the Father but by me.' There is no way to the Father
but by the meritorious blood of the Son ; there are none that can stand
between everlasting burnings and us but Christ, Isa. xxxiii. 14. ' You
shall not see my face except you bring your brother Benjamin with you,*
said Joseph to his brethren, Gen. xliii. 3, 5. So says God, Sinners,
sinners, you shall not see my face except you bring Jesus with you,
except you bring Christ in your arms ; you shall never see my face with
joy. you shall never see my face and live. There is a writ of vengeance

' Seneca, de Benefic. lib. i. » Plutarch in Themistocles.

> Eph. ii. 16 ; Heb. ii. 17 ; Col. i. 20; Eph. i. 6, 7.

118 AN AUK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

that is issued out of the court of heaven against poor sinners, and except
Christ steps in, they will certainly fall under an eternal arrest, and be
thrown into everlasting perdition and destruction. But,

[6.J Sixthly, If you would have God for your portion, then you must
break your league with sin. You must fall out with sin, if ever you
fall in with God. Sin and you must be two, or God and you can never
be one. There is no propriety to be had in God, except your hearts
rise against that which first disunited and disjointed you from God.
Sin and you must part, or God and you can never meet. You shall as
soon make an accommodation between light and darkness, heaven and
hell, noon and midnight, 2 Cor. vi. 14-1 8, as ever you shall be able to
make an accommodation between God and sin. So long as sin remains
ours, God will be none of ours. No prince will be one with that sub-
ject that lives in the practice of treason and rebellion against him,* No
prince will be one with him that hath killed his only son and heir, and
that daringly continues to hold up those bloody weapons in his hands
wherewith he hath committed that horrid fact. There is no adulteress
that can be so shamelessly impudent, or so vainly confident, as to de-
sire pardon of her jealous husband, or to expect an oneness and a sweet-
ness with him, whilst she continues to hold her wanton lovers still in
her arms, and is fully resolved to hold on in her wanton dalliances as
in times past. O sirs ! God is that prince that will never admit of
peace or union with you till you cease practising of treason against him,
and till you come to lay down your weapons of rebellion at his feet ; he
is that jealous husband that will never take you into an oneness, into a
nearness and deamess with himself, till you come to abandon all your
wanton lovers, and thoroughly to resolve against all wanton dalliances
for time to come. If ever you would have God for your portion, you
must say to all your wanton lovers, and to all those idols of jealousy
that you have set up in your souls, as Ephraim once said to his, ' Get you
hence, for what have I any more to do with you V Hosea xiv. 8. But,

[7.] Seventhly and lastly. If you would have God for your portion,
then you must wait upon him in the use of all holy means? In the
use of holy means, God makes the clearest, the fullest, and the choicest
discoveries of himself ; in the use of holy means, poor sinners come to
be acquainted with the excellency of God, and with the necessity of
having God for their portion ; in the use of holy means, poor sinners
come to understand the fulness of God, the goodness of God, the gra-
ciousness of God, the sweetness of God, and the wonderful freeness,
readiness, and willingness of God to give himself as a portion to all such
as see their need of him, and that are heartily willing to receive him as
their God and portion ; and in the use of holy means God works in poor
sinners a readiness, a forwardness, and a blessed wilUngness to choose
God for their portion, to close with God for their portion, to embrace

' Pharnaces sent a crown to Csesar at the same time that he rebelled against him, but
he returned the crown and this message back : Faceret imperata priua, let him return to
his obedience first. [Plutarch, Ccesar ; Suetonius, Jul. See our Index under Fharnacea
for other references. — G.]

* In my former treatise I have spoken very largely about the use of holy means,
especially in my last on ' Holiness,' and therefore a touch here must suffice. [The refer- '
ence is to his ' Crown of Holiness,' Brooks's largest work, which forms Vol. iv. of our
edition. — G.]

Lam. III. 24] an aek for all god's noahs. 119

God for their portion, to accept of God for their portion, and to own
God for their portion. If this question should be put to all the saints
in heaven, viz.. How God came to be their portion ? they would all
answer. By waiting upon him in the use of all those holy ways and
means that he had appointed for that purpose ; and if the same ques-
tion were put to all the saints on earth that have God for their portion,
they would all give the same answer. sirs ! as ever you would have
God for your portion, it highly concerns you to wait patiently upon him
in the use of all holy means. He that is in the use of holy means is in
the way of obtaining God for his portion. But he that casts off the
use of the means, he says in effect, I wiU not have God for my portion,
J care not to have God for my portion ; let me but have the world for
my portion, and let who will take God for their portion.

To prevent mistakes, before I close up this direction, remember that
by the use of holy means, I only mean such means that God himself
hath appointed, commanded, instituted, and ordained. As for those
means that are of men's inventing, devising, prescribing, commanding,
and ordaining, a man may wait till doomsday in the use of them, before
ever he will gain God for his portion ; and therefore they are rather to
be declined, yea, detested and abhorred, than any way to be owned,
minded, or used by any that would have God for their portion. Look,
as all the worshippers of Baal got nothing by all their wailing and cry-
ing out from morning to night, ' Baal, hear us ! Baal, hear us !'
1 Kings xviii., so they that wait upon God in invented and devised
worship will never get anything by aU their waiting ; no, though they
should wait from morning to evening, and from evening to morning, and
cut and lance themselves till the blood gush out, as those foolish wor-
shippers of Baal did. And therefore, as ever you would have God for
your portion, be sure that you wait upon him only in his own ways, and
in the use of his own means. And thus I have done with the use and
application of the point.

So that I have now nothing to do but these two things :

First, To answer a few objections that poor sinners are apt to make
against their own souls, and against their enjoying of God for their
portion ; and,

Secondly, To lay down a few positions that may be of singular
use to all such that have God for their portion. I shall begin with the
objections.

Obj. 1. Methinks I hear some poor sinners ready to object and say,
sir ! you have pressed us by many motives to get God for our por-
tion, and we stand convinced in some measure by whM you have said,
that God is a most excellent, transcendent, glorious portion ; but we
very much question whether ever God will bestow himself as a por-
tion upon such great, such grievous^ such notoHovs, and such m-^
famous sinners as we are.

Now to this objection, I shall return these answers.

[1.] First, God is a free agent, and therefore he may give himself
as a poHion to whom he pleases. Men may do with their own as they
please, and so may God do with himself as he pleases. Look, as men
may give earthly portions to whom they please, so God may give him-
self as a portion to what sinners he pleases. God is as free to bestow.

120 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

himself upon the greatest of sinners, as he is to bestow himself upon the
least of sinners. But,

[2.] Secondly, I answer, That the Lord hath bestowed himself as a
portion upon as great and as grievous sinners as you are, Pa.
Ixviii. 18. Adam, you know, fell from the highest pinnacle of glory
into the greatest gulf of misery, and yet God bestowed himself as a
portion upon him. Gen. iii. 15. And Manasseh was a sinner of the
greatest magnitude, 2 Kings xxi., his sins were of a scarlet dye, they
reached as high as heaven, and they made his soul as black as hell ;
for witchcraft, sorcery, cruelty, idolatry, and blood, he was a nonsuch,
2 Chron. xxxiii. ; he sold himself to work all manner of wickedness
with greediness ; he did more wickedly than the very heathen, whom
the Lord abhorred ; in all his actings he seemed to be the first-born of
Satan's strength ; and yet the Lord freely bestowed himself as a portion
upon him : and so, Ezek. xvi. 6, 8, 'When I passed by thee, and saw
thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in
thy blood. Live ; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood,
Live. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy
time was a time of love ; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered
thy nakedness : yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant
with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becaraest mine.' And so, Isa.
xlvi. 12, 13, 'Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from
righteousness : I bring near my righteousness ; it shall not be far off,
and my salvation shall not tarry : and I will place salvation in Zion for
Israel my gloiy.' Solomon, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Zaccheus, the
jailor, and the murderers of Christ, were all very great and grievous
sinners, and yet the Lord bestowed himself as a portion upon them ;
and so God bestowed himself as a portion upon those monstrous and
prodigious sinners that are mentioned in 1 Cor. vi. 9-11, whose souls
were red with guilt, and as black as hell with filth. God hath been
very good to those that have been very bad ; and therefore do not de-
spair, O sinner, though thy sins are very great.

I have read a story concerning a great rebel,^ that had made a great
party against one of the Roman emperors, and proclamation being sent
abroad, that whosoever could bring in the rebel, dead or alive, he should
have a great sum of money for his reward ; the rebel hearing of it,
comes, and presenting himself before the emperor, demands the sum of
money proposed : the emperor, bethinking himself, concludes, that if
he should put him to death, all the world would be ready to say that
he did it to save his money ; and so he freely pardoned the rebel, and
gave him the money. Here now was light in a dark lantern, here
was rare mercy and pity in a very heathen. And shall an heathen do
thus, and shall not the great God, who is made up of all loves, of all
mercies, of all compassions, of all goodnesses, and of all sweetnesses, do
much more ? Certainly he will. If the greatest rebels, if the greatest
sinners will but come in whilst the white flag of grace and mercy is
held forth, they shall find a marvellous readiness and forwardness in
God, not only to pardon them, but also to bestow, not only money, but
himself as a portion upon them. The greatest sinners should do well

' Job. Bodin. Com. weal, [that 18, in his ' Livrea de la Kepubliquo,' 1577, and after-
warda in Latin ' De Republica.' — G.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 121

to make that great Scripture their greatest companion : Ps. Ixviii. 18,
' Thou hast ascended on high,' speaking of Christ, * thou hast led cap-
tivity captive ; thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious
also.' But to what purpose hath Christ received gifts, spiritual gifts,
gracious gifts, glorious gifts for men, for the rebellious ? Why, it is
' that the Lord God may dwell amongst them.' But,

[3.] Thirdly, I answer. That God hath given out an express 'promise,
that he will make such to he his people which were not his people.
Hosea ii. 23, ' I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy ;
and I will say to them which were not my people. Thou art my people;
and they shall say. Thou art my God.' In this precious promise God hath
engaged himself to have a most sweet harmony, and a most intimate
conjunction and communion with such a people as were not his people.
But,

[4.] Fourthly, I answer. That God gains the greatest glory by bestow-
ing of himself as a portion upon the greatest sinners. There is
nothing that makes so much for the glory of free grace, and for the
exaltation of rich mercy, and for the praise of divine goodness, and for
the honour of infinite fulness, as God's bestowing himself upon the
greatest of sinners. O sirs ! grace appears never so rich, nor never so
excellent, nor never so glorious, as when it triumphs over the greatest
sins, and when it falls upon the greatest sinners. Grace never shines,
nor never sparkles, nor never becomes so exceeding glorious, as it doth
when it lights upon the hearts of the greatest sinners. The greatest
sins do most and best set off the freeness and the riches of God's grace.
There is nothing that makes heaven and earth to ring and to sound
out his praises, so much as the fixing of his love upon those that are
most unlovely and uncomely, and as the bestowing of himself upon
them that have given away themselves from him.

And it is further observable, that the greatest sinners, when once
they are converted, do commonly prove the choicest saints, and the
rarest instruments of promoting the honour and glory of God in the
world. The Canaanites were a wicked and a cursed generation ; they
were of the race of cursed Ham ; they were given over to all whoredom,
witchcraft, and cruelty ; they offered their sons and daughters to
devils; they were the very worst of sinners; they were without God and
without the covenant, and counted dogs among the Israelites ; and
such an one was the Canaanite woman, that you read of in that Mat.
XV. 21-29, till the Lord made it the day of his power upon her soul ;
but when the Lord had brought her in to himself, ah, what a rare
Christian did she prove, for wisdom, zeal, humility, self-denial, love,
courage, patience, faith, &c. And so Mary Magdalene was a notorious
strumpet, a common whore, among all the harlots none to Mary Mag-
dalene,' and she was one out of whom Christ cast seven devils, Mark
xvi. 9 ; and yet when she was changed and converted, oh, with what
an inflamed love did she love the Lord Jesus Christ ! and with what a
burning zeal did she follow after the Lord Jesus ! and how abundant
was she in her lamenting and mourning after the Lord Jesus Christ !
Some report, that after our Saviour's resurrection, she spent thirty years

' On 3 cannot pass so very strong statements without remarking that there is not the
slightest ground for them. — G.

122 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

in weeping for her sins in Galba. And Paul, you know, was a very
grievous sinner, but after his conversion, oh what a rare, what an
eminent, what a glorious instrument was he in bringing of souls to
Christ, and of building up of souls in Christ ! Oh what a noble drudge
was he for Christ ! Oh how frequent ! Oh how fervent ! Oh how
abundant was he in the work of the Lord, &c. And indeed, in all ages,
the greatest sinners, when once they have been converted, they have
commonly proved the choicest saints, and the rarest instruments in the
"hand of God for the advancement of his glory, and the carrying on of
his work in the world. I might instance in Luther, and divers others,
but that I hasten to a close. And therefore,

[5.] Fifthly, I answer, that of all sinners the greatest sinners do
undoubtedly stand in the greatest need of having of God for their
portion.

Look, as they that are most wounded stand in most need of a surgeon,
and as they that are most sick stand in most need of a physician, and
as they that are in most danger of robbing stand in most need of assist-
ance, and as they that are in most peril of drowning stand in most need
of a boat, and as they that are most impoverished stand in most need
of relief, so they that are the greatest sinners stand in most need of
having God for their portion ; for no tongue can express, nor no heart
can conceive the greatness of that wrath, of that indignation, of that
desolation, of that destruction, and of that damnation that attends and
waits upon those great sinners that have not God for their portion,
2 Thes. ii. 7-9 ; and therefore the greater sinner thou art, the greater
obligation lies upon thee to get God to be thy God and portion ; for till
that be done, all thy sins, in their full number, weight, guilt, and aggra-
vating circumstances, will abide upon thy soul. But,

[6.J Sixthly and lastly, I answer, that God is a great God, and he
loves to do like himself Now, there are no works, no actions that are
so suitable to God, and so pleasing to God, and so delightful to God, as
those that ate great ; and what greater work, what greater action can
the great God do, than to bestow himself as a portion upon the greatest
pf sinners ? It was a great work for God to create the world, and it is
a great work for God to govern the world, and it will be a great work
for God to dissolve the world, and to raise the dead ; and yet doubtless
it is a greater work for the great God freely to bestow himself upon
the greatest sinners. The love of God is a great love, and the mercies
pf God are great mercies, and the compassions of God are great com-
passions, and accordingly God loves to act ; and therefore there is
ground for the greatest sinners to hope that the Lord may bestow him-
self as a portion upon them. But,

Ohj. 2. Secondly, Others may object and say, Hereafter we will look
after this portion ; for the present we are f&r living in the world, we
are for a portion in hand, we are for laying up portions for ourselves,
and providing portions for our posterity. We are first for laying up of
earthly treasures, and when we have done that work to purpose, then
we will do what we can to obtain this excellent and glorious portion
that you have been so long a-discoursing on, &c. Now, to this objec-
tion I shall thus answer,

[1.] First, Thus to act is to run counter-cross to Christ's express

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. ] 23

commands: Mat. vi. 33, 'But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you' ;^ and
so ver. 19, 20, ' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal ;
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.'
And so in that John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat that perisheth,
but for the meat which endureth for everlasting life.' O sirs ! to act or
run cross to God's express commands, though under pretence of revela-
tion from God, is as much as a man's life is worth, as you may see in
that sad story, 1 Kings xiii. 24. O sirs! it is a dangerous thing to
neglect one of his commands, who by another is able to command
your bodies into the grave, and your souls into hell at his pleasure.
Shall the wife make conscience of obeying the commands of her
husband ? and shall a child make conscience of obeying the commands
of his father? and shall the servant make conscience of obeying
the commands of his Lord ? and shall the soldier make conscience of
obeying the commands of his general ? and shall the subject make con-
science of obeying the commands of his prince, though he be none of
his council? and will not you make conscience of obeying his commands
that is the prince of the kings of the earth ? Rev. i. 5. But,

[2.] Secondly, Who hut children, madmen, and fools in folio, wiU
pitch upon a less good, when a greater good is offered to them, ? What
madness and folly is it for men to pitch upon bags of counters, when
bags of gold are laid before them ! or for men to choose an hundred
pounds per annum for Ufe, when rich inheritances and great lordships
are freely offered to be made over to them for ever V What were this
but, Esau-like, to prefer a mess of pottage before the birthright ? and
yet this is the present case of these objectors. God is that rich, that
great, that glorious, and thafe matchless portion that is held out, and
freely offered and tendered in the gospel to poor sinners, and they ne-
glect, slight, and reject this blessed offer, and fix their choice, their love,
their hearts, their affections, upon the perishing vanities of this worlds
Oh the foUy of such, that at a feast feed upon kickshaws, and never taste
of those substantial dishes that are for nourishment ! Oh the madness
of such that prefer the flesh-pots of Egypt before the dainties of Canaan !
Would not such a merchant, such a tradesman be pointed at, as he goes
along the streets, for a fool or a madman, that should neglect such a
season, such an opportunity, such an advantage, wherein he may be
made for ever, as to the world, and all because he is resolved first to
secure such a bargain of rags, or such a bargain of old shoes, which will
turn out but little to his advantage when he hath bought them ? Surely
yes. Now this is the very case of the objectors, for they neglect the
present seasons, the present opportunities of grace and mercy, and of
being made happy for ever,, by enjoying of God for their portion, and all
because they are resolved first to secure the treasures, the rags of this
world. Certainly, in the great day of account, these will be found the
greatest fools that have fooled away such golden opportunities, that

* The Greek word ir^airriiwTut eignifies a casting in as an overplus, as some over-'
weight, njeasure, or number.
2 Children, madmen, and fools, will part with a pearl for a pippin.

1 24 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

were more worth than all the world, and all to secure the rags of the
world. But,

[3.] Thirdly and lastly, How many thousands are now in hell !
How many thousands have now their part and their portion in that
burning lake, which bums withjire and bHmstone for ever and ever !
Who thought vjhen they were on earth, that after they had laid up
goods for many years ivith the fool in the Gospel, that then they would
look after heavenly treasures, and secure God for their portion ; but
before they could find time or hearts to set about so noble a work,
divine vengeance hath overtaken them, and justice hath cut the thread
of their lives, and given them their portion among hypocrites. Mat.
vii. 22, 26, 27, Rev. xxi. 8. Ah ! how many be there that have
died in the time of their earthly projects and designs, before ever they
have set about that great work of securing God for their portion, Luke
xii. 15, 22 ; and how many thousands be there, that God in his just
judgment hath given up to insatiable desires of earthly things, PhiUp.
iii. 18, 19, and to a cursed endless covetousness all their days ! Some
write of the crocodile, that it always grows, that it hath never done grow-
ing ; and just so it is with the desires of worldly men, they always grow,
they have never done growing. Now they are for one thousand, then
for ten, then for twenty, then for forty, then for an hundred thou-
sand ; now they are for this lordship, and then they are for that ; now
they are for this good bargain, and then they are for that ; their hearts
grow every day fuller and fuller with new desires of further and greater
measures of earthly things ; they please themselves with golden dreams,
till they awake with everlasting flames about their ears, and then they
fall a-cursing themselves that they have made gold their confidence,
and that they have neglected those golden seasons and opportunities
wherein they might have secured God for their portion. But,

Obj. 3. Thirdly, Others may object and say. We would fain have
God for our portion, and we would willingly apply ourselves to all
those ways and means whereby we might obtain the Lord to be our por-
tion ; but we are poor unworthy luretches. Surely the Lord will never
bgstow himself as a portion upon such miserable unworthy ones as we
are ! We are worthy of death, we are worthy of wrath, we are worthy
of hell, we are worthy of damnation, but we are no ways worthy of
having God for our portion. Did ever the Lord cast an eye of love
upon such unlovely and such unworthy sinners, lepers as we are ? &c.

Now to this objection I shall return these answers :

[1.] First, Though you have no merits, yet God is rich and abun-
dant in mercy} Your sins, your unworthiness can but reach as high
as heaven, but the mercies of God reach above the heavens : Ps. ciii. 11,
* For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy to-
ward them that fear him.' Ps. cviii. 4, ' For thy mercy is great above
the heavens, and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.' The highest
comparisons which the world will afford are not sufficient to express
the greatness of God's mercy to poor sinners. Though the heavens are
exceeding high above the earth, yet the mercies of God to his poor
people are above the heavens. But,

[2.] Secondly, I answer, that the Lord hath never bestowed himself
1 2 Cor. iv. 15 ; 1 Tim. i. 14 ; 1 Peter i. 8.

Lam. Ill 24.] AN AUK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. 125

as a portion upon any yet hut unworthy ones. David was as un-
worthy as Saul, and Job as Joab, and Peter as Judas, and Paul as
Simon Magus ; and the publicans and harlots that entered into the
kingdom of heaven were as unworthy as the publicans and harlots that
were shut out of the kingdom of heaven, Mat. xxi. 31, 32 ; and the
thief that went to paradise was as unworthy as the thief that went to
hell. All the saints in heaven, and all the saints on earth, are ready
with one joint consent to declare that they were as unworthy as the
most unworthiest, when God first bestowed himself as a portion upon
them. This objection, I am unworthy, is a very unworthy objection,
and therefore away with it. But,

[3.] Thirdly, I answer, That God hath nowhere in all the Scripture
required any personal worthiness to be in the creature, before he will
bestow himself upon the creature. O sirs ! it never came into the
thoughts of God, it never entered into the heart of God, to require of
men that they should be first worthy of his love before they should
enjoy his love, and that they should be first worthy of his mercy before
they should taste of his mercy, and that they should be first worthy of
his goodness before they should be partakers of his goodness, and that
they should be first worthy of himself, before he would bestow himself
as a portion upon them. If we should never enjoy God for our por-
tion till we are worthy to enjoy him for our portion, we should never
enjoy him. If a man had as many eyes as Argus to search into the
Scripture, and as many hands as Briareus to turn over the leaves of
Scripture, yet he would never be able to find out one text, one line,
yea, one word, wherein God requires a personal worthiness in the crea-
ture before he gives away himself to the creature. Should God stand
upon a personal worthiness to be in the creature before he would look
upon the creature, or before he would let out his love to the creature,
or before he would extend mercy or pity to the creature, or before he
would, in a covenant of free grace, give himself to the creature, no
sinner could be saved ; man would be for ever undone, and it had been
good for him that he had never been bom. But,

[4.] Fourthly, I answer, it is not nuns unworthiness, but Tnen's
unwillingness, that hinders them from having God to be their por-
tion. Though most men pretend their unworthiness, yet there is in
them a secret unwillingness to have God for their God. When they
look upon God as a gracious God, then they are willing to have him to
be their God ; but when they look upon God as an holy God, then their
hearts fly back. When they look upon God as a merciful God, and as
a bountiful God, oh then they wish that he were their God ; but when
they look upon God as a commanding God, and as a ruling and an
overruling God, oh then their hearts do secretly rise against God.
There is a real unwillingness in the hearts of sinners in all respects to
close with God, and to have God to be their God : ' Who hath believed
our report ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed V Isa. liii. 1 ;
' I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.
A people that provoke me to anger continually to my face,' Isa. Ixv.
2, 3 ; ', How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ? and the
scomers delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge ? Turn you at

126 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

my reproof : behold, I will pour out my Spirit upon you, I will make
known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded : but ye have set at
nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof I also will
laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh,' &c. Prov.
i. 22-26 ; ' For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In
returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength, and ye would not,' Isa. xxx. 15. O sirs ! men
shall be damned at last, not for cannots, but for will nots, Mat. xxiii.
37. No man shall be damned because he could not do better, but be-
cause he would not do better, Luke xiii. 34. If there were no will, there
would be no hell. At last sinners will find this to be their greatest hell,
that they have wilfully destroyed themselves. This is that which will
damn with a witness, and this will be that never-dying worm : I might
have had Christ and grace, but I would not ; I might have been
sanctified and saved, but I would not ; I might have been holy and
happy, but I would not ; life and death hath been often set before
me, and I have chosen death rather than life. Dent. xxx. 15, 19 ;
heaven and hell hath been often set before me, and I have chosen
hell rather than heaven ; glory and misery hath been often set before
me, and I have chosen misery rather than glory ; and therefore it is
but just that I should be miserable to all eternity. No man, no devil,
can undo thee, O sinner, without thyself ; no man can be undone in
both worlds but by himself ; no man shall be damned for his unwor-
thiness, but for his unwillingness ; and therefore never plead this ob-
jection more. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, I answer, that if you will not seek after the
Lord to he your poiiion till you are worthy to enjoy him as your
portion, then you will never seek after him, then you will n^ever enjoy
him for your God and portion. Personal worthiness is no flower that
grows in nature's garden. No man is born with a worthiness in his
heart, as he is bom with a tongue in his mouth, It is not the full, but
the empty ; it is not the rich, but the poor in spirit ; it is not the right-
eous, but the sinner ; it is not the worthy, but the unworthy soul, that
is the proper object of mercy and pity. The poor publican that cried
out, 'Lord, be merciful to me a sinner,' Luke xviiL 10-15, went home
justified, when the thank-God pharisee returned as proud as he came.
The centurion, when he came to Christ, sped well, notwithstanding his
personal. un worthiness. Mat. viii. 5-13. And the prodigal son sped well
when he returned to his father, notwithstanding his personal unworthi-
ness ; for he was readily accepted, greatly pitied, sweetly embraced,
courteously received, and very joyfully and nobly entertained. Witness
the best robe that was put upon his back, and the gold ring that was
put on his finger, and the shoes that were put on his feet, and the fatted
calf that was killed to make the company merry, Luke xv. 1 1-32. O sirs !
if in the face of all your unworthiness you will go to God, and tell him
that you are sinners, that you are vile sinners, that you are wretched
sinners, that you are very great sinners, yea, that you are the greatest
of sinners, and that you have deserved a thousand deaths, a thousand
hells, a thousand destructions, and a thousand damnations, and earnestly
beseech him to look upon you, and to bestow himself upon you, though

Lam. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. 127

not for your worthiness's sake, yet for his name's sake, for his mercy's
sake, for his promise's sake, for his covenant's sake, for his oath's sake,
and for his Son's sake. Certainly if you shall thus plead with God, all
the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, cannot tell to the con-
trary, but that you may speed as well as ever the centurion or the pro-
digal did. I have taken the more pains to answer this objection, that
so it may never have a resurrection more in any of your hearts into
whose hands this treatise may fall.

I know other objections might be raised, but because I have spoken
laro-ely so much in my former writings, I shall pass on to the last thing
proposed, and that is, to lay down some positions that may, by the
blessino- of God, be of singular use to the Christian reader.

First Position. As, first, That it is one thing for a man to have God
for his pm^tion, and it is another thing for a man to have an assur-
ance in his own soul that God is his portion.^ There are many that
have God for their portion who yet are full of fears and doubts that i
God is not their portion. Thus it was with Asaph in that 77th psalm,
and thus it was with Heman in that 88th psalm, and thus it is with
very many Christians in these days. Sometimes God exercises his
children with such changeable and such terrible dispensations, as raises
many fears and doubts in them about their interest and propriety in
God. And sometimes their secret indulging of some bosom idol, their
entertainment of some predominant lust, raises strange fears and
jealousies in their souls about their interest in God. And sometimes
their not closing with the Lord so closely, so fully, so faithfully, so uni-
versally, and so sincerely as they should, without any secret reservation,
raises many doubts and questions in them whether God be their por-
tion or no. The graces of many Christians are so weak, and their
corruptions are so strong, and Satan is so busy with them, and their
duties and performances are so weak, so flat, so dull, so sapless, so life-
less, so fruitless, and so inconstant, that they are ready at every turn
to say. If God be our God, why is it thus with us ? If God be our por-
tion, why are our hearts in no better a frame ? why have our duties
no more spirit, life, and fire in them ? Look, as the sun may shine,
and yet I not see it ; and as the husband may be in the house, and yet
the wife not know it ; and as the child may have a very great portion,
a very fair estate settled upon him, and yet he not understand it ; so a
Christian may have God for his portion, and yet for the present he may
tiot see it, nor know it, nor understand it : 1 John v. 13, ' These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe
on the name of the Son of God.* These precious souls had God and
Christ for their portion, and they did believe, and they had eternal
life in the seeds and beginnings of it, and in the promise, and in
Christ their head, who, as a public person, had taken possession of it
in their steads, and yet they had not the assurance of these things
in their own souls, Eph. ii. 6. Look, as the babe that hath passed
i the pangs of the first birth doth not presently cry out. My father, my
[father, so the babe of grace, the new-bom Christian, doth not pre-
sently cry out. My God, my God. It is one mercy for God to be my
^ Mose3 hia face did sLine, and yet he did not see it.

128 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

Grod, and it is another mercy for God to tell me that he ia my God ;
it is one act of grace for God to be my portion, and it is another act of
grace for God to . tell me that he is my portion. Look, as fire may be
hid under ashes for a time, and as bits of gold may be hid in an heap
of dust for a time, and as stars may be hid in a dark night for a time,
and as a pearl may be hid in a puddle for a time, so God may be a
man's portion, and yet this may be hid from him for a time.

Second Position. The second position is this, That it is one thing
for a man to have Oodfor his portion, and another thing for a man
clearly and convincingly to make it out to him^self or others, that God
is his portio7i. Doubtless there are many thousands that have God
for their portion, who yet, if you would give them a thousand worlds,
are not able to make it out to their own or others' satisfaction, that
God is their portion.* Most Christians attain to but small measures
of grace. Now small things, little things are hardly discerned^ they
s are hardly made out. A little faith is next to no faith, and a little
love is next to no love, and a little repentance is next to no repentance,
and a little zeal is next to no zeal, and a little hope is next to no hope,
and a little holiness is next to no holiness, and a little communion with
God is next to no communion with God, and a little conformity to God
is next to no conformity to God. Now where there is but a little grace,
there it is very difficult for a man to make out the truth of his grace,
and so by consequence to make out the truth of his interest and pro-
priety in the God of grace. It is not grace in truth, but grace in
strength that will enable a man to make it out to himself, and to
make it out to others, that God is his portion. It is not grace in its
sincerity, but grace in its sublimary, in its high and eminent actings,
that will enable a man ta make it out to himself and others, that God
is indeed his God. Besides, many precious hearts have such weak
heads, and such bad logic, and such shallow natural parts, that they
are not able rationally nor divinely to argue the case with their own
souls, nor to make an improvement of those rules, helps, ways, and
means, whereby they might be enabled to make it out to themselves
and others, that God is their portion. Look, as many persons have
often a good title to such and such lands, and to such and such estates
and inheritances, though they are not able for the present to clear up
their title either to themselves or others ; so many of the dear children
of God have a good title to God, and a real interest and propriety in
God, and yet for the present they are not able to clear up their title to
God, nor to clear up their interest and propriety in God, either to them-
selves or others. And this is so great a truth, that all the faithful
ministers of Jesus Christ that deal with poor souLs, and that are con-
versant about souls, are ready from their daily experience to avouch it
before all the world. He that shall say, that such have not God for
their portion, will certainly condemn the generation of the just.

Third Position. The third position is this, That where there is an
hearty willingness in any man to accept of God to be his God^ to own

' God Bometimes lays such a law of restraint upon the noble faculties of men and
women, that they cannot use them at some times as they do at others, as you may clearly
see by comparing of these scriptures together, Luke xxiv. 14-16, &c.; Acts xxii. 9 ; Gen.
xxi. 16, 19; John xx. 14, 15, &c.

Lam. III. 24.] an abk for all god's noahs. 129

Ood for his God, and to close with God as his God, there God is cer-
tainly that man's God, Isa. Iv. 1, 2, John vii. 37, 38. If there be a
cordial willingness in you to take God to be your God, then without all
peradventure God is your God. A sincere willingness to accept of God
to be your God is accepted of God, and is sufficient to enter into a
gracious covenant with God. O sirs ! a sincere willingness to accept
of God to be your God, flows from nothing below the good will and
pleasure of God. No power below that glorious power that made the
world, and that raised Christ from the grave, is able to raise a sincere,
an hearty willingness in man to accept of God to be his God, and to
take God for his God: Ps. ex. 3, 'Thy people shall be willing,' or will-
ingnesses, in the abstract and in the plural number, ' in the day of thy '^
power, in the beauties of holiness.' There is no power below the
power of the Lord of hosts, that can raise up a willingness in the
hearts of sinners. It is not in the power of all the angels in heaven,
nor of all the men on earth, to beget a sincere willingness in the heart
of man to accept of God to be his God. This is work that can only be
effected by an omnipotent hand. Though an emperor may force a
woman to marry him that is his slave, because she is his purchase, yet
he cannot by all his power force her will ; he may force her body to
the action, but he cannot force her will to the action. The will is
always free, and cannot be forced. But God is that great emperor
that hath not only a power to marry the soul,, which he hath redeemed
from being Satan's bond-slave^ but also a power to make the soul that
is unready ready, and that is unwilling willing, to marry him, and to
bestow itself freely upon him. If there be in thee, O man, O woman,
a sincere willingness to take God upon his own terms to be thy God,
that is, to take him as an holy God, and as a ruling God, and as a
commanding God, in one thing as well as another,, then he is. certainly
thy God: Rev. xxii. 17, 'And the Spirit and the bride say. Come; and
let him that heareth say. Come ; and let him that is. athirst, come ; and
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'

Fourth Position. The fourth position is this, That it may so fall
out, that such a Christian that hath God for his portion, that hath an
interest and a propriety in God, may lose the sight, the sense, the
feeling and the evidence of his interest and propriety in God; and
this is evident by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.'
Doubtless it is very rare to find a Christian that hath had the know-
ledge, and experience, and evidence of his interest and propriety in
God, but that Christian also hath experienced what it is to have his
interest and propriety in God clouded and darkened. Such Christians
that have experienced what the warm beams of the Sun of righteous-
ness means, have likewise experienced what it is to have their sun set
in a cloud; and this truth I might make good, by producing of a cloud
of witnesses, both from among the martjnrs and from among the saints of
all ages. But what do I talk of a cloud of witnesses, when the tears
that daily drop from many of your eyes, and the sad complaints, and
sighs, and groans of many of your souls, do sufficiently evidence this

' Ps. XXX. 6, 7 ; Ps. li. 13 ; Job xvi. 9. xix. 10 ; and 2 Chron. xxx. 20 ; Ps. Ixxvii. 6
Pe. Ixxxviii. 6; Isa. viii. 17 ; Lam. iii. 18.

VOL. XL I

1 30 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

sad truth. And therefore let no man conclude that God is not his
God, because he hath lost the sight and sense of his interest and pro-
priety in God ; let no man say, that God is not his portion, because he
hath lost those evidences, at the present, by which he halh formerly
proved God to be his portion. Though a man should lose his writings
and evidences that he hath to shew for such or such an estate, yet his
writings and evidences being enrolled in a court of record, his estate
remains good, and his title is still good in law ; and therefore there is
no reason why such a man should sit down, and wring his hands, and
cry out, I am undone, I am undone ; so though a Christian should lose
his writings, his evidences that once he had to shew, that once he had to
prove God to be his God and portion, and that he had a real interest
and propriety in God, yet his writings, his evidences being enrolled in
the court of heaven, his title to God, his interest in God remains good ;
and therefore there is no reason why such a person should sit down
dejected, and wring his hands, and cry out, Oh I am undone, I am for
ever undone.

Fifth Position. The fifth position is this. That such that have
not, for the present, Ood for their portion, ought not peremptorily
to conclude that they shall never have God for their portion. Such a
person that cannot yet truly say that the Lord is his portion, ought
not to despair of ever having of God for his portion. The time of a
man's life is but a day, and God may bestow himself as a portion upon
man in what hour of that day he pleases. In the parable, he bestowed
himself as a portion upon some at the first hour, upon others at the
third hour, upon others at the sixth hour, upon others at the ninth
hour, and upon others at the eleventh hour, Mat. xx. 1-17. God is a
free agent, and may bestow himself upon whom he pleases, and as he
pleases, and when he pleases. There is no sinner, no, not the greatest
sinner living under the gospel, that can infallibly determine that God
will never be his God.* No sinner can conclude that God hath per-
emptorily and absolutely excluded him from mercy, and shut him out
among those that he is resolved never to bestow himself upon. For,

1. God never made any sinner one of his privy council.

2. In the gospel of grace God hath revealed no such thing.

3. Secret things belong only to the Lord, Deut. xxix, 29.

4. God hath bestowed himself as a portion upon as great sinners as
any they are that yet have not God for their portion.

5. All the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, cannot tell to
the contrary, but that God may have thoughts of mercy towards thee, and
that thy lot may fall within the purpose of his grace, and that he may
bestow himself as a portion upon thee before thou art cut off from the
land of the living. Although a sinner may certainly know at the pre-
sent that God is not his God, that God is not his portion, yet he doth
not certainly know that God will never be his God, that God will never
be his portion ; and therefore no sinner may peremptorily conclude that
God will never be his God, because for the present he cannot, he dares
not say he is his God.

God gave himself as a portion to Abraham when he was old, when
he was a white-headed sinner, Gen. xii. 4. And Manasseh was old
^ We except such that hath committed the sin against the Holy Ghost.

Lam. III. 24] an ark for all god's noahs. 131

when he was converted and changed, and when God bestowed himself
upon him, 2 Chron. xxxiii 1, 12-14. And Zaccheus and Nicodemus
were called and converted in their old age. When there were but a
few steps between them and the grave, between them and eternity,
between them ahd everlasting burnings, then the Lord graciously re-
vealed himself, and bestowed himself as a portion upon them. And if
we believe Tertullian,^ Paul wanted not a prediction of the Holy Ghost
in that prophetic blessing of dying Jacob to his youngest son: Gen.
xlix. 27, ' Benjamin shall raven as a wolf : in the morning he shall
devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil' Paul was of
the tribe of Benjamin, in the morning, the fore part of his age, woiTying
and devouring the flock of Christ, persecuting of the church ; and in
the evening, the declension of his life, dividing the word, a doctor of
the nations.* And Dionysius tells us that Mary Magdalene, that was
so loose and dissolute in her youth, being converted in her old age, she
sequestered herself from all worldly pleasures, and lived a most solitary
life in the mountains of Gallia, where she spent full thirty years in
meditation, fasting, and prayer. And old godly Similes said that he
had been in the world sixty years, but had lived but seven, counting
his life, not from his first birth, but from his new birth. And Augus-
tine repented that he had begun to seek, serve, and love God no sooner.'
By all these instances it is most evident that God may bestow himself
as a portion upon sinners, upon very great sinners, yea, upon the
greatest of sinners, and that at last cast, when they are stricken in
years, and when they are even ready to go out of this world ; and
therefore let no man despair of having of God for his portion, though
for the present his soul cannot say. The Lord is my portion.

O sirs ! despair is a sin, a very heinous sin, yea, it is that sin that
damns with a witness. Despairing Judas perished and was damned,
whenas the very murderers of Christ, believing on Christ, were saved.*
Acts ii. Despair thrusts God from his mercy-seat ; it throws disgrace
upon the throne of grace ; it gives the lie to all the precious promises ;
it casts reproach upon the nature of God ; it tramples under feet the
blood of the covenant ; it cuts the throat of faith, hope, and repentance ;
it renders all the means of grace useless and fniitless ; it embitters all
a man's comforts ; it gives a sting to all a man's troubles ; it proclaims
Satan a conqueror ; it raises a hell in the conscience ; it makes a man
a Magor-misaabib, a terror to himself and an astonishment to others.
In that seventh of Daniel there is mention made of four beasts : the
first a lion, the second a bear, the third a leopard, but the fourth, with-
out distinction either of kind, or sex, or name, is said to be very fearful,
and terrible, and strong ; and such a thing as this fourth beast was is
desperation, as all have found that ever have been under it. Despera-
tion is a complicated sin ; it is a mother sin ; it is a breeding sin ; it is
the complement of all sins ; and therefore above all take heed of this
sin. O sirs 1 as you love your souls, and as you would be happy to all
eternity, do not despair, nor do not be peremptory in your conclusions,

1 Adv. Marcion. lib. v.

' See my ' Apples of Gold,' pp. 852-354, two more famous stories of such that were
converted in their old age. [See Vol. 1. — G.] * Soliloq. cap. xxxiii.

* Roger bishop of Salisbury in King Stephen's days was so troubled that he could not
live, and durst not die, &c.

132 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.

that God will never be your portion, because for the present he is not
your portion. Remember the gracious invitations of God, and remem-
ber the glorious riches of mercy, and remember the overflowings of in-
finite grace, and then despond and despair if thou canst.

Sixth Position. The sixth and last position is this, That such is the
love, care, goodness, and kindness of God to his people, that few or
none of them die without some assurance that God is their portion,
and that they have an interest and prop^nety in him. That here and
there a particular Christian, in cases not ordinary, may die doubting,
and ascend to heaven in a cloud, as Christ did. Acts i. 9, will, I sup-
pose, be readily granted ; and that the generality of Christians shall,
first or last, more or less, mediately or immediately, have sonie comfort-
able assurance, that God is their God, and that he is their portion, and
that they have a real interest and propriety in him, may I suppose be
thus evinced.

[1.] First, Several precious promises that are scattered up and
down the Scripture seems to speak out such a thing as this is. Take
these for a taste : Ps. ix. 18, ' For the needy shall not always be forgot-
ten : the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.^ Ps. xxii. 26,
' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall praise the Lord that
seek him : your heart shall live for ever.' Ps. Ixxxiv. 1 1 , 'For the Lord God
is a sun and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory : and no good thing
will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' Hosea ii. 23, ' And I
will have mercy upon her that hath not obtained mercy ; and I will
say to them which were not my people. Thou art my people ; and they
shaU say, Thou art my God.' Ps. v. 12, * For thou. Lord, wilt bless the
righteous ; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.* John
xiv. 21, 23, ' He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he
it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. If any man love
me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we vidll
come unto him, and make our abode with him.'^

[2.] Secondly, The common experiences of the saints, both in the
Old and New Testaments, doth evidence as much. Solomon's Song
iL 16, * My beloved is mine, and I am his ;' chap, vi 3, 'I am my be-
loved's, and my beloved is mine ;' and chap. vii. 10, ' I am my beloved's,
and his desire is towards me.' Isa. Ixiii. 16, ' Doubtless thou art our
Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us
not : thou, Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer ; thy name is from
everlasting.' Isa. Ixiv. 8, 9, ' But now, Lord, thou art our Father :
behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.' Jer. iii. 22, 23,
* Behold, we come unto thee : for thou art the Lord our God. Truly
in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.' Isa. xxv. 9, ' And it
shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him,
and he will save us.' I might produce a cloud of witnesses from among
the patriarchs and prophets, further to evince this truth ; but enough
is as good as a feast.

And as the church of God in the Old Testament, so the church of
God in the New Testament attained to the same assurance. The be-
lievers in Corinth were sealed, and had the earnest of the Spirit in
^ Fonder upon that of Ezek. xxxiv. 30, 31.

Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 133

their hearts : 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath also sealed us, and given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' And chap. v. 1, 5, ' For we know,
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also
hath given us the earnest of the Spirit.' And so the believing Ephe-
sians had the like : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom, after ye believed, ye were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our in-
heritance.' And so chap. iv. 30, * And grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' And the
believing Thessalonians had the same : 1 Thes. i. 4, 5, ' Knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance.' I might give you many particular instances out of
the New Testament to confirm this truth, but these general instances
are more convincing and satisfying.

[3.] Thirdly, If God should not, first or last, sooner or later, me-
diately or immediately, give his people some comfortable assurance
that he is their portion, and that they have a real interest and pro-
priety in him, the spirits, the souls of his people would certainly faint
and fail; but this God will never suffer, this God by promise hath
engaged himself to prevent, as you may see in that Isa. Ivii. 16, 18, 19,
* For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth : for
the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. I
have seen his ways, and will heal him ; I will lead him also, and restore
comforts unto him, and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips ;
Peace, peace to him that is afar ofif, and to him that is near, saith the
Lord, and I will heal him.' Now, seeing that God hath so graciously
undertaken for his people, that their spirits shall not faint nor fail,
there is no doubt but that, sooner or later, more or less, God will assure
his people that he is their portion, and that they have a real interest
and propriety in him.

[4.] Fourthly, The Lord's supper is a sealing ordinance, and was
ordained, instituted, and appointed for that very purpose and to that
very end, viz., to seal up the believer's propriety in God, and to assure
him of his interest in God, in Christ, in the everlasting covenant, and
in all the benefits of Christ's death, to wit, the favour of God, reconci-
liation, redemption, and the remission of sins.^ Now, how can it pos-
sibly be imagined, that so glorious an ordinance should be instituted to
so great and so glorious an end as to assure believers of their interest
and propriety in God, and yet this end should never be effected in them
all their days, for whose sake the ordinance was instituted and appointed?
Certainly God never appointed any ordinance to accomplish any end,
but first or last that ordinance did accomplish that end for which it was
appointed and instituted, Isa. Iv. 10, 11, and xlv. 23. Cyprian shews
how the martyrs in the primitive church, when they were to appear
before the cruel persecuting tyrants, were wont to receive the Lord's
supper, and thereby they were so assured of their interest and pro-
priety in God, and so fired with zeal and fervour, and filled with faith
and fortitude, &c., that they made nothing of the greatest torments
» Mat. xxvi. 26-28 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24 : Rom. iv. 11.

134j an aek for all god's noahs. [Lam. III. 24.

that those bloody tyrants could inflict upon them.^ And saith Chry-
sostom, by the sacrament of the Lord's supper we are so armed against
Satan's temptations, that he fleeth from us, as if we were so many lions
that spat fire.

The Jews in the celebration of the passover did sing the 113th Psalm,
with the five following Psalms, which they called the great Hallelujah,
and it was always after that cup of wine, which they called the cup of
praise ; and thus it should be with the saints. At all times, upon all
occasions, in all places, they should sing Hallelujahs to God. Oh, but
when they are at the Lord's supper, then they should sing the great
Hallelujah ; but how they will be ever able to sing this great Hallelujah,
except first or last, more or less, God gives them some assurance of
their interest and propriety in himself, I cannot for my life discern.
But,

[5.] Fifthly, There is in all believers the choice and precious springs
of assurance^ as

(1.) Union and communion with the FatJier and Son : 1 John i. 3,
* That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also
may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' Now, that union that is be-
tween the foundation and the building, the head and the members, the
husband and the wife, the father and the child, the subject and the
prince, the body and the soul, is nothing so near an union as that
which is between a believer and God. Besides, that union that a
Christian hath with God is an honourable union, and it is an insepar-
able union, it is an invincible union, and it is an everlasting union,
1 Cor. vi. 16, 17. Now, how is it possible for a man to have such a
near and such a glorious union and fellowship with God from the day
of his conversion to the day of his dissolution, and yet never come to
any assurance of his interest and propriety in God, is a thing not easily
imaginable.

(2.) Precious faith is another spring of assurance: 1 Peter i. 8, 'Whom
having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' Now,
this spring is in all the saints, 2 Peter i. 1. The faith of expectance
will in time rise up into a faith of reliance, and the faith of reliance
will in time advance itself into a faith of assurance.

(3.) Hope is another spring. of assurance : Col. i. 27, ' Christ in you,
the hope of glory ;' Heb. vi. 1 9, ' Which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil.'

(4.) A good conscience is another spring of assurance, 2 Cor. i. 12.

(5.) Real love to the saints is another spring of assurance, 1 John iii.
14.

(6.) And lastly, the Spirit of God is another spring of assurance,
Rom. chap. 8th. Now, that a Christian should have all these choice
springs of assurance in his soul, from his new birth to the day of his
death, and yet in all that time never come to assurance of his interest
and propriety in God, is a thing, I had almost said, beyond all belief.
But,

^ Cyprian, lib. iv. £p. vi. The same Augustine reports. — At^. in John tract 27.

Lam. III. 24] an ark for all god's noahs. 135

[6.] Sixthly, There is nothing in all the world that the hearts of
the saints are more frequently, more fervently, and more abundantly
cari'ied out after, in all their prayers and supplications, than this,
that God would tell them that he is their portion, and that he would
clear up their interest and propriety in himself, Ps. iv. 6, 7. The con-
stant language of their souls is this : Lord, do but tell us that thou art
our portion, and then bestow earthly portions upon whom thou pleasest ;
do but clear up our interest and propriety in thyself, and then we shall
say, ' Our lot is fallen in a pleasant place, and verily we have a goodly
heritage,' Ps. xvi. 5, 6. Believers know that assurance that God is their
portion, and that they have an interest and propriety in him, will ease
them of all their sinful cares, fears, terrors, horrors, jealousies, suspicions,
and sad apprehensions, which makes their lives a very hell. They
know that assurance of their interest and propriety in God will make
ever bitter sweet, and every sweet more sweet; it will turn a wilderness
into a paradise, an Egypt into a Canaan. They know that assurance
that God is theirs will raise the truest comforts, the purest comforts,
the greatest comforts, the surest comforts, the strongest comforts, the
rarest comforts, the sweetest comforts, and the most lasting comforts in
their souls, Isa. xl. 1, 2. They know that assurance of their interest in
God will fit them for the highest duties in Christianity, and for the
hardest duties in Christianity, and for the costliest duties in Christianity,
and for the most neglected, scorned, and despised duties in Christianity.
They know that assurance of their propriety in God will most quicken
their graces, and act their graces, and raise their graces, and strengthen
their graces, and brighten their graces, and put a lustre and a beauty
upon their graces. They know that assurance of their interest in God
will wonderfully weaken sin, and effectually crucify their hearts to the
world, and sweetly moderate their affections to their nearest and dearest
relations, and powerfully arm them both against the world's oppositions
and Satan's temptations.

To conclude ; they know that assurance of their propriety in God will
make death more desirable than terrible, yea, it will make the thoughts
of death sweet, and the approaches of death easy, and all the warnings
of death pleasant to their souls, and therefore they follow God hard
day and night, with strong cries, prayers, tears, sighs, and groans, that
he would make it evident to them that he is their portion, and that he
would clear up their interest and propriety in him. Now, how can any
man that is in his wits imagine that God should always turn a deaf ear
to the prayers of his people in this thing especially, considering that
their prayers, cries, tears, sighs, and groans are but the products of his
own Spirit in them, Tlom, viii. 26, 27 ; and considering likewise the
several promises, whereby he hath engaged himself to answer to the
prayers of his people ? I might tire both you and myself in turning to
those particular promises, but that I am resolved against, and therefore
take that for all : John xvi. 23, 24, * Verily, verily, I say unto you.
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.' This double
asseveration, ' Verily, verily,' is never used but in matters of greatest
weight and importance ; and this gemination, ' Verily, verily,' is a
vehement confirmation of the truth of what Christ speaks. Now, from

136 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.

this gracious promise I may safely and clearly infer, that if God the
Father will give to believers whatsoever they ask in the name of Christ,
then certainly, at first or last, sooner or later, he will give them assur-
ance that he is their portion, and that they have an undoubted interest
and propriety in him ; for this is one of the great requests that they
are still a-putting up in the name of Christ, and upon the grant of this
request depends the fulness of a Christian's joy. But,

[7.] Seventhly and lastly, If Ood should not sooner or later, more
or less, assure his people that he is their portion, and that they have
an interest and a propriety in him ; then he would he a very great
loser, if I may so speak ; he would lose many praises, and many thanks-
givings ; he would lose much of that love, of that honour, and of that
delight, and of that admiration, which otherwise he might have from
among his children. And it is very observable, that of all the duties of
religion there are none that are pressed so closely, so frequently, and so
strongly upon Christians, as those of praising of God, and rejoicing in
God, &c., as all know that know anjrthing of the Scriptures.^ Now, how
it will stand with the holiness of God, and with the wisdom of God,
and with the care of God, to be so great a loser in the very things which
he hath so roundly and earnestly pressed upon his people, whenas by
one sweet word of his mouth he might so easily and so happily prevent
it, I cannot easily discern. All believers know that there is no such
ready, no such effectual way under heaven to draw out their love, their
joy, their delight, their praises, and their thanksgiving to God, as God's
assuring of them that he is their portion, and that they have an un-
questionable interest and propriety in him. Certainly that God that
loves the praises of his people, and that delights in the rejoicings of his
people, and that is so infinitely pleased with the thanksgivings of his
people, that God will not always hide himself from his people, that God
will sooner or later so manifest himself to his people, that they shall
be able to see their interest and propriety in God, and rejoicing to say,
' The Lord is our portion.'

Now, oh you that are the people of the Lord, and that to this very
day do lie under many fears and doubts about your interest and pro-
priety in God, be not discouraged, do not hang down the head, do not
despond, do not despair, for certainly sooner or later God will assure
you that he is your portion, and that you have an interest and a pro-
priety in him.

* I might prodace above a hundred scriptures to evidence this.

THE PRIVY EEY OF HEAVEN.

NOTE.

The ' Privy Key of Heaven,' published during the awful Plague of London in • 1665,'
seems to have been less known than any of Brooks's writings. I have not been able to
trace a reprint until a modem date. The original title-page is given below.* — G.

* THE

PRIVIE KEY

HEAVEN;

OK,

Twenty Arguments for
CLOSET-PRATER:

A Select Discourse on that Subject : With
the resolution of several considerable Questions ;
the main Objections also against Closet-Prayer,
are here answered ; Cautions propounded, and
the Point improved ; with several other things
of no small importance, in respect of the inter-
nal and external welfare of the Christian Reader.

Twenty special Lessons (in the Epistle De-
dicatory to some afflicted Friends) that we are
to learn by that severe rod, the PESTILENCE,
that now rageth in the midst of us.

By Thomas Brooks, Minister of
the Gospel.

my Dove that art in the clefts of the Rock, in the se-
cret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance,
let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voyce, and
thy countenance is lovely, Cant. 2. 14.

LONDON, Printed for, and are to be sold by John

Hancock, at the first shop in Popes-head

Alley, next to Cornhil. 1666.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

To my worthy and esteemed ^friends, Mrs Elizabeth Drinkwater, Mrs
Susan Bell, Mrs Hannah Bourne, Mrs Mary Taylor, Mrs Anne
White, Mrs Elizabeth Juxon, Mrs Rebeccah Juxon, Mrs Mary
Baxter, Mrs Deborah Shepherd, Mrs Anne Clemens, Mrs Mary
Stonior, Mrs Anne Snell, Mrs Anne Ellis, Mrs Margaret Cutler,
Mrs Patience Cartwright, Mrs Mary Shaw, Mrs Philip Garret, Mrs
Margaret Winfield, Mrs Hannah Pippet, Mrs Mary Chanlor, Mrs
Mary Scot, Mrs Katherine Usher, with their husbands, &c., all
happiness both here and hereafter.

HONOUfiED AND BELOVED IN OUR DEAR LORD JeSUS,

I have crowded your names together in one epistle, not from any
want of respect unto you, for I owe to each of you more than an epistle,
nor because you are in one particular fellowship, for so you are not ;
but partly because the Lord hath made you one with himself, in the
Son of his love ; and partly because the Lord at several times, and in
several ways, hath exercised you all in the furnace of aflBiction ; and
partly because this epistle may reach you all, and speak to you all, when
I cannot, or when I may not, or which is more, when I am not.

Dear friends, many and great have been the breaches that the Lord
hath made upon your persons, upon your near and dear relations, and
upon your sweetest comforts and contentments. There is not one of
you but may truly say with Job, ' He breaketh me with breach upon
breach,' Job xvi. 1 4. God hath chastised you all round with various
rods ; and oh that the Lord would help you all to ' hear the rod, and
him who hath appointed it,' Micah vi. 9.

Now that you may give me leave a little to open and apply to your
particulars, that

Micah vi. 9, ' The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of
wisdom shall hear thy nxime : hear ye the rod, and who hath ap-
pointed it*

The matter that I shall offer to your consideration from this scrip-
ture, will be not only of special concernment to yourselves, but also of
high concernment to all sorts and ranks of men and women, in this sad
day, when the sword devours on the one hand, and the pestilence rageth
on the other hand.

' The Lord's voice crieth unto the city.' Tremellius turns it thus.

140 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

* The voice of the Lord doth preach unto this city, for what the matter
is, thy name seeth : hear ye the rod,' &c. This city, viz., Jerusalem,
and so consequently to all the Israelites ; for in this city all offices and
duties of godliness and humanity were more religiously performed, or to
be performed, than in any other place, because of the presence and
majesty of God that was amongst them. * But thy Majesty seeth what
wickedness is practised amongst them,' as is evident in the verses fol-
lowing.

' Crieth.' The word is from hara, which signifies,
First, ' To cry aloud,' or ' to make a noise,' Isa. Iviii. 1 ; * cry aloud '
there is hara. The word signifies, to cry so loud as that all may hear
that have ears to hear.

Secondly, The word signifies, ' openly to proclaim, preach, or publish
a thing." Exod. xxxiii. 19, * I will proclaim the name of the Lord before
thee.' Here is the word hara.

Thirdly, The word signifies, 'to cry out.' Gen. xxxix. 15, 'I lifted
up my voice and cried,' Here is kara. The Hebrew word ^T hath
nine other significations in Scripture, but because they are not pertinent
to what is in my eye, I shall pass them by at this time.

' And the man of wisdom shall see thy name.' Vethushiia properly
signifies essence ; and, therefore, according to the Hebrew, the words
should be read thus, ' And the man of essence shall see thy name,' &c.,
that is, he that is a man indeed, he that is not a sot, a stock, a stone.
Most men are men of folly, and so not worthy of the name of men ;
but as for such as are truly wise, they ' shall see thy name.' There is a
great measure of spiritual art, of holy and heavenly wisdom required,
both to enable a man to hear the voice of the rod and to understand
the language of the rod. This wisdom is too high for a fool, Prov. xxiv. 7.
' Shall see thy name.' Now the Hebrew word here used '^^"'\ may
be better derived from jare, which signifies to fear, than from raah,
that signifies to see, and so the words will run smoothly thus, ' The
man of wisdom, or of essence, shall fear thy name,' considering that, it
is majesty itself that crieth, and that he is immediately to deal with
God himself, and not with a poor, weak, mortal worm.

' Hear ye the rodv' The word hear is from W^'*' shamang, which
signifies.

First, ' To mark, observe, and attend to what is said.' Gen. xxix. 33,
* The Lord hath heard that I was hated ;' that is, * he hath marked it,
he hath observed it.' So here. Oh mark the rod ! Oh observe the rod !
Oh attend to what is spoken by the rod !

Secondly, The word signifies, ' to understand what is spoken ;' so
Gen. xlii. 23, ' They knew not that Joseph understood them.' In the
Hebrew it is, ' that Joseph heard them.' Now to hear the rod, is to
understand what is spoken to us by the rod.

Thirdly, The word signifies, * to believe a thing reported to be true ;'
so Exod. vi. 9, * They hearkened not unto Moses,' that is, ' they did not
believe the report that Moses made.' ' Hear the rod,' that is, * believe
the report the rod makes.' The rod reports, that of all evils sin is the
greatest evil ; and that of all bitters, sin is the greatest bitter. Oh
believe the report of the rod ! The rod reports, that God is angry, that
God is displeased. Oh believe its report ! The rod reports the crea-

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 141

tures to be mere vanity and vexation of spirit. Oh believe its report !
The rod reports our nearest and dearest comforts, contentments, and
enjoyments to be mixed, mutable, and momentary. Oh believe its
report ! The rod reports sin to be vile, and the world to be vain, and
heaven to be glorious, and Christ to be most precious. Oh believe its
report ! The Hebrew word hath three other significations, but being^
that they are not proper to our purpose, I shall pass them by.

' The rod.' The Hebrew word moMe, that is here rendered rod, hath
three significations :

First, It denotes ' power and strength :' Ps. il 9, ' a rod of iron.'

Secondly, It denotes ' rigid and harsh government :' Isa. xiv. 5, ' The
Lord hath broken the staff,' or rod, 'of the wicked;' that is, 'their
rigorous and cruel government.^ Nebuchadnezzar had sorely afflicted
the children of Judah ; he was a rod, that brake them in pieces, and
ruled over them with much rigour in Babylon.

Thirdly, It denotes ' sore afflictions and heavy judgments :' Ps.
Ixxxix. 32, ' I will visit your transgressions with a rod.' And thus you
are to understand the word rod in the text.

* And him that hath appointed it' It is God that appoints the rod,
and ordains it for the revenge of the quarrel of his covenant. The
Hebrew word Jegnadah signifies properly ' to appoint' or ' constitute.'
It is God who appoints the rod, and who constitutes it to do what ser-
vice he pleaseth. It is God that hath not only a permissive, but also
an active, hand, in all the afflictions that come upon his people.

And let thus much suffice for the opening of the words.

Now, though this choice garden affords many sweet flowers, yet I
shall only present you with one, which is this, viz.

That all the affiidions, troubles, trials, Sc, that God lays upon his
people, are his rod; and that it is their highest and greatest concern-
ment to hear the voice of the rod, and to take out those lessons that God
would have them learn hy the rod.

For the opening and clearing up of this important point, I shall en-
deavour these two things :

First, To shew you in what respects afflictions are like unto a rod.

Secondly, To shew you what those special lessons are that you are to
learn by the rod.

I. For the first, in what respects are afflictions like unto a rod ?

I answer. In these seven respects afflictions are hke unto a rod.

(1.) First The rod is never made use of hut when no fair means will
prevail with the child. It is so here ; God never takes up the rod, he
never afflicts his people, till he hath tried all fair ways and means to
humble them and reform them, 2 Chron. xxxvi 15, seq.. Mat. xxiii.37, 38.
And when none of the offers of grace, the tenders of mercy, the wooings
of Christ, the strivings of the Spirit, nor the smart debates of conscience,
will awaken them, nor work upon them, then God takes up the rod,
and sometimes whips them till the blood comes. But,

(2.) Secondly, Parents choose what rods they please to correct their
children with. The child shall not choose what rod he pleaseth to be
corrected with. Oh, no ! It is the prerogative of the father to choose

' The contemporary use of the word, common in Bishop Pearson G.

142 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

the rod. The father may choose and use either a great rod or a little
rod, a long rod or a short rod, a rod made of rosemary branches or a rod
made up of a green birch. It is so here ; God chooseth what rod, what
affliction he pleaseth, to exercise his people with, Lev. xxvi., Deut. xxviii.,
Lam. iii. 9-18. You read in the Scriptures of very many rods, but they
are all of God's choosing: Amos iii. 6, ' Is there any evil in the city, and
hath not the Lord done it V Though there be many rods to be found in
the city, yet there is not one of them but is of God's choosing: Ruth
i. 13, ' It grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is
gone out against me.' Ver. 21, * I went out full, and the Lord hath
brought me home again empty; why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the
Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me V
Isa. xlv. 7, ' I form the light, and create darkness : I make peace, and
create evil: I, the Lord, do all these things.' Micah i. 12, * For the in-
habitants of Maroth waited carefully for good, but evil came down from
the Lord unto the gates of Jerusalem.' David was whipped with many
rods, but they were all of God's own choosing, Ps. xxxix. 9 ; and Job
was whipped with many rods, but they were all of God's own choosing,
chap. i. But,

(3.) Thirdly, Parents take no pleasure, they take no delight, to use
the rod. Every lash the father gives the child, fetches blood from his
own heart. The father corrects the child, and sighs over the child ; he
whips the child, and at the same time weeps over the child. Nothing
goes more against the parents' heart, nor against their hair, than the
bringing of their children under the rod of correction. It is so here.
Lam. iii. 33, ' For he doth not afflict willingly,' or, as the Hebrew
runs, * he doth not afflict,' Tnillihbo, * from his heart, nor grieve the
children of men.' You often read that he delights in mercy, Micah vii.
15 ; but where do you once read that he delights in severity, or in
dealing roughly with his people ? God very rarely takes up the rod
but when our sins have put a force upon him, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, Jer.
V. 19. It is grievous to God to be a-grieving his people ; it is a pain
unto him to be a-punishing of them : Hosea xi. 8, ' How shall I give
thee up, Ephraim ? how shall I deliver thee, Israel ? how shall I make
thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned
within me, my repentings are kindled together.* My justice, saith God,
calls upon me to rain hell out of heaven upon thee, as once I did upon
Sodom and Gomorrah ; but then mercy interposeth her four several
hows : how ? how ? how ? how ? how shall I give thee up ? God puts
these four pathetical interrogations to himself, because none else in
heaven or earth could answer them. The prophet brings in God speak-
ing after the manner of men, who, being provoked a thousand thousand
ways by the vanities and follies of their children, think to give them
up to take their own coui*ses, and to look no more after them ; but
then their bowels begin to work, and their hearts begin to melt, and
they begin to interrogate themselves thus : ' How shall we give up
these children ? for though they be disobedient children, yet they are
children ; how can we turn them out of doors ? how can we disown
them ? how can we disinherit them ? for though they are rebellious
children, yet they are children, &c. Afflictions are called God's work,
yea» his ' strange work ;' his act, yea> 'his strange act ;' as if God were

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 143

out of his element "when he is afflicting or chastising his people, Isa.
xxviii. 21. But,

(4.) Fourthly, The rod is smarting, grievous, and troublesome;
and so are afflictions to our natures : Heb. xii. 11, * Now, no chasten-
ing for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous/ Flesh and
blood startles and is troubled at the least trouble. Affliction is a sort
of physic that makes most sick. Some write that tigers will grow mad,
and tear their own flesh, and rend themselves in pieces, if they do but
hear drums or tabors sound about them.^ Were not Job and Jeremiah
such tigers, who, in the day of their afflictions, did more than curse the
day of their birth ? Job iii., Jer. xx. Oh what a bitter cup, what a
heavy burden was affliction to them ! Job x. 1, 'My soul is weary of
my life.' Job vii. 15, ' My soul chooseth strangling and death rather
than life.' Ps. vi. 6, ' I am weary with my groaning.' Ps. Ixix. 1-3,
' Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in
deep mire, where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters,
where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying, my throat is
dried : mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God.' Doubtless many good
men have sat under Elijah his juniper, 1 Kings xix. 4, wishing them-
selves out of the world, if it might stand with divine pleasure, that they
might rest from their sins and sorrows, and be rid of their many bur-
dens and bondages, looking upon life [as] little better than a hell, were
it not for the hopes of a heaven hereafter. But,

(5.) Fifthly, When parents take up the rod into their hands, they
will not lay it down till they have subdued the spirits of their chil-
dren, and brought them to submit and to kiss the rod, and to sit still
and quiet before them? It is so here : when God takes up the rod, he
will not lay it down till he hath brought us to lie quietly at his feet :
Lev. xxvl 40-42, * If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity
of their fathers, with their trespass which they have trespassed against
me, and that also they have walked contrary to me ; and that I also
have walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of
their enemies ; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they
then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, then will I remember
my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my
covenant with Abraham will I remember ; and I will remember the
land.' When God takes up the rod, his children must either bow or
break ; they must say, the Lord is righteous ; they must kiss the rod
of correction, or else destruction will come like a whirlwind upon them,
Isa. v, 3, 6.

It is reported of the lion, that he spares those creatures that fall down
before him, and submit unto him ; but as for those that endeavour to
run from him, or to contend with him, those he tears in pieces. It is
iust so with the Lion of the tribe of Judah, as you may see in that
iHosea v. 14, 15.

King Edward riding furiously after a servant of his' that had highly
[displeased him, with a drawn sword in his band as purposing to kill

* Plutarch, lib, de tuperstitione.

• Eodolphua the emperor's motto was, Omnia ex voluntaU Dei, all must be as God will
[have it. And this should be every Christian's motto under the rod.

» [?oxe] Acts and Mon. in Edward I. [Sub nomine : Foxe, by Townsend, vol. ii. 577,

144 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

him, seeing him submit, and on bended knee sueing for his life, did not
only put up his sword, but also spared him, and received him into his
favour. The King of kings will never put up his sword when once he
hath drawn it, till his people fall on their knees, and submit unto him.
God never left chastising of Ephraim till he had brought him to his bow,
till he had made him submit, and kiss the rod, Jer. xxxi. 18-20. But,

(6.) Sixthly, AjffiictioTis are called a rod, in respect of the hand that
lays them on. Though affliction be a rod, it is a rod in a Father's hand,
The sword is in the judge's hand, John xviii. 11, and the cudgel is in
the master's hand ; but the rod is in the father's hand, Heb. xii, 6-9.
When Balaam's ass offended him, he wished for a sword to slay him^
Num. xxii. 29 ; but so doth not God. When we do most highly pro-
voke him, he doth not take up a sword to slay us, but only a rod to
scourge us and chastise us, as indulgent fathers do their dearest children.
But,

(7.) Seventhly and lastly. Afflictions are called a rod, in regard of
the ends to which they serve. A rod is not to kill, but to cure ; it is
not for destruction, but for correction. When David gave a full com-
mission to his soldiers against Absalom, it was not to slay him, but to
restrain him ; it was not to ruin him, but to reduce him to his former
obedience. The application is easy. We can as well live without our
daily bread as without our daily rod. Now, the end of taking up the
rod are these :

[1.1 First and naore generally. It is for the good of the child, and not
for his hurt. It is so here. God takes up the rod, but it is for the good
of his people : Gen. 1. 20, * But as for you, ye thought evil against
me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to
save much people alive.' Divine goodness did so over-master the plotted
malignity of Joseph's brethren as that it made a blessed medicine of a
most deadly poison : Jer. xxiv. 5, ' Thus saith the Lord, the God of
Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried
away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land
of the Chaldeans for their good.' When Israel was dismissed out of
Egypt, Exod. xl., it was with gold and ear-rings ; and when Judah was
dismissed out of Babylon, it was with great gifts, jewels, and all neces-
sary utensils, Ezra i. So Rom. viii. 28, ' And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.' This text, like Moses's tree cast into the
bitter waters of affliction, may make them sweet and wholesome to
drink of But,

[2.] Secondly, and more particularly. The rod is to make the child
sensible of his folly and vanity : Pro v. x, 13, ' In the lips of him that
hath understanding, wisdom is found ; but the rod is for the back of
him that is void of understanding.' So it is here : God takes up the
rod, but it is to make his people sensible of their folly and vanity ; it is
to make them look up to him, and to look into conscience, and to look
out to their conversations. Schola crucis is schoJa lucis. God's house
of correction is his school of instruction. His lashers are our lessons,
his scourges are our schoolmasters, and his chastisements are our adver-
tisements. Hence both the Hebrews and Greeks express chastening
and teaching by one and the same word, musar, paideia, because the

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 145

latter is the true end of the former, according to that in the proverb,
' Smart makes wit, and vexation gives understanding.'^ Afflictions are
a Christian's looking-glass,* by which he may see how to dress his own
soul, and to mend whatsoever is amiss. They are pills made up by a
heavenly hand on purpose to clear our eyesight : 1 Kings xvii. 18, 'And
she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God f
Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my
son ?' If God had not taken away her son, her sin had not been brought
to remembrance. It was the speech of an holy man in his sickness :
' In this disease,' said he, ' I have learned how great God is, and what
the evil of sin is. I never knew to purpose what God was before, nor
what sin was before.' The cross opens men's eyes, as the tasting of
honey did Jonathan's. ' Here,' as that martyr phrased it, ' we are still
a-leaming our A, B, C, and our lesson is never past Christ's cross, and
our walking is still home by weeping-cross.' But,

[3.] Thirdly, The rod is used to "prevent further folly, mischief, and
ftiisery: Prov. xxiii. 13, 14, 'Withhold not correction from the child,
for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat
him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.' It is said of
the ape, that she huggeth her young ones to death ; so many fond
parents, by not correcting their children, they come to slay their chil-
dren. The best way to prevent their being scourged with scorpions
in hell, is to chastise them with the rod here. So God takes up the
rod ; he afflicts and chastiseth his dearest children, but it is to prevent
soul-mischief and misery ; it is to prevent pride, self-love, worldliness,
&c. Paul was one of the holiest men that ever lived on earth ; he was
called by some an earthly angel, and yet he needed the rod, he needed
a thorn in the flesh, to prevent pride ; witness the doubling of those
words in one verse, ' lest I should be exalted above measure, lest I
should be exalted above measure,' 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. If Paul had not been
buffeted, who knows how highly he might have been exalted in his own
conceit ? Prudent physicians do often give their patients physic, to
prevent diseases ; and so doth the physician of souls by his dearest
servants, Job xl. 4, 5, Hos. ii. 6, 7 : Job xxxiii. 17, 19, 'He is chas-
tened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with
strong pain, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide
pride from man.' Afflictions are the Lord's drawing-plasters, by which
he draws out the core of pride, earthliness, self-love, covetousness, &c.
Pride was one of man's first sins, and is still the root and source of
all other sins. Now, to prevent it, God many times chastens man with
pain, yea, with strong pain, upon his bed : Job xxxiv. 31, 32, ' Surely
it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not
offend any more. That which I see not, teach thou me ; if I have
done iniquity, I wiU do no more.' The burnt child dreads the fire.
Sin is but a bitter sweet ; it is an evil worse than hell itself. Look, as
salt brine preserves things from putrefying, and as salt marshes keep
' the sheep from rotting, so sanctified rods, sanctified afflictions, pre-
serves and keeps the people of God from sinning. But,

' Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Pa. xciv. 12 ; Prov. iii. 12, 13 ; Job xxxvi. 8-10.
* Oeul/jg quoi peeeatum claudit, poena aperit. The eye that sin shuts, afflictions open.
— Gregory.

VOL. IL ' E

146 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

[4.] Fourthly, The rod is to purge out that vanity and folly that is
bound up in the heart of the child: Pro v. xxii. 15, ' Foolishness is
bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it
far from him.' The rod is an ordinance, as well as the word ; and such
parents that use it as an ordinance, praying and weeping over it, shall
find it effectual for the chasing away of evil out of their children's
heart. Eli and David were two very choice men, and yet, by their
fondness on one hand, and neglect of this ordinance on the other hand,
they ruined their sons ; and whether they did not undo their souls, I
shall not at this time stand to inquire. When Moses cast away his
rod, it became a serpent, Exod. iv. 3 ; and so, when parents cast away
the rod of correction, it is ten to one but that their children become
the brood of the serpent : Prov. xiii. 24, ' He that spareth his rod hateth
his son ; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.' Not only
the care, but also the cure of the child, so far as the rod will reach,
lies upon the hands of the parent.

Now afflictions are like a rod in this respect also, for, as they are
sanctified, they cleanse and purge away the dross, the filth, and the
scum^ of the daughter of Zion : Isa. i. 25, 'And I will turn my hand
upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and -take away all thy
tin ;' Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be
purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin ;' Dan, xi. 35,
' And some of them of understanding shall fall ' (that is, ' into great
afflictions'), ' to try them, and to purge them, and to make them white,
even to the time of the end.' All the harm the fire did the three
children, or rather the three champions, was to burn off their cords,
Dan. iii. 23, 24. Our lusts are cords of vanity, but the fire of afflic-
tion shall burn them up : Zech. xiii. 9, ' And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try
them as gold is tried : they shall call on my name, and I will hear
them : I will say, It is my people, and they shall say. The Lord is my
God.' Sharp afflictions are a fire to purge out our dross, and to make
our graces shine ; they are a potion, to carry away ill humours ; they
are cold frosts, to destroy the vermin ; they are a tempestuous sea,
to purge the wine from its lees ; they are like the north wind, that
drieth up the vapours, that purgeth the blood, and quickens the
spirits ; they are a sharp corrosive, to eat out the dead flesh. Afflic-
tions are compared to baptizing and washing, that takes away the
filth of the soul, as water doth the filth of the body. Mat. x. 38, 39.
God would not rub so hard, were it not to fetch out the dirt and spots
that be in his people's hearts.

[5.] Fifthly, The rod serves to improve that good that is in the
child : Prov. xxix. 15, ' The rod and reproof giveth wisdom, but a
child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.' So afflictions they
serve to improve our graces : Heb. xii. 10, ' For they verily for a few
days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that
we might be partakers of his holiness ' ; that is, that we might more
and more be partakers of his holiness. Ver. 11, 'Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless, after-
ward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are

' Spelled ' scumb.' — G.

EPISTLE DEDICATOEY. 147

exercised thereby.' Hence it is that the saints glory in tribulation :
Rom. V. 3, 4, ' And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, know-
ing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope.' Grace always thrives most when saints are under
the rod. When Christians are under the rod, then their graces do not
only bud, but blossom and bring forth fruit, as Aaron's rod did, Num.
xvii. 8. The snuffing of the candle makes it burn the brighter. God
beats a,nd bruises his links,' to make them burn the brighter ; he
bruises his spices, to make them send forth the greater aromatical
savour.

Bernard compares afflictions to the teasle, which, though it be sharp
and scratching, is to make the cloth more pure and fine. The Jews
were always best when they were in an afflicted condition. Well waters
arising from deep springs are hotter in the winter than they are in the
summer. Stars shine brightest in the darkest nights. Vines grow the
better for bleeding, and gold looks the better for scouring. Juniper
smells sweetest when in the fire ; camomile, the more you tread it, the
more you spread it. O sirs ! this is a real and a rare truth, but seldom
thought on, viz. that God will sometimes more carry on the growth and
improvement of grace by a cross, by an affliction, than by an ordinance,
James i. 3, 4, iv. 8, 9. Afflictions ripen the saint's graces, 2 Cor. i. 5.
First or last, God will make every rod, yea, every twig in every rod, to
be an ordinance to every afflicted saint. By afflictions, God many
times revives, quickens, and recovers the decayed graces of his people.
By afflictions, God many times inflames that love that is cold, and he
strengthens that faith that is failing, and he puts life into those hopes
that are languishing, and new spirits into those joys and comforts that
are withering and dying. Musk, say some, when it hath lost its sweet-
ness, if it be put into the sink amongst filth, it recovers its sweetness
again. So doth smart afflictions recover and revive our decayed graces.

I have read a story of a sexton, that went into the church at night
to rob a woman who had been buried the day before with a gold ring
upon her finger, according to her desire. Now, when he had opened
the grave and coffin, and loosed the sheet, he fell a-rubbing and chafing
her finger to get off the gold ring ; and with rubbing and chafing of it,
her spiiits returned, she having been but in a swoon before, and she
revived, and lived many years after.^ Smart afflictions are but the
rubbing and chafing of our graces. The smarting rod abaseth the love-
liness of the world, that might entice us ; it abates the lustiness of the
flesh within, that might incite us to vanity and folly ; and it abets the
spirit in his quarrel to the two former : all which tend much to the
recovering and reviving of decayed graces. But,

[6.] The sixth end to which the rod serves, and that is. To try the
child, to make a discovery of the spirit of the child. Some parents
never see so much of the badness of the spirits of their children as they
do when they bring them under the rod ; and other parents never see
so much of the goodness of the spirits of their children as they do when

• 'Torches:' which recalls the aiiom, 'Truth, like a torch, the more it's shook it
shines.' — G.

' Tjhis actually occurred with Mrs Henrj^ Erskine, who afterwards gave birth to the
Erskines, so famous in Scotch ecclesiastical 'Lifetory. See Lives, by Fraser, of Ebenezer
and Ralph Erskine, 2 vols. — G.

1 48 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

they chastise them with the rod. It is so here. When God afflicts
some, oh the pride ! the stoutness ! the crossness ! the hardness ! the
peevishness and stubbornness of spirit, that they discover ! Isa. i. 5 ;
Jer. V. 3; Exod. v. 2 ; Jer. xliv. 15-19. When he afflicts others, oh
the murmuring ! the roaring ! the complaining ! the howling ! the
fretting ! the vexing ! and the quarrelling spirit that they discover !
Amos iv. 6-13 ; Num. xiv. 27, 29, 36 ; Deut. i. 27 ; Isa. Iviii. 3, 4, lix.
11 ; Hosea vii. 14, 15 ; Jonah iv. 1-5, 8, 9. Sometimes when God
afflicts his dearest people, oh what a spirit of faith ! what a spirit of
prayer ! what a spirit of love ! what a spirit of patience ! what a spirit
of meekness ! what a spirit of humbleness ! what a spirit of submissive-
ness do they discover ! Job xiii. J5 ; 2 Chron. 1-6, 12 ; Isa. xxvi. 16,
17 ; Hosea v. 14, 15 ; Job i. 20-22 ; Lev. x. 1-3 ; 1 Sam. iii. 18 ; 2
Kings XX. 16-19. And at other times, when God afflicts his poor
people, oh what a spirit of unbelief ! what a spirit of slavish fear ! what
a spirit of impatiency ! what a spirit of displeasedness, &c., do they
discover ! Gen. xv. 2, 3 ; xii. 13, 19 ; xx. 2, 5 ; xxvi. 7-11 ; Ps. xxxi.
22 ; cxvi. 11 ; 1 Sam. xxi. 10-15 ; Job iii. 3-13 ; Jer. xx. 14-18. By
smart afflictions, God tries the graces of his people, and discovers what
is in the spirits of his people, Deut. viii. 2 ; Ps. Ixvi. 10, 1 1 ; Rev. iii.
18 ; 1 Peter i. 6, 7. The fire tries the gold as well as the touchstone.
Diseases try the art of the physician, and tempests try the skill of the
pilot. Every smarting rod is a touchstone, both to try our graces and
to discover our spirits. Prudent fathers will sometimes cross their
children, to try to discover the dispositions of their children, Heb. xii.
5-21. And so doth the Father of spirits deal sometimes with his
children.

The manner of the Psylli, which are a kind of people of that temper
and constitution that no venom will hurt them, is this/ if they suspect
any child to be none of their own, they set an adder upon it to sting
it ; and if it cry, and the flesh swell, they cast it away as a spurious
issue ; but if it do not quatch* nor cry, nor is never the worse for it,
then they account it for their own, and make very much of it. The
application is easy. But,

[7.] The seventh and last end of the rod, Is to prepare and fit the
chastised for greater services, favours, and mercies. Many a child
and many a servant had never been so fit for eminent services as they
are, had they not been under a smarting rod. It is very usual with
God to cast them into very great afflictions, and to lay them under
grievous smarting rods, that so he may prepare and fit them for some
high and eminent services in this world. Joseph had never been so fit
to be governor of Egypt, and to preserve the visible church of God
alive in the world, if he had not been sold into Egypt, Gen. xii. 40-44 ;
if his feet had not been hurt in the stocks, and if the irons had not
entered into his soul. Gen. xlv. 7, 8. Nor Moses had never been so fit
to be a leader and a deliverer of Israel as he was, if he had not been
banished forty years in the wilderness before, Exod. ii. 15. Nor David's
crown had never sat so well, nor so close, nor so long on his head as it
did, had he not for some years before been hunted as a partridge in the
wilderness, 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. Nor the three children, or rather the
^ Pliny, lib. xxviii. [Rather lib. vii. c. 2. — G.] * ' Shrink ;' see Vol. I. as above. — G.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 149

three champions, would never have been fit for so high a rule, had they
not been first cast into the fiery furnace, Dan. iii. 29, 30. Nor Daniel,
for that exceeding high honour, and glory, and greatness to which he
was exalted, had he not been first cast among the lions, Dan. vi. 25,
et seq. And so had Esther never been a poor captive maid, she had
never been a queen, and so had never been instrumental in the pre-
servation of the church of God in her day. Heman was one of the
best and wisest men in the world in his day, 1 Kings iv. 31 ; and this
God brought him to by training of him up in the school of affliction,
as you may evidently see in that 88th psalm. That of the apostle in
2 Cor. i. 4, deserves to be written in letters of gold, * Who comforteth
us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which
are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves ai-e com-
forted of God.' Mark that word oitle. Oh, it is one of the hardest and
noblest works in all Christianity to be able divinely to comfort others
that are in troubles ; and yet by sufferings God fits and prepares his
people for this noble and difficult service.

Luther was of opinion that to comfort a distressed conscience was a
greater work than to raise the dead to life. And yet by inward and
outward sufferings, God fits his people for this great work.

And thus you see in what respects afflictions are compared to a rod.

II. The second thing I am to do is to shew you those special lessons
that you are to learn by the rod, or if you please, by the raging pesti-
lence.

Now they are these •

(1.) The first lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the raging
pestilence, is, to know what the particular message or errand is which
the rod hath to deliver to you in the day of your distress and trouble.
Your first work is to do as David did, in that 2 Sam. xxi. 1. He
humbly inquires of the Lord to know the particular reason why he sent
a famine amongst them. You must do as Job doth : Job x. 2, ' Shew
me, O Lord, wherefore thou contendest with me.' Job would fain
know the reason of the controversy between God and him. One well
observes on the text, * that Job was very desirous to know whether
God did afflict him for sin or for trial, not to satisfy his curiosity, but
his conscience.'^ Elihu's counsel to Job must here take place : Job,
xxxiv. 31, 32, ' Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne
chastisement, I will not offend any more. That which I see not teach
thou me ; if I have done iniquity, I wiU do no more.' Job it seems
was yet in the dark as to the particular cause or reason why the Lord
had so grievously afflicted him ; and therefore he is very importunate
with God that he would graciously point out the sin for which he had
so sorely smitten him. Thy proceedings, saith Job, to my understand-
ing seem to be very strange and severe. I am more afflicted than
others, and yet I do not know wherein I have sinned more than others ;
why I should be condemned and cast without a trial ; why thou art so
hot against me, and why thou hast multiplied so many unheard of
miseries against me ; and why thou hast so greatly subjected me to
the saddest and sourest censures of others, as if I were the worst of
siniiers and the basest of hypocrites, I know not ; and therefore, O
* Trapp in loco makes the observation from another. — G.

150 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

Lord ! I humbly desire that thou wouldst not deal with me according to
thy absolute power, but let me know the true grounds and causes of all
my heavy sorrows and miseries. And so he is at it again, in that Job xiii.
23, ' How many are mine iniquities and sins ! make me to know my
transgression and my sin.' My plagues, Lord ! are unparalleled ; if
my sins are such, let me know it, saith Job. My calamities transcend
the calamities of all others ; if my sins do so, let them not be hid from
mine eyes, Lord ! My load, O Lord ! is heavier than others ; and
therefore if my sins are greater than others, let me see them, let me
understand them. Infirmities and weaknesses, I confess, do hang upon
me ; they are inherent in me, and they do too often issue and flow from
me ; but as for enormities or wickednesses, neither my censorious
friends, nor yet my worst enemies, no, nor yet my own conscience, will
ever be able to make any just or clear proof against me. O Lord ! I
have many spots upon me, but if there be any upon me that are not
the spots of thy people, let me see them, let me know them, that I may
abhor myself, and justify thee, and that I may say my friends are
righteous in their censures, and I have done wickedly before the Lord.
Sometimes afflictions are sent only for trial and instruction, and not
at all for sin. This is evident in the case of Job, and in the case of the
blind man, whose afflictions, though they were very great and grievous,
yet were they not for sin but for trial, John ix. 1, et seq.

Now, though this be true, yet it must be granted that commonly sin
is the meritorious cause, the procuring cause, of all afflictions, Micah i.
5-10, Amos ii. 4-6. Sin ordinarily is the original foundation of all our
troubles and chastisements : Ps. Ixxxix. 30-32, * If his children forsake
my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with
the rod, and their iniquity with stripes ;' Jer. ii. 19, ' Thine own wicked-
ness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee. Know,
therefore, and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast for-
saken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord
God of hosts ;' Amos iii. 2, ' You only have I known of all the famihes
of the earth ; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.'

Quest. But what course must we take ? what means inust we use, to
find out that 'particular sin, for which God corrects us, or which
hath brought the rod upon us ?

Ans. 1. Observe what that sin is, that thy conscience doth most
upbraid thee with, and check thee for. Conscience is God's preacher
in the bosom, Gen. xlii. 21, 1. 15-17. Now, observe what that particular
sin is, that conscience doth most smartly and roundly correct and chas-
tise thee for ; for it is ten to one but that is the sin that hath brought
the rod upon thee. The voice of conscience, and the voice of the rod,
do usually echo one to another. It is very rare to find a difference
between the language of conscience and the language of the rod.
Conscience is God's deputy, God's spy, God's notary, God's viceroy ;
and therefore do not despise the voice of conscience, do not turn off con-
science, as Felix turned off" Paul, Acts xxiv. 25. If the secret cry of
conscience be, Oh, this is for thy pride, or this is for thy passion, or
this is for thy self-love, or this is for thy earthliness, or this is for thy
carnalness, or this is for thy hypocrisy, or this is for thy formality.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. ISl

&c., it will be thy wisdom to subscribe to the secret cry of conscience.
But,

Ans. 2. Secondly, Seriously observe what that sin is that thy soul
would have spared above all, that thy soud is most unwilling to leave,
and bid an everlasting farewell to. Observe what thy right hand sin,
thy bosom sin, thy constitution sin, thy complexion sin, is, for it is a
hundred to one but that God hath sent the rod for the subduing of that
very sin, Micah vi. 6, 7, Esther v. 13. Commonly by the rod God points
at the mortifjring of that particular sin to which the heart stands most
strongly inchned. But,

Ans. 3. Thirdly, Observe what that sin is, that dothmost maim and
mxir thy confidence and boldness in all thy addresses and apjyroaches
to God, 1 John iii. 20, 21 ; for doubtless that is the sin that God would
subdue and bring under by the rod. But,

Ans. 4. Fourthly, Observe what the afliction, what the pain, what
the disease, ivhat the punishment is, that you are under, for sometimes
a person may run and read his sin in his very punishment : Judges i. 7,
' Threescore and ten kings having their thumbs and their great toes cut
off, gathered their meat under my table : as I have done, so God hath
requited me.' Now shall Adonibezek, a heathen prince, run and read
his sin in his punishment ; and shall not a Christian much more ? Shall
not grace do as much as blind nature ? Look, as a man may sometimes
guess at the disease of the patient by the prudent observing of the
physician's bill ; so may he sometimes guess at the particular sin that
God would have destroyed by the punishment that is inflicted. God
usually, first or last, meets with men, and pays them home in their own
coin. Is the judgment shame ? Then the sin was pride, Hosea ii. 8, 9.
Is the judgment want, famine ? Then the sin was abuse of abundance.
Is the judgment oppression ? Then the sin was unmercifulness. Is the
judgment loss of children ? Then the sin was inordinate love to them.
Eli and David were too indulgent to their children ; and therefore
they were punished in them and by them. Is the judgment sickness
or want of health ? Then the sin was either the abuse of health, or the
non-improvement of health. Is the judgment a famine of the word ?
Then the sin was slighting and loathing of the word. Is the judgment
war ? Then the sin was abuse of peace. Is the judgment a blind, car-
nal, profane, formal, drunken, superstitious clergy ? Then the sin hath
been slighting, neglecting, undervaluing, and despising an able, knowing,
zealous, spiritual, and powerful ministry. Is the judgment a worship-
ping of God in a lazy, dry, dull, dead, formal, customary way, according
to the inventions and traditions of the elders ? Then the sin hath been
men's not worshipping of God in spirit and in truth, and with that zeal,
spirit, life, warmth, and fervency as he requires, John iv. 23, 24, Rom.
xii. 11. Is the judgment the breaking of the communion of God's
people, and scattering of them into holes and comers, as it was in
Ahab's, and Jezebel's, and Gideon's days ? Judges vi. 1-5. Then doubt-
less the sin hath been a slighting, undervaluing, neglecting, or forsaking
of Christian communion, or else a non-improvement of Christian com-
munion. But,

Ans. 5. Fifthly, Observe whether you have not been very faulty towards
others in the very things you now suffer yourselves. Do others wrong

152 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

you in your names, estates, relations, callings, dealings, &c. ? Lay your
hands upon your hearts, and ask them whether you have never wronged
others as others now wrong you, Isa. xxxiii. 1, Rev. xiii, 10, James ii. 10,
Gen. 1. 15-17. Do others rashly judge you, and bitterly censure you,
and falsely accuse you, and unjustly condemn you ? If they do, reflect
upon your former carriages towards others ; and if you must plead guilty,
throw the first stone at yourselves, and say with Adonibezek, ' As I have
done, so God hath requited me.' Let every lash of God upon you put
you in mind of your deportment towards others, when God hath given
them gall and wonnwood to drink, Mat. vii. 1, 2. But,

Ans. 6. Sixthly, Observe xvhat that sin is that thou canst not endure
should be touched, or reproved, or spoken against. Pro v. i. 25, 30, xii. 1,
xvii. 10, ix. 8, XV. 12. Ah ! how proud, how impatient, how passionate,
how mad are many, when you come to touch their right-eye sin. When
you come to touch them in the tender part, oh ! then they fume, and
swell, and rage, and take on like men and women out of their wits, as
you may see in the scribes and pharisees, who were so angry and mad
with Christ that they sought his death ; and all because he was still a-
pointing at the toads in their bosoms, viz. pride, vain-glory, hypocrisy,
and self-righteousness. Oh ! they could not endure that the sharp
razor of reproof should come near their sorest part. Certainly that
Christian must be under a very high distemper, that cannot but smite
a righteous man with reproach for smiting him with a reproof Though
gracious reproofs are choice physic, yet few stomachs can tell how to
bear them. Most Christians are for lenitives, few are for corrosives.
David was glad of a healing reproof, but there are but few Davids alive,
Ps. cxli. 5. Who is angry with the physician for prescribing a bitter
potion ? And yet, ah ! how angry are many Christians when they come
to fall under holy reproofs, especially if there be any of that sharpness
and cuttingness in them that the apostle exhorts to in that Titus i. 13.
Now, doubtless, the voice of the rod is this, Soul ! take heed of that sin
that thou canst not endure should be touched. Labour mightily with
God to get that particular sin mortified that thou canst not endure
should be reproved. But,

Ans. 7. Seventhly, Observe what sin that is that doth most hinder
thee from closing with the precious promises, and from living upon
precious promises, and from improving of precious promises, and
from treasuring up of 'precious promises, and from appropriating of
precious proTnises to thine own soul, Ps. L 1 6, 17. And it is very pro-
bable that, for the subduing of that sin, the Lord hath visited thee with
his fatherly rod. But,

A ns. 8. Eighthly, Observe what sin thai is that did most sting and
terrify thee in an evil day, as when thou hast been under some loath-
some disease or tormenting pain, Gen. xlii, 21 ; be it stone, gout, or
burning fever, or when thou hast been in some imminent danger, or when
thou hast had a sentence of death upon thee, and there hath been but
a short step between thee and eternity. Doubtless that sin, which hath
lain as a heavy load upon thy conscience in the days of thy former dis-
tress, that is the sin that Goji would have conquered and brought under
by his present rod. But,

Ans. 9. Ninthly, Observe what particular sin that is that doth most

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 153

hinder thee in holy duties and services, and that doth most interrupt
thee in thy communion ivith God. Inquire what particular sin that
is that thy heart is most apt to run after when thou art on the mount
of holy duties, Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Whilst the disciples were healing dis-
eases and casting devils out of other men's bodies, the proud white devil
was stirring in their own souls, as is evident by that gentle rebuke
that our Saviour gives them in Luke x. 20, ' In this rejoice not, that the
spirits are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven.' There is no duty that a Christian performs but one
white devil or another, one lust or another, will be still dogging and
following of him to that duty. There is no public duty, there is no
family duty, there is no private duty that a Christian performs, but either
that white devil pride, or that white devil hypocrisy, or that white devil
vainglory, or else some one or another white devil will follow the soul,
hard at heel to it. Now, mark what that particular sin is that most
haunts thy soul when thou art in religious duties and services ; and it
may be that is the very sin that God would have subdued by the rod. But,

Ans. 10. Tenthly, Observe what sin that is that the rest of your cor-
ruptions are most serviceable to, and that they most attend upon.
Mark what sin that is that all other sins do most bow the knee to.
Mark that sin that hath a commanding power over all other sins, that
saith to one Go and he goeth, and to another Come and he cometh.
Mark what sin that is that is still uppermost, and that all other sins do
most minister to. You know when a man hath a great wound in his
body, all the ill humours will run thither. Observe what sin that is
that all the ill humours of the soul do most run after ; for it is very likely
that that is the very sin that God would have brought under by the
rod. But,

Ans. 1 1. Eleventhly, Observe what that sin is that your hearts are
Ttiost apt to hide and cloak, and cover over with the most specious and
fair pretenA^es. Saul had a covetous desire, and he covers it over with
fair pretences, as that the people would have it so, and that what was
spared was for sacrifice, 1 Sam. xv. 20, 21. Caesar's favour was the
great darling in Pilate's eyes, but he covers all over with washing his
hands. Mat. xxvii. 24. The scribes and pharisees were exceeding cove-
tous, but their long prayers, as a cloak, must cover all. Mat. xxiii.
Judas also was a man of the same mind and mettle with them : 'What
need this waste ? Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred
pence, and given to the poor ? This he said, not that he cared for the
poor ; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was
put therein,' Mat. xxvi. 8, 9 ; John xii. 5, 6. Judas, as Tertullian
thinks, was pretty honest till he carried the bag ; but no sooner was he
,in office, but he puts conscience out of office, but all must be covered
over with a cloak of charity.* Observe what sin that is that you are
most apt to cast the silk or the satin mantle over ; and it is ten to one
; but that is the sin that God would have brought under by the rod.
But,

Alls. 12. Twelfthly and lastly, Observe what that sin is that thou
art most ea^ly overcome by. DeHlah could easily overcome Samson,
[ whefe all the world besides could make no conquest upon him. The
' Tertullian : Opera, tub nomine Judas. — G.

154 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

apostle bids us ' lay aside the sin that doth so easily beset us,' Heb.
xii. 1, There are some sins that find more easy approaches to us, and
more easy acceptance with us, and accordingly they do more easily
captivate us. Observe what that sin is that you do most readily and
easily open the door to ; and doubtless that is the sin that God would
have mortified and subdued by the rod.

(2.) The second lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the
raging pestilence, is, deeply to judge yourselves and greatly to humble
your souls, for that sin or sins tJiat hath brought the rod upon you.
Thus David did in that 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, J 7.^ When you have found
out the Achan that hath brought the rod upon you, stone him to death ;
and lie humble and low under the rod, and then the Almighty will be
graciously pacified and sweetly reconciled unto you.

(3.) The third lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the
raging pestilence, is, to vieiv the rod on every side. If there be briars
on one side of the rod, there is rosemary on the other side of the rod ;
if there be wormwood and gall at one end of the rod, there is sweet
honey at the other end of the rod, as there was at the top of Jonathan's
rod, 1 Sam. xiv. 43.

If we should come into a painter's or a limner's shop, and see a
picture half drawn, it might trouble us and startle us, if it did not fright
us and amaze us ; but yet, when the picture is perfected, completed,
and finished, it may prove a very beauteous, lovely, taking piece. The
application is easy. Look, as every judgment, every affliction, every
rod, hath its black, dark side, so every judgment, every affliction, hath
its bright side too. Now, it is the wisdom of a Christian to look on
the bright side of the rod, the cloud, as well as it is his work to look
on the dark side of the rod, the cloud. When a Christian looks upon
the dark side of the cloud, he should be humbled and abased ; but when
he looks upon the bright side of the cloud, he should be comforted and
cheered, James v. 11. He that is still a-looking on the briary side of
the rod, will be very apt to fret and faint under the rod ; but he that
looks on the rosemary side of the rod, as well as the briary side of the
rod, he will bear up patiently, gallantly, and cheerfully under the rod.
The voice of the rod is. Look on both sides, look on both sides. But,

(4.) The fourth lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the
raging pestilence, is, to look on the rod, not abstractly frora the /land.
thai holds it, but conjunctively with the hand that holds it. Thus
Hezekiah did, 2 Kings xx. 16-19; thus Aaron did. Lev. x. ]-3 ; thus
Eli did, 1 Sam. iii. 11-19 ; thus David did, Ps. xxxix. 9 ; thus Job did.
Job i. 20-22; yea, and thus Jesus did, John xviii. 11, 'Shall I not
drink the cup that my Father hath given me to drink ?' Though the
cup was a bitter cup, a bloody cup, yet seeing it was put into his hand
by his Father, he drinks it off, with a ' Father, I thank thee.' The
rod in itself sounds nothing but smart and blood to the child ; but the
rod in the hand of a Father sounds nothing but love, kindness, and
sweetness: Rev. iii. 19, 'Whom he loves, he chastens.' You should
never look upon the rod but as it is in the hand of your heavenly
Father, and then you will rather kiss it than murmur under it. But,

(5.) The fifth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the

' Pray turn to these scriptures: 2 Chron. xxviii, 10 ; Jer. viii 6 ; Ezek. vii. 15, 16.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 155

raging pestilence, is to cleave and cling close to God under the rod.
Oh how doth the child cling and hang upon his father when he takes up
the rod. Let such a child-like spirit be found in you, when the Father
of spirits takes up the rod. When the rod was upon David's back, oh
how doth he cleave to God, even as the wife cleaves to her husband ;
for so much the Hebrew word dabak in that Psalm Ixiii. 8 imports.
So when Job was under the rod, oh how doth he cling about God ! Job^
xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' Job will hang
upon a killing God ; so the church in that Psalm Ixxx. 15-18, &c. ; so
those hundred forty and four thousand that had their fathers' names
written in their foreheads. Rev. xiv. 1-6. O friends ! you never shew
so much child-like love, nor so much child-like ingenuity,^ nor so much
child-like integrity, as you do. shew when, under tlie smarting rod, you
are found clinging about the Lord, and hanging upon the Lord by an
exercise of grace. When Antisthenes held up his staff, as if he intended
to beat one of his scholars out of his school, the scholar told him ' that
he might strike him if he pleased, but he should never find a staff of
so hard wood as should ever be able to beat him from him.'^ When
no staff, no rod, no afEiction, can drive us from Christ, it is a sure argu-
ment that we have profited much in the school of Christ. But,

(6.) The sixth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, to prepare to meet the Lord whilst the rod is in
his hand : Amos iv. ] 2, ' Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel :
and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.'
Now there is a twofold preparation.

[1.] The first is a negative preparation : and this lies in taking heed
of sinning against light and conscience ; for those sins that are against
a clear light and an awakened conscience are most wounding, wasting,
terrifying, and damning.

[2.] Secondly, There is a positive preparation : and that consists in
repentance and returning to the Lord, and in abasing and humbling
yourselves before the Almighty, 2 Chron. vii. 14. As there is no run-
ning from God, so there is no contending with God ; for what is the
chaff to the whirlwind, or the stubble to a consuming fire ? and there-
fore the voice of the rod is. Prepare to meet the Lord in a way of faith
and repentance; prepare to meet the Lord in an exercise of grace ; pre-
pare to meet the Lord with prayers, and tears, and strong cries. But,

(7.) The seventh lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, to acknowledge God's sovereign 'power and autho-
rity over the rod, to how it, or break it, or hum it, or take it off, or lay
it more or less on as he pleaseth, Micah vi. 13, Deut. xxviii. 58-61.
All diseases and sicknesses are under the command of God ; they are
all his sergeants, his servants, to execute his pleasure. That Mat. viii. 5
is an observable text. Christ tells the centurion that he would come
and heal his servant ; the centurion tells him that he was not worthy
fcthat he should come under his roof; only, if he would but speak the
word, his servant should be healed: ' For,' saith he, ver, 9, ' I am a man
under authority, having soldiers under me : and I say to this man. Go,
and he goeth ; and to another. Come, and he cometh ; and to my ser-

^ • Ingenuousness,' — G.

* The ' scholar' was Diogenes. Cf. Antisthenes' Frac/menta, by "Winckelmann — G.

156 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

vant, Do this, and he doth it. Now when Jesus heard this, he mar-
velled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,' ver. 10. But wherein did
the greatness of the centurion's faith appear ? Why, in this very ac-
knowledgment, that all diseases were to Christ as servants, and that
they were as much under the command of Jesus Christ, as any servant
iinder heaven is under the command of his master. When Christ bids
them go and afflict such a man, they go ; and torment such a man, they
go ; and kill such a man, they go ; and so, when he calls them off,
they come off at his call. Dear friends, it is a very great point of faith
to believe these five things.

[1.] First, That God is the author of all the diseases, maladies, and
sicknesses that be in the world, and that he sets them on and calls
them off at his own good will and pleasure: Amos iii. 6, ' Is there any
evil in the city, and hath not the Lord done it V He speaks of the
evil of punishment, and not of the evil of sin. It was a mad principle
among the Manichees, who referred all calamities to the devil for their
author, as if there could be evil in the city, and the Lord have no hand
in it.

[2.] Secondly, It is a great point of faith to believe that all diseases
and sicknesses are limited by God in respect of places. God sent
diseases of all sorts into Egypt, but he forbade them Goshen, Exod. viii.
20-23, ix. 23-26. Ponder seriously upon these scriptures. God's
shooting his arrows into one town and not into another, into one city
and not into another, into one kingdom and not into another, into one
family and not into another, doth sufficiently evidence that all diseases
and sicknesses are limited by the Holy One of Israel in respect of
places.

[3.] Thirdly, It is a very great point of faith to believe that all sick-
nesses and diseases are limited by God in respect of persons. That
they are so, is evident in that Psalm xci. 3-8, Isa. Ixv. 12. But who
lives in the faith of this truth ? Sometimes in the same house one is
infected, and the other is not ; sometimes in the same bed the one is
smitten, and the other is not ; sometimes at the same table the one is
taken away, and the other is left, &c. ; and this doth roundly evidence
and witness that all sicknesses and diseases are limited by God in respect
of persons as well as in respect of places. But,

[4.] Fourthly, It is a great point of faith to believe that all diseases
and sicknesses are limited by God in respect of the degrees to which
they shall arise. That God that sets bounds to the raging sea, and that
saith unto it, ' Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther,' that God sets
bounds to all raging diseases and sicknesses, and saith unto them. Thus
far you shall go, and no farther. He sets bounds to the fever ; he saith
to it, Go and scorch and burn up such a body so much, and no more ;
and to the dropsy. Go and drown such a body so much, and no more ;
and to the raging pestilence, Go and weaken such a body so much, and •
no more ; and to the stone, Go and torment such a body so much, and
no more. But,

[5.] Fifthly, It is a very great point of faith to believe that all diseases
and sicknesses are limited by God as to tJieir continvxince. God saith
to one disease, Go, hang upon such a man so many years ; to another,

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 157

Go, hang upon such a man but a few years ; and to another, Go, hang
upon such a man but a year ; and to another, Go, hang upon such a
man but a few months ; and to another. Go, hang upon such a man
but a few weeks ; and to another, go, hang upon such a man but a few
days ; and to another, go, hang upon such a man but a few hours, &c. ;
and accordingly it cometh to pass. But,

(8.) The eighth lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the
raging pestilence, is, to get more weaned and more' mortified affections
to all worldly comj'orts, contentments, and enjoyments.^ A man never
comes to experience so much of the emptiness, the nothingness, the
uselessness, the vanity, the mutability, the impotency, the insufficiency,
and the uncertainty of all worldly comforts and enjoyments, as when
he comes to fall under the rod. The constant cry of the rod is. Be dead
to the profits, pleasures, honours, and applauses of the world ; be dead
to relations, be dead to friends, be dead to everything below a living
Jesus. But,

(9.) The ninth lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the raging
pestilence is, to get assurance of greater and better things than any
this world doth afford, Heb. x. 33, 34. That saying is as true as it is
old, viz., that the assurance of an eternal life is the life of this temporal
life. But having spoke so much of this particular in my treatise on
•assurance, which is now in your hands, I shall satisfy myself with this
hint at present.'^ But,

(10.) The tenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, not to despise the rod : Heb. xii. 5, ' My son, de-
spise not thou the chastening of the Lord.' The Greek word ' OXiyu^n
that is translated despise, signifies the littling of a thing. Oh ! do not
little the rod, do not lessen it, do not slight it, do not make a tush at it,
do not set light by it, do not say, I will not regard it. He that doth,
shews himself rather to be a Roman than a Christian. Now, because
there is such a desperate aptness and proneness in many to make light
of the rod, it will be your wisdom seriously to lay to heart these four
particulars :

[1.] First, That it is an immediate hand of God, Amos iil 6, Deut.
xxviii. 58-61, and therefore not to be despised. It is a sad and sinful
thing to despise the mediate hand of God ; but it is more sad and sinful
to despise the immediate hand of God. But,

[2.] Secondly, It is a mighty hand of God : 1 Peter v. 6, * Humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in
due time.' Certainly that heart must be mightily wicked that dares
despise the mighty hand of God, Amos iv. 10, Ezra xxxviii. 22, 23.

[3.] Thirdly, It is an angry hand of God, and therefore do not de-
spise it : Ps. xc. 7, ' For we are consumed by thy anger, and by thy wrath
•are we troubled;' ver. 11, 'Whoknoweth the power of thine anger? even
according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.' Shall devils tremble under his
angry hand ? yea, shall they roar as the sea under his wrathful hand, as
that Greek word (p^iesoven in that James ii. 19, and will you presume to
despise his angry hand ? The Lord forbid, Num. xvi. 46, Ezra xxxiii
27-29, Deut. xxix. 22-25. But,

1 Gal. V. 24 ; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31 ; Eccles. i. 2 ; Prov. xxiii. 5 ; Jer. xlv. 4. 6.
* ' Heaven on Earth,' included in the present volume. — G.

158 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

[4.] Fourthly and lastly, Consider that it is a holy hand, it is a just
and righteous hand, it is a faithful hand of Ood; and therefore do not
despise it; Jer. xxix. 17-19, Lev. xxvi. 25, Jer. xiv. 12-lG: Ps. cxix.
75, 'I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, or righteousness,
and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.' Ver. 137, ' Righteous
art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.' Certainly none but
unholy persons will be so impudent as to despise God's holy hand.
Well,

(11.) The eleventh lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, not to be discouraged under the rod, Jer xxvli. 13,
2 Sam. xxiv. 10, 17 : Heb. xii. 6, ' Nor faint when thou art rebuked of
him.'

First, It is a rod in a Father's hand ? and therefore do not faint under it.

Secondly, God will do much good by the rod, and therefore do not
faint under the rod.

Thirdly, You could not have been without the rod ; and therefore do
not faint under the rod.

Fourthly, The rod that is now upon [you] is not according to the great-
ness of God's anger, nor according to the gi*eatness of his power, nor accord-
ing to the strictness of his justice, nor according to the demerits of your
sins, nor according to the malicious desires of Satan, nor according to
the designs, plots, and contrivances of wicked and unreasonable men, nor
according to the extensiveness of your fears, — for you have feared worse
things than you feel, — nor according to that rod that hath been upon the
primitive saints, nor according to that rod that many thousands of the
precious sons and daughters of Sion are under in other parts of the
world ; and therefore do not faint under the rod, do not be discouraged
under the rod.

Fifthly, by fainting under the rod, you will gratify Satan, reproach
religion, reader yourselves unserviceable, and make work for future
repentance ; and therefore do not faint under the rod. But,

(12.) The twelfth lesson that you are to learn under the rod, or by
the raging pestilence, is, humbly to kiss the rod, and patiently
und quietly to lie under the rod, till the Lord shall either give you^
a gracious or a glorious deliverance from it} What is the rod, and
what is the raging pestilence, to the horrors of conscience, and to the
flames of hell, or to an everlasting separation from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power ? 2 Thes. i. 8, 9. And therefore
put your niouths in the dust, and be silent before the Lord. He that
hath deserved a hanging, if he escape with a whipping, hath no cause
to murmur or complain ; and we that have deserved a damning, have
little cause to murmur or complain of a whipping, yea, though it should
be with a pestilential rod. But,

(13.) The thirteenth lesson that you are to leam by the rod, or by
the raging pestilence, is, highly, fully, freely, and signally to justify
the Lord, and to think well of the Lord, and to speak tvell of the
Lord under the rod. To that purpose, consult these scriptures, Ps.
cxix. 75, 137; Neh. ix. 33 ; Ezra ix. 13 ; Lam. i. 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 ; iv.
15, 18 ; Dan. ix. 12, 14 ; 2 Kings xx. 16-19 ; Jer. xii. 1, 2 ; Ps. cxix.
17-22 ; xxil 1-3 ; xcvii. 2. But,

> 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26 ; Lev. xxvi. 40-42 ; Micah vii. 9 ; Lam. iii. 30.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 159

(14.) The fourteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by
the raging pestilence, is, personal refoi'Tnation. When the rod smarts,
and the pestilence rageth, God expects that every man should smite "
upon his thigh, and turn from the evil of his doings : 2 Chron. vii.

13, 14, ' If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command
the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
if my people, which 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 ;' that is, ' I will remove the judgments that are upon the land,
and I will confer upon my reforming people all those favours and bless-
ings that they stand in need of.' Consult these scriptures, Ezra x.

14, 19 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 8, 9 ; and chap. xxix. 8, 10, 15, 16. But,

(15.) The fifteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by
the raging pestUence, is, to make God your habitation, your shelter,
your refuge. Ponder seriously upon those scriptures, Ps. xci. 2, 9, 10;
xc. 1 ; Ixxi. 3 ; Ivii. 1. They dwell most safely, most securely, most
nobly, who dwell in God, who live under the shadow of the Almighty,
and who every day lodge their souls in the bosom of eternal loves.
But,

(16.) The sixteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or the
raging pestilence, is, to set up God as the great object of your fear :
Ps. cxix. 119, 120 ; Isa. viii. 7, 8, 13, 14, compared. When the judg-
ments of God are either threatened or executed, feared or felt, it highly
concerns us to lift up God as the main object of our fear. We should
fear the hand that lays on the rod, more than the rod itself. Job.
xiii. 11, Jer. xxxvi. 24. When God takes up the rod, when he draws
his sword, and when he shoots his pestilential arrows amongst us, oh
how highly doth it concern us to fear before him with a child-like fear,
with a reverential fear, with a fear that fortifies the heart against sin,
and with a fear that fits the soul for duty, and that draws, yea, drives
the soul to duty. But.

(17.) The seventeenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by
the raging pestilence, is, to expect God's singular presence with you,
and his admirable protection over you. Consult these scriptures, Isa.
xliii. 2 ; Dan. iii. 24, 25 ; Gen. xxxix. 39, 40 ; Ps. xxiii. 4, 5 ; Ps. xci. ;
Isa. Ixiii. 9 ; Isa. xxvi. 20, 21 ; Ezek. ix. 4, 6. God is above his people
and beneath them, Deut. xxxiii. 25-27. He is under them and over
them. Cant. ii. 6. He is before them and behind them, Isa. Iii. 12, and
chap. Iviii. 8, He is on the right hand of his people, and he is on the
left hand of his people, Ps. xvi. 8, cxxi. 5, cxviii. 15, 16 ; Exod. xiv. 22,
29. God is round about his people, Ps. xxxiv. 7, cxxv. 2. And God is
in the midst of his people, Zech. ii. 5 ; Ps. xlvi. 5, xii. 6. Oh ! the safety,
the security of the poor people of God ! for God is above his people and
beneath them, he is under them and over them, he is before them and
behind them, he is in the front and in the rear, and he is round about
them and in the midst of them. But,

(18.) The eighteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, to live every day in a fresh, choice, and frequent
exe^xise of grace. Consult these scriptures, Ps. xci. 2-4 ; Jer. xxxix.
17, 18; Micah vii. 7-9 ; Ps. xl. 1, 2 ; Hab. ii. 1-4 ; Jer. xxx. 21. That

160 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.

man that lives daily in an exercise of grace, that man lives every day
in heaven on this side heaven, whatever affliction or judgment he is
under.

(19.) The nineteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the
raging pestilence, is, to quicken up your hearts to seek the Lord by ex-
tram-dinary ways and means, viz., by fasting and prayer. Consult
these scriptures. Num. xvi. 46, seq. ; Ps. cvi. 23, 29, 30 ; Isa. xxil 2—5,
12, 13 ; Jonah iil 5, seq.; 2 Chron. xii. 2-7 ; 1 Kings xxi. 21, seq.;
Joel ii. 12-17. But,

(20.) The twentieth, and so the last, lesson that you are to learn by
the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, to jyt^epare for death ; it is to he
in actual readiness to die. Ah, friends ! every ache, every pain, every
disease, is one of death's warning pieces. There is not a headache, not
a toothache, not a gripe, not a grief, not a fall, not a wrench, not a
plague-sore, but is a divine warning to man to prepare to die. It is a
solemn work to die ; and therefore we had need prepare to die. It is a
work that is to be done but once ; and therefore we had need prepare to do
that work well that is to be done but once. In this world we hear often,
and pray often, and read often, and meditate often, and eat often, and
drink often, and that which is worst, we sin often ; but we must die but
once. Job xiv. 14, Heb. ix. 27. Death will try all our graces, and all
our experiences, and all our evidences, and all our comforts, and all our
attainments, and all our enjoyments ; and therefore we had need to pre-
pare to die.^ Though there is nothing more certain than death, yet there
is nothing more uncertain than, (1.) the time when we shall die; (2.) the
place where we shall die ; and, (3.) the manner how we shall die : as
whether we shall die a sudden death, or a lingering death, or a violent
death ; or whether we shall fall by the sword abroad, or by famine or
pestilence at home, or whether we shall fall by this disease or that ; and
therefore we had need be always in an actual readiness to die. No man
shall die the sooner, but much the easier and the better, for preparing
to die ; and therefore let us always have our loins girt and our lamps
burning. As death leaves us, so judgment wiU find us ; and therefore
we have very great cause to secure our interest in Christ, a changed
nature, and a pardon in our bosoms, that so we might have nothing to
do but to die. Except we prepare to die, all other preparations will do
us no good. In a word, death is a change, a great change ; it is the
last change till the resurrection ; it is lasting, yea, an everlasting change ;
for it puts a man into an eternal condition of happiness or misery ; it
is an universal change ; all persons must pass under this flaming sword.
That statute law, ' Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,' will
sooner or later take hold on all mortals, Gen. iii. 18 ; and therefore it
highly concerns us to prepare for death.^

And thus I have shewn you these lessons that you are to learn by
the rod. The Lord grant that your souls may fall under those fresh,
those choice, those full, and those constant influences and communica-

* He that would see more of this, may read my ' String of Pearls,' and the funeral ser-
mon that is at the end of my book of Assurance. [The former, ' String of Pearls,' is giyen
in Vol. I. ; the latter, * The Believer's Last Day his Best Day," is given in Vol. VI.
-G.]

» Cf. commencement of Brooks's "Will, as given in our Memoir, VoL I. page Izsxi.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 161

tions of his Holy Spirit, as may enable you to take out those twenty
lessons that I have laid open before you. I confess the epistle is large,
but do but consider your own conditions, and the present dispensations
under which we are cast, and then I suppose you will not call it by the
name of a tedious epistle.

Dear friends, the following discourse on closet prayer I heartily re-
commend to your serious perusal. I have many reasons to hope, that
when you have once read it over, you will be more in love with closet
prayer than ever, and that you "svill set a higher price upon closet prayer
than ever, and that you will make a better and fuller improvement of
closet prayer than ever yet you have done. Consider what I say in
my epistle to the reader, and labour so to manage this little treatise,
that now I put into your hands, that God may be glorified, your own
souls edified, comforted, and encouraged in the ways of the Lord, and
that you may be ' my crown and joy, in the great day of our Lord
Jesus,' 1 Thes. ii. 19, 20. So wishing that 'the good will of Him that
dwelt in the bush' may abide upon you and yours for ever, I take leave
and rest, dear friend, your soul's servant in our dear Lord Jesus,

Thomas Brooks.

VOL. n.

TO THE READER.

ChristiaJ^ Reader, — The epistle dedicatory being occasionally* so large,
I shall do little more than give thee the grounds and reasons of sending
forth this little piece into the world, especially in such a day as this is.
Now, my reasons are these :

1. First, Because God by his present dispensations calls more loudly
for closet prayer now, than he hath done in those last twenty years that
are now passed over our heads. See more of this in the 16th argument
for closet prayer.

2. Secondly, Because I have several reasons to fear that many Chris-
tians do not clearly nor fully understand the necessity, excellency, and
usefulness of this subject, and that many, oh that I could not say any,
live in too great a neglect of this indispensable duty, and that more than
a few, for want of light, err in the very ^practice of it.

3. Thirdly, For the refreshing, support, and encouragement of all
those churches of Christ that walk in the fear of the Lord, and in the
comforts of the Holy Ghost, &c., especially that particular church to
whom I stand related.

4. Fourthly, To preserve and keep up the power of religion and
godliness both in men's houses, hearts, and lives. The power of re-
ligion and godliness lives, thrives, or dies, as closet prayer lives, thrives,
or dies. Godliness never rises to a higher pitch than when men keep
closest to their closets, &c.

5. Fifthly, Because closet prayer is a most sovereign remedy, a most
precious antidote of God's own prescribing, against the plague that now
rageth in the midst of us, 1 Kings viii. 37-39, &c.

6. Sixthly, Because every man is that really which he is secretly.
Never tell me, how handsomely, how neatly,^ how bravely, this or that
man acts his part before others ; but tell me, if thou canst, how he acts
his part before God in his closet ; for the man is that certainly, that he
is secretly. There are many that sweat upon the stage that are key-
cold' in their closets.

7. Seventhly, Though many worthies have done worthily upon all
other parts of prayer, yet there are none either of a former or later date,
that have fallen under my eye, that have written any treatise on this
subject. I have not a little wondered that so many eminent writers

* = ' Suitably to the occasion.' — G. * ' Purely.' Cf. Sibbes' Glossary. — G.

' Another Shakespearian word ; ' poor key-cold figure,' Richard III., i. 2. — G.

TO THE READER. . 163

should pass over this great and princely duty of closet-prayer, either
with a few brief touches, or else in a very great silence. If several
Bodies of Divinity are consulted, you will find that all they say clearly
and distinctly as to closet-prayer, may be brought into a very narrow
compass, if not into a nut-shell. I have also inquired of several old dis-
ciples, whether among all the thousand sermons that they have heard
in their days, that ever they have heard one sermon on closet-prayer?
and they have answered. No. I have also inquired of them, whether
ever they had read any treatise on that subject ? and they have an-
swered, No. And truly this hath been no small encouragement to me,
to make an offer of my mite ; and if this small attempt of mine shall
be so blessed, as to provoke others that have better heads, and hearts,
and hands, than any I have, to do Christ and his people more service,
in the handling of this choice point in a more copious way than what I
have been able to reach unto, I shall therein rejoice.

8. Eighthly, and lastly. That favour, that good acceptance and fair
quarter that my other poor labours have found, not only in this nation,
but in other countries also, hath put me upon putting pen to paper
once more ; and I hope that the good will of him that ' dwelt in the bush,'
will rest upon this, as it hath to the glory of free grace rested upon my
former endeavours. I could add other reasons, but let these suffice.

Good reader, when thou art in thy closet, pray hard for a poor, weak,
worthless worm, that I may be found faithful and fruitful to the death,
that so at last I may receive a crown of life. So wishing thee all hap-
piness both in this lower and in that upper world, I rest.

Thine in our dear Lord Jesus,

Thomas Brooks.

THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN;

OK, A DISCOURSE OF CLOSET PRAYER. .

But thou, when thou pray est, enter into thy closet ; and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and
thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall retuard thee openly. — Mat.
VI. 6.

These words of our Saviour are plain, and to be taken literally, and
not allegorieally, for he speaketh of shutting the door of the chamber.
In this chapter there is a manifest opposition between the Pharisees
praying in the synagogues and corners of the streets, and others praying
in secret.

In the text you have a positive precept for every Christian to pray
alone : ' But thou, when thou prayest.' He saith not, when you pray,
but thou, ' when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,' &c., as speaking not
so much of a joint duty of many praying together, as of a duty which
each person is to do alone. The command in the text sends us as well
to the closet as to the church ; and he is a hypocrite in grain that
chooses the one and neglects the other; for thereby he tells the world
he cares for neither, he makes conscience of neither. He that puts on
a religious habit abroad to gain himself a great name among men, and
at the same time lives like an atheist at home, shall at the last be
uncased by God, and presented before all the world for a most egregious
hypocrite.

Bellarmine' and some others turn the text into an allegory. They
say that in these words there are two allegories. First, the chamber
door is the sense, ' shut the door,' that is, say they, thy sense, lest vain
imaginations and worldly thoughts distract thy mind in praying.
Secondly, the door, say they, is our mouth, ' shut thy door,' that is, thy
lips, say they, and let thy prayer be like the prayer of Hannah, con-
ceived in thy mind, but not uttered with thy mouth. It is usual with
papists and other monkish men that lie in wait to deceive, to turn the
blessed Scriptures into a nose of wax, under pretence of allegories and
mysteries. Origen was a great admirer of allegories.^ By the strength

' Bellarm. de Sanct. lib. iii. cap. iv , &c.
> Euseb. Ecd. Hist. lib. vi. cap. viii.

Mat. VL 6.] the privy key of heaven. 165

of his parts and wanton wit, he turned most of the Scriptures into alle-
gories ; and by the just judgment of God upon him, he foolishly under-
stood and absurdly applied that Mat. xix. 12 literally, 'Some have made
themselves chaste for the kingdom of heaven,' and sogelded himself And
indeed he might as well have plucked out one of his eyes upon the
same account, because Christ saith, ' It is better to go to heaven with
one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire,' Mat. xviii. 9. In
all ages heretics have commonly defended their heresies by translating
of scriptures into allegories. The apostle speaks of such as, denying the
resurrection of the body, turn all the testimonies of the resurrection into
an allegory, meaning thereby only the spiritual resurrection of the soul
from sin, of which sort was Hymeneus and Philetus, who destroyed the
faith of some, saying 'the resurrection was past already,' 2 Tim. ii. 17,
18. And are there not many among us that turn the whole history of
the Bible into an allegory, and that turn Christ, and sin, and death,
and the soul, and hell, and heaven, and all into an allegory ? Many
have and many do miserably pervert the Scriptures by turning them
into vain and groundless allegories. Some wanton wits' have expounded
paradise to be the soul, man to be the mind, the woman to be the sense,
the serpent to be delight, the tree of knowledge of good and evil to be
wisdom, and the rest of the trees to be the virtues and endowments of the
mind. O friends ! it is dangerous to bring in allegories where the
Scripture doth not clearly and plainly warrant them, and to take those
words figuratively which should be taken properly.

The word ra.a/sroy that is in the text rendered closet, hath only three
most usual significations amongst Greek authors. First, it may be
taken for a secret chamber, or close and locked parlour ; secondly, for a
safe or cupboard to lay victuals in ; thirdly, for a locked chest or cup-
board wherein treasure usually is reserved.

The best and most judicious interpreters that I have cast mine eye
upon, both of a former and later date, do all expound my text of private
prayer in retired places ; and with them I close ; and so the main doc-
trine that I shall gather from the words is this :

Doct. That closet prayer or private prayer is an indispensable duty,
that Christ himself hath laid upon all that are not willing to lie
under the ivoful brand of being hypocrites.

I beseech you seriously to lay to heart these five things :

1. First, If any prayer be a duty, then secret prayer muit needs be
a duty ; for secret prayer is as much prayer as any other prayer is
prayer ; and secret prayer prepares and fits the soul for family prayer,
and for public prayer. Secret prayer sweetly inclines and strongly dis-
poses a Christian to all other religious duties and services. Ergo, — But,

2. Secondly, If secret prayer be not an indispensable duty that lies
upon thee, by ivhat authority doth conscience so upbraid thee, and so
accuse thee, and so condemn thee, and so terrify thee, as it often doth
for the neglect of this duty ? But,

3. Thirdly, TTos it ever the way or method of God to promise again
and again a reward, an open reward for that work or service which
himself never commanded ? Surely no. Now, to this duty of secret
prayer, the Lord hath again and again promised an open reward, Mat.

• Philo Judaeus, and others of a later date.

166 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

vi. 6, 18. And therefore without all peradventure this is a duty in-
cumbent upon all Christians,

4. Fourthly, Our Saviour in the text takes it /o7' granted that every
child of Ood will be frequent in praying to his heavenly Father; and
therefore he encourages them so much the more in the work of secret
prayer. 'When you pray;' as if he had said, I know you can as well
hear without ears, and live without food, and fight without hands, and
walk without feet, as you are able to live without prayer. And there-
fore when you go to wait on God, or to give your heavenly Father a
visit, * Enter into your closet, and shut your doors,' &c.

5. Fifthly, If closet prayer be not an indispensable duty that Christ
hath laid upon all his people, why doth Satan so much oppose it ? why
doth he so industriously and so unweanedly labour to discourage
Christians in it, and to take off Christians from it ? Certainly, Satan
would never make such a fierce and constant war as he doth upon
private prayer, were it not a necessary duty, a real duty, and a soul-
enriching duty. But more of this you will find in the following dis-
course; and therefore let this touch suffice for the present, &c.

Now, these five things do very clearly and evidently demonstrate
that secretly and solitarily to hold intercourse with God is the undoubted
duty of every Christian. But for a more full opening and confirmation
of this great and important point. I shall lay down these twenty argu-
ments or considerations, &c.

[] .] First, The most eminent saints, both in the Old and New Testa-
ment, have applied themselves to private prayer. Moses was alone in
the mount with God forty days and forty nights, Exod. xxxiv. 28. So
Abraham fills his mouth with arguments, and reasons the case out alone
with God in prayer, to prevent Sodom's desolation and destruction, and
never leaves oiBf pleading and praying till he had brought God down
from fifty to ten, Gen. xviii. 22-32 ; and in Gen. xxi. 33, you have
Abraham again at his private prayers : ' And Abraham planted a grove
in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting
God.' "Why did Abraham plant a grove, but that he might have a
most private place to pray and pour out his soul before the Lord in ?
So Isaac : Gen. xxiv, 63, * And Isaac went out to meditate in the field
at even-tide.' The Hebrew word lasuach, that is here rendered meditate,
signifies to pray as well as to meditate, and so it is often used. It is a
comprehensive word, that takes in both prayer and meditation. So
you shall find Jacob at his private prayer: Gen. xxxii. 24-28, 'And
Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man with him until the
breaking of the day.' When Jacob was all alone, and in a dark night,
and when his joints were out of joint, he so wrestles and weeps, and
weeps and wrestles in private prayer, that as a prince at last he prevails
with God, Hosea xii. 3, 4. So David, Ps. Iv. 16, 17, 'As for me, I will
call upon God ; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning,
and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud ; and he shall hear my voice.'
So Daniel was three times a-day in private prayer : Dan. vi, 10, ' Now
when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house ;
and, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he
kneeled upon his knees three times a-day, and prayed, and gave thanks
before his God, as he did aforetime.' Daniel had accustomed himself

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 167

to private prayer ; he went to his clbset before he went to his public
employment and state affairs ; and at his return to dinner, he turned
first into his chamber to serve his God and refresh his soul before he
sat down to feast his body ; and at the end of the day, when he had
despatched his business with men, he made it his business to wait upon
God in his chamber. So Jonah keeps up private prayer when he was
in the fish's belly, yea, when he was in the belly of hell, Jonah ii. 1, 2,
&;c. So we have Elijah at prayer under the juniper tree, 1 Kings xix.
4 ; so Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 13. Now, Hannah she speaks in her heart ;
only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. The very soul of
prayer lies in the pouring out of the soul before God, as Hannah did,
ver. 15. Neither was Rebekah a stranger to this duty, who, upon
the babe's struggling in her womb, went to inquire of the Lord, Gen.
XXV. 22 ; that is, she went to some secret place to pray, saith Calvin,
Musculus, Mercerus, and others. So Saul is no sooner converted, but
presently he falls upon private prayer: Acts ix. 11, 'And the Lord said
unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and
inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold,
he prayeth.' Though he was a strict Pharisee, yet he never prayed to
purpose before, nor never prayed in private before. The Pharisees used
to pray in the corners of the streets, and not in the corners of their
houses. And after his conversion he was frequently in private prayer,
as you may see by comparing of these scriptures together, Rom. i. 9 ;
Eph. i. 15, 16 ; Philip, i. 3, 4 ; 2 Tim. i. 3. So Epaphras was a warm
man in closet prayer, Philip, iv. 12, 13 ; so Cornelius had devoted him-
self to private prayer, Acts x. 2, 4 ; and so Peter gets up to the house-
top to pray: ver. 9, ' On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and
drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the house top to pray,
about the sixth hour.' Peter got up upon the leads, not only to avoid
distraction, but that he might be the more secret in his private devo-
tion. Eusebius tells us of James called Justus, that his knees were
grown hard and brawny with kneeling so much in private prayer.*
And Nazianzen reports of his sister Gorgonia, that her knees seemed
to cleave to the earth by her often praying in private. And Gregory
saith of his aunt Trucilla, that her elbows was as hard as horn by often
leaning upon her desk at private prayer. I have read of a devout per-
son, who, when the set time for his private devotion was come, what-
ever company he was in, he would break from them with this neat and
handsome come off, 'I have. a friend that stays for me; farewell.'
And there was once a great lady of this land, who would frequently
withdraw from the company of lords and ladies of great quality, who
came to visit her, rather than she would lose her set times of waiting
upon God in her closet ; she would, as they called it, rudely take her
leave of them, that so she might in private attend the Lord of lords.
She would spare what time she could to express her favours, civilities,
and courtesies among her relations and friends ; but she would never
suffer them to rob God of his time, nor her soul of that comfort and
communion which she used to enjoy when she was with God in her
closet^ And indeed, one hour's communion with God in one's closet,

> H.E., ii.— G.

^ Lady Brooke, the friead of Sibbes. Cf. Parkburst's ' Sermon' on her death. — G.

1 68 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

is to be preferred before the greatest and best company in the
world. And there was a child of a Christian gentlewoman, that was
so given to prayer from its infancy, that before it could well speak,
it would use to get alone and go to prayer ; and as it grew, it was
more frequent in prayer and retiring of itself from company ; and he
would ask his mother very strange questions, far above the capacity
of one of his years ; but at last, when this child was but five years
old, and whipping of his top, on a sudden he flung away his scourge-
stick and top, and ran to his mother, and with great joy said
unto her, ' Mother, I must go to God ; will you go with me ?' She
answered, ' My dear child, how dost thou know thou shalt go to God T
He answered, ' God hath told me so, for I love God, and God loves me.'
She answered, ' Dear child, I must go when God pleaseth. But why
wilt thou not stay with me V The child answered, ' I will not stay ; I
must go to God.' And the child did not live above a month after, but
never cared for play more ; but falling sick, he would always be saying
that he must go to God, he must go to God ; and thus sometimes ' out
of the mouths of babes and sucklings God hath perfected praise,' Mat.
xxi. 16. Certainly such persons will be ripe for heaven betimes who
begin betimes to seek God " in a closet, in a comer. And Eusebius
reports of Constantino the emperor, that every day he used to shut up
himself in some secret place in his palace, and there, on bended knees,
did make his devout prayers and soliloquies to God. * My God and I
are good company,' said famous Dr Sibbes.^ A man whose soul is con-
versant with God in a closet, in a hole, behind the door, or in a desert,
a den, a dungeon, shall find more real pleasure, more choice delight,
and more full content, than in the palace of a prince. By all these
famous instances, you see that the people of God in all ages have
addicted themselves to private prayer. O friends ! these pious examples
should be very awakening, very convincing, and very encouraging to
you. Certainly it is as much your duty as it is your glory to follow
these pious patterns that are now set before you. Witness these fol-
lowing scriptures : Prov. ii. 20, • That thou mayest walk in the way
of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous ;' 1 Cor. xi. 1, ' Be
ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ;' Philip, iii. 17, 'Brethren,
be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye have
us for an ensample' ; Philip, iv. 9, ' Those things which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do ; and the God of
peace shall be with you' ; 1 Thes. i. 6, 'And ye became followers of us,
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction ;' Heb.
vi. 12, 'That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through
faith and patience inherit the promises.' So 2 Tim. iii. 10-12, 1 4, Titus
ii. 7. It was an excellent law that the Ephesians made, "viz., that men
should propound to themselves the best patterns, and ever bear in
mind some eminent man.^ Bad men are wonderful in love with bad
examples, Jer. xliv. 16, 17. The Indian, hearing that his ancestors were
gone to hell, said that then he would go thither too. Some men have
a mind to go to hell for company's sake. Oh that we were as much in

' One of a number of tender and pleasant memories of the heavenly Sibbes, found in
contemporary writings. Brooks uses it in his ' Ark for all God's Noahs' also. See page
80 ante. — G. • Prajcepta decent, exempla movent. [As before. — G.]

Mat. VI. 6.] the peivy key of heaven. 169

love with the examples of good men as others are in love with the
examples of bad men ; and then we should be oftener in our closets
than now we are ! Oh that our eyes were more fixed on the pious
examples of all that have in them cdiquid Chinsti, anything of Christ,
as Bucer spake ! Shall we love to look upon the pictures of our friends ;
and shall we not love to look upon the pious examples of those that are
the lively and lovely picture of Christ ? The pious examples of others
should be the looking-glasses by which we should dress ourselves. He
is the best and wisest Christian that writes after the fairest Scripture
copy, that imitates those Christians that are most eminent in grace, and
that have been most exercised in closet prayer, and in the most secret
duties of religion.

Jerome having read the life and death of Hilarion, one that lived
most Christianly, and died most comfortably, folded up the book, saying.
Well, Hilarion shall be the champion that I will follow ; his good life
shall be my example, and his godly death my president.^ It is brave
to live and die by the examples of the most eminent saints. But,

[2.] Secondly. Consider, when Christ was on earth, he did much
exercise himself in secret prayer; he was often with God alone, as you
may see in these famous scriptures : Mat. xiv. 23, ' And when he had
sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray ;
and when the evening was come, he was there alone.' Christ's choos-
ing solitudes for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger
of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary
it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private
prayers. Our own fickleness and Satan's restlessness calls upon us to
get into such corners, where we may most freely pour out our souls into
the bosom of God : Mark i. 3o, ' And in the morning, rising up a great
while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and
there prayed.' As the morning time is the fittest time for prayer, so
solitary places are the fittest places for prayer : Mark vi. 46, ' And
when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.'
He that would pray to purpose, had need be quiet when he is alone :
Luke V. 16, ' And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed.'
(Greek, He was departing and praying) to give us to understand that
he did thus often. When Christ was neither exercised in teaching nor
in working of miracles, he was then very intent on private prayer :
Luke vi. ] 2, ' And it came to pass in those days that he went out into
a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.' Did
Christ spend whole nights in private prayer to save our souls ; and shall
we think it much to spend an hour or two in the day for the further-
ance of the internal and eternal welfare of our souls ? Luke xxi. 37,
' And in the day-time he was teaching in the temple, and at night he
went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.'
Christ frequently joins praying and preaching together, and those whom
Christ hath joined together, let no man presume to put asunder : Luke
xxii. 39, 41, 44, 45, ' And he came out, and went as he was wont to
the mount of Olives, and his disciples also followed him. And he was
withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed.
An4 being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as

^ 'Precedent.'— G.

170 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

it were great drops of blood' (clotted or congealed blood) * falling down
to the ground ' (never was garden watered before or since with blood as
this was). ' And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his
disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow.' Ah ! what sad pieces of
vanity are the best of men in an hour of trial and temptation ! These
very men, that a little before did stoutly profess and promise that they
would never leave him nor forsake him, and that they would to prison
for Christ, and die for Christ, yet when the day of trial came, they could
not so much as watch with him one hour ; they had neither eyes to see
nor hands to wipe off Christ's bloody sweat ; so John vi. 15-17. Thus
you see, by all these famous instances, that Christ was frequent in
private prayer. Oh that we would daily propound to ourselves this
noble pattern for our imitation, and make it our business, our work, our
heaven, to write after this blessed copy that Christ hath set us, viz., to
be much with God alone. Certainly Christianity is nothing else but
an imitation of the divine nature, a reducing of a man's self to the
image of God, in which he was created ' in righteousness and true ho-
liness.' A Christian's whole life should be nothing but a visible repre-
sentation of Christ. The heathens had this notion amongst them, as
Lactantius reports, that the way to honour their gods was to be like
them. Sure I am that the highest way of honouring Christ is to be
like to Christ : 1 John ii. 6, ' He that saith he abideth in him, ought
himself also to walk even as he walked.' Oh that this blessed Scrip-
ture might always lie warm upon our hearts. Christ is the sun, and
all the watches of our lives should be set by the dial of his motion.
Christ is a pattern of patterns ; his example should be to us instead of
a thousand examples. It is not only oun' liberty, but our duty and glory,
to follow Christ in all his moral virtues absolutely. Other patterns be
imperfect and defective, but Christ is a perfect pattern ; and of all his
children, they are the happiest that come nearest to this perfect pattern.
Heliogabalus loved his children the better for resembling him in sin.
But Christ loves his children the more for resembling him in sanctity.
I have read of some springs that change the colour of the cattle that
drink of them into the colour of their own waters, as Du Bartas sings :

• Cerona, Xanth, and Cephisus do make
The thirsty flocks, that of their waters take,
Black, red, and white ; and near the crimson deep,
The Arabian fountain maketh crimson sheep."

Certainly, Jesus Christ is such a fountain, in which whosoever bathes,
and of which whosoever drinks, shall be changed into the same like-
ness, 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Quest. But why ivas our Lord Jesus so much in private prayer ?
Why vjos he so often with Ood alone ?

Ans. 1. First, It was to put a very high honour and value upon
private prayer ; it was to enhance and raise the price of this duty.
Men naturally are very apt and prone to have low and undervaluing
thoughts of secret prayer. But Christ, by exercising himself so fre-
quently in it, hath put an everlasting honour and an inestimable value
upon it. But,

Ans. 2. Secondly, He was much in private prayer, he was often with
God alone, that fte raight not he seen of men, and that he might avoid

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 171

all shows and appearances of ostentation and popular applause. He
that hath commanded us to abstain from all appearances of evil, 1 Thes.
V. 22, would not himself, when he was in this world, venture upon the
least appearance of evil. Christ was very shy of every thing that did
but look like sin ; he was very shy of the very show and shadow of pride
or vain-glory.

Ans. 3. Thirdly, To avoid interruptions in the duty. Secresy is
no small advantage to the serious and lively carrying on of a private
duty. Interruptions and disturbances from without are oftentimes
quench-coals to private prayer. The best Christians do but bungle
when they meet with interruptions in their privaie devotions.

Ans. 4. Fourthly, To set us such a blessed pattern and gracious
example, that we should never please nor content ourselves uith public
prayers only, nor with family prayers only, but that we should also
apply ourselves to secret prayer, to closet prayer. Christ was not al-
ways in public, nor always in his family, but he was often in private
with God alone, that by his own example he might encourage us to be
often with God in secret ; and happy are they that tread in his steps,
and that write after his copy.

Ans. 5. Fifthly, That he might approve himself to our understand-
vngs and consciences to be a most just and faithful High Priest,
Heb. ii. 17, John xvii. Christ was wonderful faithful and careful in
both parts of his priestly office, viz., satisfaction and intercession ; he
was his people's only spokesman. Ah ! how earnest, how frequent was
he in pouring out prayers, and tears, and sighs, and gi-oans for his
people in secret, when he was in this world, Heb. v. 7. And now he is
in heaven, be is still a-making intercession for them, Heb. vii. 25.

Ans. 6. Sixthly, To convince us that his Father hears and observes
our pi'ivate prayers, and bottles up all our secret tears, and that he is
not a stranger to our closet desires, wrestlings, breathings, hungerings,
and thirstings.

[3.] Thirdly, Consider that the ordinary exercising of yourselves in
secret prayer, is that which will distinguish you from hypocrites, who
do all they do to be seen of men .-* Mat. vi. 1, 2, ' Take heed that you
do not your alms before men, to be seen of them ; otherwise ye have no
reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest
thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in
the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward.' Self is the only oil
that makes the chariot-wheels of the hypocrite move in all religious
concernments. Ver. 5, ' And when thou pray est, thou shalt not be as
the hypocrites are ; for they love to stand praying in the synagogues,
and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily,
I say unto you, they have their reward.' Ver. 16, ' Moreover, when ye
fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance : for they disfigure
their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily, I say unto
you, they have their reward.' Thus you see that these hypocrites look
more at men than at God in all their duties. When they give alms,

*,They say of the nightingale, that when she is solitary in the woods, she is careless
of her notes, but composes herself more quaintly and elegantly, if she conceives there be
any auditors, or if she be near houses. Just so it is with hypocrites in religious duties.

172 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

the trumpet must sound ; when they pray, it must be in the syna-
gogues and in the corners of the streets ; and when they fasted, they
disfigured their faces that they might appear unto men to fast. Hypo-
crites live upon the praises and applauses of men. Naturalists report
of the Chelydonian stone/ that it will retain its virtue no longer than it
is enclosed in gold. So hypocrites will keep up their duties no longer
than they are fed, and encouraged, and enclosed with the golden praises
and applauses of men. Hypocrites are like blazing stars, which, so
long as they are fed with vapours, shine as if they were fixed stars ; but
let the vapours dry up, and presently they vanish and disappear.

Closet duty speaks out most sincerity. He prays with a witness that
prays without a witness. The more sincere the soul is, the more in clo-
set duty the soul will be. Job xxxi. 33. Where do you read in all the
Scripture, that Pharaoh, or Saul, or Judas, or Demas, or Simon Magus,
or the scribes and pharisees, did ever use to pour out their souls before
the Lord in secret ? Secret prayer is not the hypocrite's ordinary walk,
his ordinary work or trade. There is great cause to fear that his heart
was never right with God, whose whole devotion is spent among men,
or among many ; or else our Saviour, in drawing the hypocrite's pic-
ture, would never have made this to be the very cast of his countenance,
as he doth in Mat. vi. 5. It is very observable, that Christ commands his
disciples, that they should not be as the hypocrites. It is one thing to
be hypocrites, and it is another thing to be as the hypocrites. Christ
would not have his people to look like hypocrites, nor to be like to hy-
pocrites. It is only sincerity that will enable a man to make a trade of
private prayer. In praying with many, there are many things that may
bribe and provoke a carnal heart, as pride, vain-glory, love of applause,
or to get a name. An hypocrite, in all his duties, trades more for a
good name than for a good life, for a good report than for a good con-
science ; like fiddlers, that are more careful in tuning their instruments,
than in composing their lives. But in private prayer there is no such
trade to be driven. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Consider that in secret ive may more freely, and fully,
and safely unbosom our souls to God than we can in the presence of
many or a few. Hence the husband is to mourn apart, and the wife
apart, Zech. xii. 12-14, not only to shew the soundness of their sorrow,
but also to shew their sincerity by their secresy. They must mourn
apart, that their sins may not be disclosed nor discovered one to another.
Here they are severed to shew that they wept not fo? company's sake,
but for their own particular sins, by which they had pierced and cruci-
fied the Lord of glory. In secret, a Christian may descend into such
particulars, as in public or before others he will not, he may not, he
ought not, to mention. Ah ! how many Christians are there who would
blush and be ashamed to walk in the streets, and to converse with
sinners or saints, should but those infirmities, enormities, and wicked-
nesses be written in their foreheads, or known to others, which they
freely and fully lay open to God in secret. There are many sins which
many men have fallen into before conversion and since conversion,
which, should they be known to the world, would make themselves to
stink, and religion to stink, and their profession to stink in the nostrils
^ That is, from Chelidoniae Insulse — Plini/, v. 88. — G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the prfv^y key of heaven. 173

of all that know them. Yea, should those weaknesses and wickednesses
be published upon the house-tops, which many are guilty of before
grace received, or since grace received, how would weak Christians be
staggered, young comers on in the ways of God discouraged, and many
mouths of blasphemy opened, and many sinners' hearts hardened against
the Lord, his ways, reproofs, and the things of their own peace; yea,
how would Satan's banner be displayed, and his kingdom strengthened,
and himself infinitely pleased and delighted ! It is an infinite mercy and
condescension in God to lay a law of restraint upon Satan, who else would
be the greatest blab in all the world. It would be mirth and music to
him to be still a-laying open the follies and weaknesses of the saints.

Ambrose brings in the devil boasting against Christ, and challeng-
ing Judas as his own. ' He is not thine. Lord Jesus, he is mine: his
thoughts beat for me ; he eats with thee, but is fed by me ; he .takes
bread from thee, but money from me ; he drinks with thee, and sells
thy blood to me.' There is not a sin that a saint commits, but Satan
would trumpet it out to all the world, if God would but give him leave.
No man that is in his right wits, will lay open to every one his bodily
infirmities, weaknesses, diseases, ailments, griefs, &c., but to some near
relation, or bosom friend, or able physician. So no man that is in his
right wits will lay open to every one his soul-infirmities, weaknesses,
diseases, ailments, griefs, &c., but to the Lord, or to some particular
person that is wise, faithful, and able to contribute something to his
soul's relief. Should a Christian but lay open or rip up all his follies
and vanities to the world, how sadly would some deride him and scorn
him ! and how severely and bitterly would others censure him and
judge him ! &c. When David was alone in the cave, then he poured
out his complaint to God, and shewed before him his trouble, Ps.
cxlii. 2. And when Job was all alone, then his eyes poured out tears
to God, Job xvi. 20. There is no hazard, no danger, in ripping up of
aU before God in a comer, but there may be a great deal of hazard and
danger in ripping up of all before men.

[5.] Fifthly, Secret duties shall have open rewards.^ Mat. vi. 6,
' And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.' So,
ver. 18, God will reward his people here in part, and hereafter in all
perfection. He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him in a
comer. They that sow in tears secretly, shall reap in joy openly.
Private prayer shall be rewarded before men and angels publicly. How
openly did God reward Daniel for his secret prayer ! Dan. vi. 10, 23-28.
Mordecai privately discovered a plot of treason against the person of
king Ahasuerus, and he is rewarded openly, Esther ii. 21-23, with chap.
6th. Darius, before he came to the kingdom, received privately a gar-
ment for a gift of one Syloson; and when he came to be a king, he
rewarded him openly with the command of his country Samus.^ God,
in the great day, will recompense his people before all the world, for
every secret prayer, and secret tear, and secret sigh, and secret groan
that hath come from his people. God, in the great day, will declare to
men and angels, how often his people have been in pouring out their

* Eccles. xii. 14 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; Rev. xxii. 12 ; Ps. cxxvi. 5 ; Luke xiv. 14 ; Mat.xxv
&4, 37.
» Samos. Told by Herodotus, iii. 89, 139-149, vi. 13 ; Strabo, xiv.— G.

174; THE PEIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

souls before him in such and such holes, corners, and secret places ; and
accordingly he will reward them.

Ah, Christians ! did you really believe this, and seriously dwell on
this, you would,

(1.) Walk more thankfully.

(2.) Work more cheerfully.

(3.) Suffer more patiently.

(4.) Fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, more courage-
ously.

(5.) Lay out yourselves for God, his interest and glory, more freely.

(6.) Live with what providence hath cut out for your portion, more
quietly and contentedly. And,

(7.) You would be in private prayer more frequently, more abundantly.

[6.] Sixthly, Consider thai God hath usually let out himself most to
his people ivhen they have been in secret, when they have been alone ai
the throne of grace} Oh the sweet meltings, the heavenly warmings,
the blessed cheerings, the glorious manifestations, and the choice com-
munion with God, that Christians have found when they have been
alone with God in a corner, in a closet, behind the door ! When had
Daniel that vision and comfortable message, that blessed news, by the
angel, that he was 'greatly beloved,' but when he was all alone at
prayer ? Dan. ix. 20-23, ' And while I was speaking, and praying, and
confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my
supplication before the Lord my God, for the holy mountain of my God ;
yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, wliom I had
seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched
me about the time of the evening oblation ; and he informed me, and
talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee
skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the
commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art
greatly beloved. Therefore understand the matter, and consider the
vision.' Whilst Daniel was at private prayer, God, by the angel Gabriel,
reveals to him the secret of his counsel, concerning the restoration of
Jerusalem, and the duration thereof, even to the Messiah ; and whilst
Daniel was at private prayer, the Lord appears to him, and in an extra-
ordinaiy way assures him that he was ' a man greatly beloved,' or as
the Hebrew chumudoth hath it, ' a man of desires,' that is, a man whom
God's desires are towards, a man singularly beloved of God, and highly
in favour with God, a man that art very pleasing and delightful to God.
God loves to lade the wings of private prayer with the sweetest, choicest,
and chiefest blessings. Ah ! how often hath God kissed a poor Christian
at the beginning of private prayer, and spoke peace to him in the midst
of private prayer, and filled him with light and joy and assurance upon
the close of private prayer ? And so Cornelius is highly commended
and graciously rewarded upon the account of his private prayer : Acts
X. 1-4, ' There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a cen-
turion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that
feared God with all his house ; which gave much alms to the people,
and prayed to God always : he saw in a vision evidently, about the ninth

' Lord, I never come to thee but by thee ; I never go from thee without thee. —
Bernard.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 175

hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying imto him,
Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said. What
is it, Lord ? and he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come
up for a memorial before God.' Vers. 30, 31, * And Cornelius said. Four
days ago I was fasting until this hour' (that is, until three o'clock in the
afternoon, ver. 3), ' and at the ninth hour I prayed in my jiouse, and,
behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said. Thy prayer
is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.'
Mark, as he was praying in his house, namely, by himself alone, a man
in bright clothing — that was an angel in man's shape, ver. 3 — ap-
peared to him, and said, ' Cornelius, thy prayer is heard.' He doth not
mean only that prayer which he made when he fasted and humbled
himself before the Lord, vers. 30, 31; but, as verses 2, 3, 4 shew, his
prayers, his prayers which he made alone. For it seems none else were
with him then, for he only saw that man in bright clothing; and to him
alone the angel addressed his present speech, saying, ' Cornelius, Thy
prayers are heard, vers. 4, 31. Here you see that Cornelius his private
prayers are not only heard, but kindly remembered, and graciously
accepted, and gloriously rewarded. Praying Cornelius is not only
remembered by God, but he is also visited, sensibly and evidently, by
an angel, and assured that his private prayers and good deeds are an
odour, a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God.
And so when had Peter his vision but when he was praying alone on
the house-top ? Acts x. 9-13, 'On the morrow, as they went on their
journey, and drew near unto the city, Peter went up unto the house-
top to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and
would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and
saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had
been a great sheet, knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth,
wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a
voice to him. Rise, Peter ; kill, and eat.' When Peter was upon the
house-top at prayer alone, then he fell into a trance, and he saw heaven
opened ; and then he had his spirit raised, his mind elevated, and all
the faculties of his soul filled with a divine revelation. And so when
Paul was at prayer alone. Acts ix. 12, he saw in a vision a man named
Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive
his sight. Paul had not been long at private prayer before it was re-
vealed to him that he was a chosen vessel, and before he was filled with
the gifts, graces, and comforts of the Holy Ghost. And when John was
alone in the isle of Patmos, ' for the word of God, and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ' — whither he was banished by Domitian, a most cruel
emperor' — then he had a glorious sight of the Son of man, and then the
Lord discovered to him most deep and profound mysteries, both con-
cerning the present and future state of the church, to the end of the
world. And when John was weeping, in private prayer doubtless, then
the sealed book was opened to him. So when Daniel was at private
prayer, God despatches a heavenly messenger to him, and his errand
was to open more clearly and fully the blessed Scripture to him. Some
comfortable and encouraging knowledge this holy man of God had
1 Euseb. lib. iii. cap. xviii. Rev. i. 9, teq. ; v. 1-9.

176 THE PRIVT KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

attained unto before by his frequent and constant study in the word,
and this eggs him on to private prayer, and private prayer posts an
angel from heaven to give him a clearer and fuller light.^ Private
prayer is a golden key to unlock the mysteries of the word unto us.
The knowledge of many choice and blessed truths are but the returns
of private prayer. The word most dwells richly in their hearts who are
most in pouring out their hearts before God in their closets. When
Bonaventura, that seraphical doctor, as some call him, was asked by
Aquinas from what books and helps he derived such holy and divine
expressions and contemplations, he pointed to a crucifix, and said, 'Iste
est liber, &c., Prostrate in prayer at the feet of this image, my soul re-
ceiveth greater light from heaven than from all study and disputation.'
Though this be a monkish tradition and superstitious fiction, yet some
improvement may be made of it. Certainly that Christian or that
minister that in private prayer lies most at the feet of Jesus Christ, he
shall understand most of the mind of Christ in the gospel, and he shall
have most of heaven and the things of his own peace brought down into
his heart.

There is no service wherein Christians have such a near, familiar, and
friendly intercourse with God as in this of private prayer; neither is
there any service wherein God doth more delight to make known his
truth and faithfulness, his grace and goodness, his mercy and bounty,
his beauty and glory to poor souls, than this of private prayer. Luther
professeth, ' That he profited more in the knowledge of the Scripture by
private prayer in a short space, than he did by study in a longer space,'*
as John by weeping in a corner got the sealed book opened. Private
prayer crowns God with the honour and glory that is due to his name ;
and God crowns private prayer with a discovery of those blessed weighty
truths to his servants, that are a sealed book to others. Certainly the
soul usually enjoys most communion with God in secret. When a
Christian is in a wilderness, which is a very solitary place, then God de-
lights to speak friendly and comfortably to him : Hosea ii. 14, ' Behold,
I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak friendly
or comfortably to her,' or as the Hebrew hath it, 'I will speak to her
heart.' When I have her alone, saith God, in a solitary wilderness, I
will speak such things to her heart, as shall exceedingly cheer her, and
comfort her, and even make her heart leap and dance within her.' A
husband imparts his mind most freely and fully to his wife when she is
alone ; and so doth Christ to the believing soul. Oh the secret kisses,
the secret embraces, the secret visits, the secret whispers, the secret
cheerings, the secret sealings, the secret discoveries, &c., that God gives
to his people when alone, when in a hole, when under the stairs, when
behind the door, when in a dungeon ! When Jeremiah was calling upon
God alone in his dark dungeon, he had great and wonderful things
shewed him that he knew not of, Jer. xxxiii. 1-3.

Ambrose was wont to say, ' I am never less alone, than when I am
alone ; for then I can enjoy the presence of my God most freely, fully, and
sweetly, without interruption.'

' Doctor [William] Ames got his learning by private prayer ; and so did Solomon his
wisdom. ' Bene oraste, est bene sltiduiaae. — Luther.

3 Nunquam minus solus, quam cum solus ; never less alone, than when alone, said the
heathen. And may not a saint say so much more that hath communion with God ?

Mat. VI. 6.] the pkivy key of heaven. 177

And it was a most sweet and divine saying of Bernard, * O saint,
knowest thou not,' saith he, 'that thy husband Christ is bashful, and will
not be familiar in company ? Retire thyself therefore by prayer and medi-
tation into thy closet or the fields, and there thou shalt have Christ's
embraces.'

A gentlewoman, being at private prayer and meditation in her parlour^
had such sweet, choice, and full enjoyments of God, that she cried out,
'Oh that I might ever enjoy this sweet communion with God !' &c.

Christ loves to embrace his spouse, not so much in the open street,
as in a closet ; and certainly the gracious soul hath never sweeter views
of glory, than when it is most out of the view of the world. Wise men
give their best, their choicest, and their richest gifts in secret ; and so
doth Christ give his the best of the best, when they are in a corner,
when they are all alone. But as for such as cannot spare time to seek
God in a closet, to serve him in secret, they sufficiently manifest that
they have little fellowship or friendship with God, whom they so seldom
come at.

[7.] Seventhly, Consider the tmie of this life is the only time for
private prayer. Heaven will admit of no secret prayer. In heaven
there will be no secret sins to trouble us, nor no secret wants to pinch
us, nor no secret temptations to betray us, nor no secret snares to en-
tangle us, nor no secret enemies to supplant us. We had need live much
in the practice of that duty here on earth, that we shall never be ex-
ercised in after death. Some duties that are incumbent upon us now,
as {^raising of God, admiring of God, exalting and lifting up of God, joy-
ing and delighting in God, &c., will be for ever incumbent upon us in
heaven ; but this duty of private prayer, we must take our leaves of
when we come to lay our heads in the dust.

[8.] Eighthly, Consider the great prevalency of secret prayer. Private
prayer is porta codi, clavis paradisi, the gate of heaven, a key to let
us into paradise. Oh the great things that private prayer hath done
with God ! Ps. xxxi. 22. Oh the great mercies that have been obtained
by private prayer! Ps. xxxviii. 8, 9. And oh the great threatenings that
have been diverted by private prayer ! And oh the great judgments that
have been removed by private prayer! And oh the great judgments
that have been prevented by private prayer ! I have read of a malicious
woman who gave herself to the devil, provided that he would do a mischief
to such a neighbour, whom she mortally hated : the devil went again and
again to do his errand, but at last he returns and tells her, that he could
do no hurt to that man, for whenever he came, he found him either
reading the Scriptures, or at private prayer. Private prayers pierces the
heavens, and are commonly blessed and loaded with gracious and glorious
returns from thence. Whilst Hezekiah was praying and weeping in
private, God sent the prophet Isaiah to him, to assure him that his
prayer was heard, and that his tears were seen, and that he would add
unto his days fifteen years, Isaiah xxxvfti. 5. So when Isaac was all alone
meditating and praying, and treating with God for a good wife in the
fields, he meets Rebekah, Gen. xxiv. 63, 64. So Jacob: Gen. xxxii,
24-28, 'And Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man with iim
until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not

VOL. II. M

178 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow of
Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said.
Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go,
except thou bless me. And he said unto him. What is thy name ? and
he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel ; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and
hast prevailed.' In this scripture we have an elegant description of a duel
fought between the Almighty and Jacob ; and in it there are these things
most observable :

(] .) First, We have the combatants or duellists, Jacob and God, who
appeared in the shape or appearance of a man. He that is here said
to be a man was the Son of God in human shape, as it appeareth by
the whole narration, and by Hosea xii. 3-5. Now, that this man that
wrestled with Jacob was indeed God, and not really man, is most evident
by these reasons :

[1.] First, Jacob desires a blessing from him, ver. 26. Now, it is
God's prerogative-royal to bless, and not angels' nor men's. Frgo, —

[2.] Secondly, He calls him by the name of God ; * thou hast power
with God,' ver. 28. And saith Jacob, ' I have seen God face to face,'
ver. 30. Not that he saw the majesty and essence of God : for no man
can see the essential glory of God and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20, 23 ; but
he saw God more apparently, more manifestly, more gloriously than
ever he had done before. Some created shape, some glimpse of glory,
Jacob saw, whereby God was pleased for the present to testify his more
immediate presence, but not himself

[3.] Thirdly, The same person that here Jacob wrestles with is he
whom Jacob remembereth in his benediction as his deliverer from, all
evil. Gen. xlviii. 16. It was that God that appeared to him at Bethel
when he fled from the face of his brother. Gen. xxxv. 7. Ergo, —

[4.] Fourthly, Jacob is reproved for his curious inquiring or ashing
after the angeV-s name, ver. 29, which is a clear argument or demon-
stration of his majesty and glory, God being above all notion and name.
God is a super-substantial substance, an understanding not to be under-
stood, a word never to be spoken. One being asked what God was,
answered, ' That he must be God himself, before he could know God
fully.' ^ We are as well able to comprehend the sea in a cockle-shell,
as we are able to comprehend the Almighty, or that nomen Majesta-
tivum, as Tertullian phraseth it. *In searching after God,' saith
Chrysostom, ' I am like a man digging in a deep spring : I stand here,
and the water riseth upon me ; and I stand there, and still the water
riseth upon me.'

In this conflict you have not one man wrestling with another, nor
one man wrestling with a created angel, but a poor, weak, mortal man
wrestling with an immortal God; weakness wrestling with strength,
and a finite being with an infinite being. Though Jacob had no
second, though he was all alone, though he was wonderfully over-
matched, yet he wrestles and keeps his hold, and all in the strength of
him he wrestles with.

(2.) Secondly, You have the place where they combated, and that
w^as beside the ford Jabbok, ver. 22. This is the name of a brook or
' Dionys. Areop. de Divin. Nom., cap. i.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 179

river springing by Rabba, the metropolis of the Ammonites, and issuing
into Jordan beneath the Sea of Galilee, Num. xxi. 24 ; Deut. ii. 37 ;
Judges xi. 13, 15 ; Deut. iii. 16. Jacob did never enjoy so much of
the presence of God as when he had left the company of men. Oh ! the
sweet communion that Jacob had with God when he was retired from
his family, and was all alone with his God by the ford Jabbok ! Cer-
tainly Jacob was never less alone than at this time, when he was so
alone. Saints often meet with the best wine and with the strongest
cordials when they are all alone with God.

(3.) Thirdly, You have the time of the combat, and that was the
night. At what time of the night this wrestling, this duel began, we
nowhere read ; but it lasted till break of day, it lasted till Jacob had
the better of the angel. How many hours of the night this conflict
lasted, no mortal man can tell. God's design was that none should be
spectators nor witnesses of this combat but Jacob only ; and therefore
Jacob must be wrestling when others were sleeping.

(4.) Fourthly, You have the ground of the quarrel, and that was
Jacob's fear of Esau, and his importunate desire for a blessing. Jacob
flies to God, that he might not fall before man ; he flies to God, that
he might not fly before men. In a storm, there is no shelter like to
the wing of God. He is safest, and happiest, and wisest, that lays him-
self under divine protection. This Jacob knew, and therefore he runs
to God, as to his only city of refuge. In this conflict God would have
given out : * Let me go, for the day breaketh/ ver. 26 ; but Jacob
keeps his hold, and tells him boldly to his very face that he would not
let him go unless he would bless him. Oh the power of private prayer !
It hath a kind of omnipotency in it ; it takes God captive ; it holds
him as a prisoner ; it binds the hands of the Almighty ; yea, it will
wring a mercy, a blessing, out of the hand of heaven itself. Oh the
power of that prayer that makes a man victorious over the greatest, the
highest power ! Jacob, though a man, a single man, a travelling man,
a tired man, yea, though a worm, that is easily crushed and trodden
under foot, and no man, Isa. xli. 14, yet in private prayer he is so
potent, that he overcomes the omnipotent God ; he is so mighty, that
he overcomes the Almighty.

(5.) Fifthly, You have the nature or manner of the combat, and that
was both outward and inward, both corporal and spiritual. It was by
might and flight ; it was as well by the strength of his body as it was
by the force of his faith. He wrestled not only with spiritual strug-
glings, tears, and prayers, Hosea xii. 4, but with corporal also, wherein
God assailed him with one hand, and upheld him with the other. In
this conflict, Jacob and the angel of the covenant did really lay arm on
arm, and set shoulder to shoulder, and put foot to foot, and used all
other sleights and ways as men do that wrestle one with another.
The Hebrew word p2^*\ from p3X^ that is here rendered vrrestled, sig-
nifies the raising of the dust ; because those whicli did wrestle of old
did not only wrestle naked, as the manner then was, but did also use
to cast dust one upon another, that so they might take more sure hold
one of another. Some, from this word abak, do conclude that Jacob
and the angel did tug, and strive, and turn each other, till they sweat
again ; for so much the word imports. Jacob and the angel did not

180 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

wrestle in jest, but in good earnest ; they wrestled with their might, as
it were, for the garland ; they strove for victory as for life.

But as this wrestling was corporal, so it was spiritual also. Jacob's
soul takes hold of God, and Jacob's faith takes hold of God, and Jacob's
prayers takes hold of God, and Jacob's tears takes hold of God, Hosea xii.
4, 5. Certainly Jacob's weapons in this warfare were mainly spiritual,
and so ' mighty through God.' There is no overcoming of God but in
his own strength. Jacob did more by his royal faith than he did by his
noble hands, and more by weeping than he did by sweating, and more
by praying than he did by all his bodily strivings.

(6.) Sixthly and lastly. You have ilie issue of the combat, and that is,
victory over the angel, ver. 28. Jacob wrestles in the angel's arms and
armour, and so overcomes him. As a prince, he overpowers the angel
by that very power he had from the angel. The angel was as freely
and fully willing to be conquered by Jacob, as Jacob was willing to be
conqueror. "When lovers wrestle, the strongest is willing enough to take
a fall of the weakest ; and so it was here. The father, in wrestling with
his child, is willing enough, for his child's comfort and encouragement,
to take a fall now and then ; and so it was between the angel and Jacob
in the present case. Now in this blessed story, as in a crystal glass,
you may see the great power and prevalency of private prayer ; it
conquers the great conqueror ; it is so omnipotent that it overcomes an
omnipotent God.

Now this you may see more fully and sweetly cleared up in Hosea
xii. 3, 4, ' He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by
his strength he had power with God : yea, he had power over the
angel, and prevailed ; he wept, and made supplication unto him : he
found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us.' When Jacob was
all alone and in a dark night, and but on one leg, yet then he played
the prince with God, as the Hebrew hath it. Jacob by prayers and
tears did so prince it with God as that he carried the blessing. Jacob's
wrestling was by weeping, and his prevailing by praying. Prayers and
tears are not only very pleasing to God, but also very prevalent with God.
And thus you see that this great instance of Jacob speaks out aloud the
prevalency of private prayer.

See another instance of this in David : Ps. Ixvi. 8, 9, 'I am weary
with my groanings : all the night make I my bed to swim : I water my
couch with my tears.' These are all excessive figurative speeches, to
set forth the greatness of his sorrow, and the multitude of his tears.
David in his retirement makes the place of his sin, viz. his bed, to be
the place of his repentance. David sins privately upon his bed, and
David mourns privately upon his bed. Every place which we have pol-
luted by sin, we should sanctify and water with our tears : ver. 8, ' De-
part from me, all ye workers of iniquity ; for the Lord hath heard the
voice of my weeping.' As blood hath a voice, and as the rod hath a
voice, so tears have a voice. Tears have tongues, and tears can speak.
There is no noise to that that tears in secret make in the ears of God.
A prudent and indulgent father can better pick out the wants and
necessities of his children by their secret tears than by their loud com-
plaints, by their weeping than by their words ; and do you think that
God can't do as much ? Tears are not always mutes : Lam. ii. 18, * Cry

Mat. YT. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 181

aloud,' saith one, ' not with thy tongue, but with thy eyes ; not with
thy words, but with thy tears ; for that is the prayer that maketh the
most forcible entry into the ears of the great God of heaven.' Penitent
tears are undeniable ambassadors that never return from the throne of
grace without a gracious answer. Tears are a kind of silent prayers,
which, though they say nothing, yet they obtain pardon ; and though
they plead not a man's cause, yet they obtain mercy at the hands of
God. As you see in that great instance of Peter, who, though he said
nothing that we read of, yet weeping bitterly, he obtained mercy, Mat.
xxvi. 75. I have read of Augustine, who, coming as a visitant to the
house of a sick man, he saw the room full of friends and kindred, who
were all silent, yet all weeping : the wife sobbing, the children sighing,
the kinsfolk lamenting, all mourning ; whereupon Augustine uttered
this short ejaculatory prayer, ' Lord, what prayer dost thou hear, if not
these V Ver. 9, ' The Lord hath heard my supplication ; the Lord will
receive my prayer.' God sometimes answers his people before they
pray : Isa. Ixv. 24, ' And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I
will answer.* And sometimes while they are praying ; so it follows in
the same verse, ' And while they are yet speaking I will hear.' So Isa.
XXX. 19, 'He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry :
when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.' And sometimes after they
have prayed, as the experiences of all Christians can testify. Sometimes
God neither hears nor receives a prayer ; and this is the common case
and lot of the wicked, Pro v. i. 28, Job xxvii. 9, Isa. i. 15. Sometimes
God hears the prayers of his people, but doth not presently answer them,
as in that case of Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7-9 ; and sometimes God both hears
and receives the prayers of his people, as here he did David's. Now in
this instance of David, as in a glass, you may run and read the preva-
lency of private prayer and of secret tears.

You may take another instance of this in Jonah : chap. ii. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10,
* Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord hisGod out of thefish's belly,and said,
I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me ; out
of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst
cast me into the deep, into the midst of the seas, and the floods com-
passed me about : all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. The
waters compassed me about, even to the soul : the depth closed me
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. When my
soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord ; and my prayer came
in unto thee, into thy holy temple. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.' When Jonah was all
alone, and in the midst of many dangers and deaths, when he was in
the whale's belly, yea, in the belly of hell, — so called because horrid and
hideous, deep and dismal, — ^yet then private prayer fetches him from
thence. Let a man's dangers be never so many, nor never so great, yet
secret prayer hath a certain omnipotency in it that will deliver him out
of them all In multiplied afflictions, private prayer is most prevalent
with God, In the very midst of drowning, secret prayer will keep both
head and heart above water. Upon Jonah's private prayer, God sends
forth his mandamus, and the fish serves Jonah for a ship to sail safe to
shore. When the case is even desperate, yet then private prayer can
do much with God. Private prayer is of that power tliat it can open

J 82 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

the doors of leviathan, as you see in this great instance, which yet is
reckoned as a thing not feasible, Job xli. 14.

Another instance of the prevalency of private prayer you have in
that 2 Kings iv. 32-35, ' And when Elisha was come into the house,
behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in there-
fore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord.'
Privacy is a good help to fervency in prayer. ' And he went up, and
lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes
upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands ; and he stretched himself
upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he re-
turned, and walked in the house to and fro ; and went up, and stretched
himself upon him : and the child sneezed seven times, and the child
opened his eyes.' Oh the power, the prevalency, the oinnipotency of
private prayer, that raises the dead to life ! And the same effect had
the private praj^er of Elijah in raising the widow's son of Zarephath to
life, 1 Kings xvii. 18, et seq. The great prevalency of Moses his private
prayers you may read in the following scriptures : Num. xii. 1, 2, ' And
when the people complained, it displeased the Lord : and the Lord
heard it : and his anger was kindled : and the fire of the Lord burnt
among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of
the camp. And the people cried unto Moses ; and when Moses prayed
unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.' Moses by private prayer rules
and overrules with God ; he was so potent with God in private prayer
that he could have what he would of God. So .Num. xxi, 7-9 ; Ps.
cvi. 23; Exod. xxxii. 9-14; Exod. xiv. 15-17. The same you may
see in Nehemiah, chap. i. 11, compared with chap. ii. 4-8. So Luther,
perceiving the cause of God and the work of reformation to be greatly
strained and in danger, he went into his closet, and never left wrestling
with God till he had received a gracious answer from heaven ; upon
which he comes out of his closet to his friends leaping and triumphing
with ViciTnus, mciTnus, we have overcome, we have overcome, in his
mouth. At which time it is observed that there came out a proclama-
tion from Charles the Fifth, that none should be further molested for
the profession of the gospel. At another time, Luther being in private
prayer for a sick friend of his, who was very comfortable and useful to
him, had a particular answer for his recovery ; whereupon he was so
confident, that he sent word to his friend that he should certainly re-
cover ; and so it fell out accordingly. And so Latimer prayed with
great zeal for three things : ,

(1.) That Queen Elizabeth might come to the crown ;

(2.) That he might seal the truth with his heart blood ; and

(3.) That the gospel might be restored once again, once again, which
he expressed with great vehemency of spirit : all which three God
heard him in.'

Constantino commanded that his effigies should be engraven, not as
other emperors in their armour leaning, but as in a posture of prayer,
kneeling, to manifest to the world that he won more by secret prayer
tlian by open battles.

Mr Dod reports, that when many good people had often sought the
Lord in the behalf of a woman that was possessed with the devil, and
' Foxe ; and cf. Sibbes sub nomine. — G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 183

yet could not prevail, at last they appointed a day for fasting and
prayer ; at which time there came a poor woman to the chamber door
where the exercise was begun and craved entrance, but she being poor
they would not admit her in ; upon that the poor woman kneeled down
behind the door and sought God by prayer. But she had not prayed
long before the evil spirit raged, roared, and cried out in the possessed
woman, ' Take away the old woman behind the door, for I must be
gone ; take away the old woman behind the door, for I must be gone.'
And so by the old woman's prayers behind the door he was cast out.
Oh the prevalency of prayer behind the door ! And thus you see by
all these great instances the great prevalency of private prayer.

Private prayer, like Saul's sword and Jonathan's bow, when duly
qualified as to the person and act, never returns empty; it hits the
mark, it carries the day with God ; it pierceth the walls of heaven,
though, like those of Gaza, made of brass and iron,. Isa. xlv. 2. Oh,
who can express the powerful oratory of private prayer ! &c,

[9.] Ninthly, Consider, that secret duties are the most souL-enrieh-
iing duties. Look, as secret meals make fat bodies, so secret duties
make fat souls ; and as secret trades brings in great earthly riches, so
secret prayers makes many rich in spiritual blessings and in heavenly
riches. Private prayer is that privy key of heaven that unlocks all the
treasures of glory to the soul. The best riches and the sweetest mercies
God usually gives to his people when they are in their closets upon
their knees. Look, as the warmth the chickens find by close sitting
under the hen's wings cherisheth them, so are the graces of the saints
enlivened, and cherished, and strengthened by the sweet secret in-
fluences which their souls fall under when they are in their closet-com-
munion with God. Private prayer conscientiously performed is the
privy key of heaven, that hath unlocked such treasures and such secrets
as hath passed the skill of the cunningest devil to find out. Private
prayer midwifes the choicest mercies and the chiefest riches in upon us.
Certainly there are none so rich in gracious experiences as those that
are most exercised in closet duties : Ps. xxxiv. 6, ' This poor man cried,'
saith David, ' and the Lord saved him out of all his troubles.' David,
pointing to himself, tells us that he ' cried,' that is, silently and secretly,
as Moses did at the Red Sea, and as Nehemiah did in the presence of
the king of Persia ; ' and the Lord saved him out of all his troubles,'
Exod. xiv. 1 5 ; Neh. i. ] 1 , and ii. 4. And, oh, what additions were
these deliverances to his experiences ! O my friends, look, as the tender
dew that falls in the silent night makes the grass and herbs and flowers
to flourish and grow more abundantly than great showers of rain that
fall in the day, so secret prayer will more abundantly cause the sweet
herbs of grace and holiness to grow and flourish in the soul, than all
those more open, public, and visible duties of religion, which too, too
often are mingled and mixed with the sun and wind of pride and hypo-
crisy.

Beloved ! you know that many times a favourite at coiirt gets more
by one secret motion, by one private request to his prince, than a
tradesman or a merchant gets in twenty years' labour and pains, &c.
8o a Christian many times gets more by one secret motion, by one
private request to the King of kings, than many others do by trading

184 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

long in the more public duties of religion. O sirs ! remember that in
private prayer we have a far greater advantage as to the exercise of our
own gifts and graces and parts, than we have in public ; for in public
we only hear others exercise their parts and gifts, &c. ; in public duties
we are more passive, but in private duties we are more active. Now,
the more our gifts and parts and graces are exercised, the more they
are strengthened and increased. All acts strengthen habits. The more
sin is acted, the more it is strengthened. And so it is with our gifts and
graces ; the more they are acted, the more they are strengthened. But,
[10.] Tenthly, Take Tnany thhigs together. All Christians have
their secret sins. Ps. xix. 12, 'Who can understand his errors ? cleanse
thou me from secret faults.' Secret not only to other men, but him-
self ; even such secret sins as grew from errors which he understood not.
It is incident to every man to err, and then to be ignorant of his errors.
Many sins I see in myself, saith he, and more there are which 1 cannot
espy, which I cannot find out ; nay, I think, saith he, that everj'- man's
sins do arise beyond his accounts. There is not the best, the wisest,
nor the holiest man in the world, that can give a full and entire list of
his sins. ' Who can understand his errors V This interrogation hath
the force of an affirmation : ' Who can V No man ! no, not the most
perfect and innocent man in the world. friends ! who can reckon up
the secret sinful imaginations, the secret sinful inclinations, or the
secret pride, the secret blasphemies, the secret hypocrisies, the secret
atheistical risings, the secret murmurings, the secret repinings, the secret
discontents, the secret insolencies, the secret filthinesses, the secret unbe-
lievings, &c., that God might every day charge upon his soul ? Should
the best and holiest man on earth have but his secret sins every day
written in his forehead, it would not only put him to a crimson blush,
but it would make him pull his hat over his eyes, or cover his face with
a double scarf So 1 Kings viii. 38, ' What prayer and supplication
soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall
know every man the plague of his own heart,' &c. Sin is the greatest
plague in the world, but never more dangerous than when it reaches
the heart. Now, secret sins commonly lie nearest the heart, the foun-
tain from whence they take a quick, immediate, and continual supply.
Secret sins are as near to original sin as the first droppings are to the
spring head. And as every secret sin lies nearest the heart, so every
secret sin is the plague of the heart. Now, as secret diseases are not
to be laid open to every one, but only* to the prudent physician, so our
secret sins, which are the secret plagues, the secret diseases of our souls,
are not to be laid open to every one, but only to the physician of souls,
that is only able both to cure them and pardon them. And as all
Christians have their secret sins, so all Christians have their secret
temptations, 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. And as they have their secret temptations,
so they have their secret wants ; yea, many times they have such par-
ticular and personal wants that there is not one in the congregation,
nor one in the family, that hath the like. And as they have their
secret wants, so they have their secret fears, and secret snares, and
secret straits, and secret troubles, and secret doubts, and secret jealousies,
&c. And how do all these things call aloud upon every Christian to be
frequent and constant in secret prayer !

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 185

[11.] Eleventhly, Consider, Christ is very much affected and de-
lighted in the secret prayers of his people. Cant. ii. 14, ' O my dove
that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let
me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice,
and thy countenance is comely.' Christ observes his spouse when she
is in the clefts of the rock ; when she is gotten into a corner a-praying,
he looks upon her with singular delight, and with special intimations
of his love. Nothing is more sweet, delightful, and welcome to Christ
than the secret services of his people. Their secret breathings are like
lovely songs to him, Mai. iii. 4 ; their secret prayers in the clefts of the
rock, or under the stairs, are as sweet incense to Jesus. The spouse re-
tires to the secret places of the stairs not only for security, but also for
secresy, that so she might the more freely, without suspicion of hypo-
crisy, pour out her soul into the bosom of her beloved. The great delight
that parents take in the secret lispings and whisperings of their children,
is no delight to that which Christ takes in the secret prayers of his
people. And therefore, as you would be friends and furtherers of
Christ's delight, be much in secret prayer.

[12.] Twelfthly, Consider you are the only persons in all the world
that God hath made choice of to reveal his secrets to. John xv. 15,
* Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his lord doth ; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have
heard of my Father I have made known unto you.' Everything that
God the Father had communicated to Christ as mediator to be revealed
to his servants, he did make known to his disciples as to his bosom-
friends. Christ loves his people as friends, and he uses them as friends,
and he opens his heart to them as friends. There is nothing in the
heart of Christ that concerns the internal and eternal welfare of his
friends, but he reveals it to them : he reveals himself, his love, his
eternal good will, the mj^steries of faith, and the secrets of his covenant,
to his friends.* Christ loves not to entertain his friends with things
that are commonly and vulgarly known. Christ will reveal the secrets
of his mind, the secrets of his love, the secrets of his thoughts, the
secrets of his heart, and the secrets of his purposes, to all his bosom-
friends. Samson could not hide his mind, his secrets, from Delilah,
though it cost him his life, Judges xvi. 15-17 ; and do you think that
Christ can hide his mind, his secrets, from them for whom he hath laid
down his life ? Surely no. O sirs ! Christ is,

(1.) A universal friend.

(2.) An omnipotent friend, an almighty friend. He is no less than
thirty times called Almighty in that book of Job ; he can do above all
expressions and beyond all apprehensions.

(3.) He is an omniscient friend.

(4.) He is an omnipresent friend.

(5.) He is an indeficient friend.

(6.) He is an independent friend.

(7.) He is an unchangeable friend.

(8.) He is a watchful friend.

(9.) He is a tender and compassionate friend.

(10.) He is a close and faithful friend ; and therefore he cannot but
> 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11 : John i. 9 ; Rom. xvi. 25 ; 1 Cor. ii. 7 ; Eph. iii. 8, 4, 9.

186 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT, VI. 6.

open and unbosom himself to all his bosom friends. To be reserved
and close is against the very law of friendship. Faithful friends are
very free in imparting their thoughts, their minds, their secrets, one to
another. A real friend accounts nothing worth knowing unless he
makes it known to his friends. He rips up his greatest and most in-
ward secrets to his friends. Job calls his friends 'inward friends,' or
the men of his secrets. Job xix. 19. All Christ's friends are inward
friends ; they are the men of his secrets : Pro v. iii. 32, ' His secrets are
with the righteous,' that is, his covenant and fatherly affection, which
is hid and secret from the world. He that is righteous in secret, where
no man sees him, he is the righteous man, to whom God will communi-
cate his closest secrets, as to his dearest bosom-friend. It is only a
bosom-friend to whom we will unbosom ourselves. So Ps. xxv. 14,
* The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and he will shew
them his covenant.'

Now, there are three sorts of divine secrets :

(1.) First, There are secrets of providence, and these he reveals to
the righteous, and to them that fear him, Ps. cvii. 43, Hosea xiv. 9.
The prophet Amos speaks of these secrets of providence : Amos iii. 7,
' Surely the Lord God ^vill do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto
his servants and prophets.' Micah knew the secret of the Lord touch-
ing Ahab, which neither Zedekiah nor any other of the false prophets
knew. So Gen. xviil 17, 'And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham
that thing which I do f The destruction of Sodom was a secret that
lay in the bosom of God ; but Abraham being a bosom-friend, God
communicates this secret to him, ver. 19-21. Abraham was a friend,
a faithful friend, a friend by a specialty, James ii. 23; and therefore
God makes him both of his court and counsel. Oh how greatly doth
God condescend to his people. He speaks to them as a man would
speak to his friend ; and there is no secrets of providence, which may
be for their advantage, but he will reveal them to his faithful servants.
As all faithful friends have the same friends and the same enemies, so
they are mutual in the communication of their secrets one to another ;
and so it was between God and Abraham.

(2.) Secondly, There are the secrets of his kingdom; and these he
reveals to his people: Mat. xiii. 11, ' Unto you it is given to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given.'
So Mat. xi. 25, ' At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' ' Let
us not think,' saith Jerome,' 'that the gospel is in the words of Scrip-
ture, but in the sense ; not in the outside, but in the marrow ; not in
the leaves of words, but in the root of reason.' Augustine humbly
begged of God, that if it were his pleasure, he would send Moses to him
to interpret some more abstruse and intricate passages in his book of
Genesis.* There are many choice, secret, hidden, and mysterious
truths and doctrines in the gospel, which Christ reveals to his people,
that this poor, blind, ignorant world are strangers to.^ There are many
secrets wrapped up in the plainest truths and doctrines of the gospel,

* Jerome ad Eph. lib. i. ' Augustine on Genesis. — G.

^ Joel ii.28: 1 Tim. iii. 9, 16 ; Col. i. 26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 9-12 : Eph. iv. 21.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 187

which none can effectually open and reveal but the Spirit of the Lord,
that searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. There are many
secrets and mysteries in the gospel, that all the learning and labour in
the world can never give a man insight into. There are many that
know the doctrine of the gospel, the history of the gospel, that are mere
strangers to the secrets of the gospel. There is a secret power, a secret
authority, a secret efficacy, a secret prevalency, a secret goodness, a
secret sweetness in the gospel, that none experience but those to whom
the Lord is pleased to impart gospel secrets to : Isa. xxix. 11, 12, ' Seal
my law among my disciples.' The law of God to wicked men is a sealed
book that they cannot understand, Dan. xii. 9, 10. It is as blotted paper
that they cannot read. Look, as a private letter to a friend contains secret
matter that no man else may read because it is sealed ; so the law of
grace is sealed up under the privy-seal of heaven, so that no man can
open it or read it, but Christ's faithful friends to whom it is sent. The
whole Scripture, saith Gregory, is but one entire letter despatched from
the Lord Christ to his beloved spouse on earth. The Rabbins say that
there are four keys that God hath under his girdle : 1, the key of the
clouds ; 2, the key of the womb ; 3, the key of the grave ; 4, the key
of food ; and I may add a fifth key that is under his girdle, and that is
the key of the word, the key of the Scripture ; which key none can turn
but he that 'hath the key of David, that opens, and no man shuts; and
that shuts, and no man opens,' Rev. iii. 7. sirs! God reveals himself,
and his mind, and will, and truth, to his people, in a more friendly and
familiar way than he doth to others : Mark iv. 11, 'And he said unto
them. Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God : but unto them that are without, all these things are done in
parables :' Luke viii. 10, 'And he said. Unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God : but to others in parables ; that
seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.'
Though great doctors, and profound clerks, and deep-studied but un-
sanctified divines may know much of the doctrines of the gospel, and
commend much the doctrines of the gospel, and dispute much for the
doctrines of the gospel, and glory much in the doctrines of the gospel,
and take a great deal of pains to dress and trim up the doctrines of the
gospel, with the flowers of rhetoric or eloquence ; though it be much
better to present truth in her native plainness, than to hang her ears
with counterfeit pearls. . . , The word, without human adornments, is
like the stone garamantides, that hath drops of gold in itself, sufficient
to enrich the believing soul. . . , Yet the special, spiritual, powerful,
and saving knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, is a secret, a
mystery, yea, a hidden mystery to them, Rom. xvi. 25, 1 Cor. ii. 7.

Chrysostom compares the mysteries of Christ, in regard of the
wicked, to a written book, that the ignorant can neither read nor spell;
he sees the cover, the leaves, and the letters, but he understands not
the meaning of what he sees. He compares the mystery of grace to an
indited epistle, which an unskilful idiot' viewing, he cannot read it, he
cannot understand it ; he knoweth it is paper and ink, but the sense,
the matter, he knows not, he understands not. So unsanctified per-
sons, though they are never so learned, and though they may perceive
' Cf. Sibbes, vol. i. pages 186, 290.— Q.

188 THE PRrV^' KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

the bark of the mystery of Christ, yet they perceive not, they under-
stand not, the mystery of grace, the inward sense of the Spirit, in the
blessed Scriptures. Though the devil be the greatest scholar in the
world, and though he have more learning than all the men in the world
have, yet there are many thousand secrets and mysteries in the gospel
of grace, that he knows not really, spiritually, feelingly, efficaciously,
powerfully, thoroughly, savingly, &c.

Oh, but now Christ makes known himself, his mind, his grace, his
truth, to his people, in a more clear, full, familiar, and friendly way :
2 Sam. vii. 27, ' For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed
to thy servant ;' so you read it in your books ; but in the Hebrew it is
thus : * Lord, thou hast revealed this to the ear of thy servant.' Now,
the emphasis lieth in that word, to the ear, which is left out in your
books. When God makes known himself to his people, he revealeth
things to their ears, as we use to do to a friend who is intimate with
us : we speak a thing to his ear. There is many a secret which Jesus
Christ speaks in the ears of his servants, which others never come to be
acquainted with : 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'

The six several gradations that are in this scripture are worthy of
our most serious consideration. Here is.

First, Knowledge ; and.

Secondly, The knowledge of the glory of God ; and,

Thirdly, The light of the knowledge of the glory of God ; and,

Fourthly, Shining ; and.

Fifthly, Shining into our hearts ; and.

Sixthly, Shining into our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ.

And thus you see that the Lord reveals the secrets of himself, his
kingdom, his truth, his grace, his glory, to the saints. But,

(3.) Thirdly, There are the secrets of his favour, tJie secrets of his
special love, that he bears to them ; the secret purposes of his heart to
save them ; and these are those great secrets, those ' deep things of
God.' which none can reveal ' but the Spirit of God.' Now these great
secrets, these deep things of God, God doth reveal to his people by his
Spirit : 1 Cor. ii. 10-12, ' But God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man
which is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things" that are freely
given to us of God.' Now what are the things that are freely given to
us of God, but our election, vocation, justification, sanctification, and
glorification ? And why hath God given us his Spirit, but that we should
know ' the things that are freely given to us of God.' Some by secret
in that 25th Psalm, do understand a particular assurance of God's
favours, whereby happiness is secured to us, both for the present and
for the future. They understand by secret, the sealing of the Spirit,
the hidden manna, the white stone, and the new name in it, * which
none knoweth but he that hath it.' And so much those words, ' He
will shew them his covenant,' seems to import : for what greater secret

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 189

can God impart to his people, than that of opening the covenant of
grace to them in its freeness, fulness, sureness, sweetness, suitable-
ness, everlastingness, and in sealing up his good pleasure, and all
the spiritual and eternal blessings of the covenant to them ? Such
as love and serve the Lord shall be of his cabinet-council, they
shall know his soul-secrets, and be admitted into a very gracious fami-
liarity and friendship with himself : John xiv. 21-23, ' He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and
manifest myself unto him. Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), Lord !
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the
world ? Jesus answered and said unto him, 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.' God and Christ will keep
house with them, and manifest the secrets of their love to them that
are observant of their commands. And thus you see that the saints
are the only persons to whom God will reveal the secrets of his provi-
dence, the secrets of his kingdom, and the secrets of his love unto. Christ
came out of the bosom of his Father, and he opens all the secrets of his
Father only to his bosom-friends. Now what an exceeding high honour
is it for God to open the secrets of his love, the secrets of his promises,
the secrets of his providences, the secrets of his counsels, and the secrets
of his covenant, to his people !

Tiberius Caesar thought no man fit to know his secrets. And among
the Persians none but noblemen, lords, and dukes, might be made par-
takers of state secrets ; they esteeming secresy a godhead, a divine
thing, as Ammianus Marcellinus affirms. But now such honour God
hath put upon all his saints, as to make them lords and nobles, and the
only privy statesmen in the court of heaven. The highest honour and
glory that earthly princes can put upon their subjects is to communicate
to them their greatest secrets. Now this high honour and glory the
King of kings hath put upon his people ; ' For his secrets are with them
that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant.' It was a high
honour to Elisha, 2 Kings, vi. 12, that he could tell the secrets that
were spoken in the king's bed-chamber. Oh ! what an honour must it
then be for the saints to know the secrets that are spoken in the pre-
sence-chamber of the King of kings !

Now I appeal to the very consciences of all that fear the Lord, whe-
ther it be not a just, equal, righteous, and necessary thing, that the
people of God should freely and fully lay open all the secrets of their
hearts before the Lord, who hath thus highly honoured them, as to reveal
the secrets of his providence, kingdom, and favour to them ? Yea, I
appeal to all serious and ingenuous Christians, whether it be not against
the light and law of nature, and against the law of love, and law of
friendship, to be reserved and close, yea, to hide our secrets from him
who reveals his greatest and our choicest secrets to us ? And if it be,
why then do not you in secret lay open all your secret sins, and secret
wants, and secret desires, secret fears, &c., to him that seeth in secret ?
You know all secrets are to be communicated only in secret. None
but fools in folio will communicate secrets upon a stage, or before
many. But,

190 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI 6.

[13.] Thirteenthly, Consider, that in times of great straits and trials,
in times of great afflictions and persecutions, private 'prayer is the
Christian's meat a7id drink; it is his chief city of refuge; it is his shel-
ter and hiding-place in a stormy day. When the saints have been driven
by violent persecutions into holes, and caves, and dens, and de.^erts, and
howling wildernesses, private prayer hath been their meat and drink, and
under Christ their only refuge.^ When Esau came forth with hostile
intentions against Jacob, secret prayer was Jacob's refuge : Gen. xxxii.
6-9, 11, 'And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to
thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred
men with him :' all cut-throats. ' Then Jacob was greatly afraid and
distressed : and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks,
^ and herds, and the camels, into two bands ; and said. If Esau come to
the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left
shall escape.' When all is at stake, it is Christian prudence to save
what we can, though we cannot save what we would. ' And Jacob said,
O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord
which saidst unto me. Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred,
and I will deal well with thee.' Promises in private must be prayed
over. God loves to be sued upon his own bond, when he and his people
are alone. ' Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau : for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me,
and the mother with the children ;' or upon the children, meaning he
will put all to death. Some look upon the words to be a metaphor
taken from fowlers, who kill and take away the young and the dams
together, contrary to that old law, Deut. xxii. "6. Others say it is a
phrase that doth most lively represent the tenderness of a mother, who,
seeing her children in distress, spares not her own body nor life, to
hazard the same for her children's preservation, by interposing herself,
even to be massacred together with and upon them, Hosea x. 14.
When Jacob, and all that was near and dear unto him, were in eminent
danger of being cut off by Esau, and those men of blood that were with
him, he betakes himself to private prayer as his only city of refuge
against the rage and malice of the mighty. And so when Jeremiah
was in a solitary and loathsome dungeon, private prayer was his meat
and drink, it was his only city of refuge : Jer. xxxiii. 1-3, ' Moreover,
the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he
was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying. Thus saith the Lord,
the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it ; The Lord is
his name : call unto me, and I will answer thee, and I will shew thee
great and mighty,' or hidden ' things, which thou knowest not.'
When Jeremiah was in a lonesome, loathsome prison, God encourages
him by private prayer, to seek for further discoveries and revelations
of those choice and singular favours, which in future times he purposed
to confer upon his people: so 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11-13, 'Wherefore the Lord
brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which
took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters,' or chains,
' and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he
besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the
God of his fathers, and prayed unto him : and he was entreated of him,
« Heb. xi. 37, 38 ; Rev. xii. 6 ; Pa- cii. 6-14.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 191

and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.' When
Manasseh was in fetters in his enemy's country, when he was stripped
of all his princely glory, and led captive into Babylon, he betakes him-
self to private prayer as his only city of refuge ; and by this means he
prevails with God for his restoration to his crown and kingdom. Private
prayer is a city of refuge that no power nor policy, no craft nor cruelty,
no violence nor force, is ever able to surprise. Though the joint prayers
of the people of God together were often obstructed and hindered in
the times of the ten persecutions, yet they were never able to obstruct
or hinder secret prayer, private prayer. When men and devils have
done their worst, every Christian will be able to maintain his private
trade with heaven. Private prayer will shelter a Christian against all
the national, domestical, and personal storms and tempests that may
threaten him. When a man is lying upon a sick-bed alone, or when a
man is in prison alone, or when a man is with Job left upon the dung-
hill alone, or when a man is with John banished for the testimony of
Jesus into this or that island alone, oh then private prayer will be his
meat and drink, his shelter, his hiding-place, his heaven. When all
other trades fail, this trade of private prayer will hold good. But,

[14.] Fourteenthly, Consider that God is OTnnipresent} We cannot
get into any blind hole, or dark corner, or secret place, but the Lord
hath an eye there, the Lord will keep us company there : Mat. vi. 6,
' And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.' So
ver. J 8. There is not the darkest, dirtiest hole in the world into
which a saint creeps, but God hath a favourable eye there. God never
wants an eye to see our secret tears, nor an ear to hear our secret cries
and groans, nor a heart to grant our secret requests, and therefore we
ought to pour out our souls to him in secret : Ps.'xxxviii. 9, ' Lord ! all
my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.'
Though our private desires are never so confused, though our private
requests are never so broken, and though our private groanings are
never so much hidden from men, yet God eyes them all, God records
them all, and God puts them all upon thefile^ of heaven, and will one day
crown them with glorious answers and returns. We cannot sigh out a
prayer in secret, but he sees us; we cannot lift up our eyes to him at
midnight, but he observes us. The eye that God hath upon his people
when they are in secret, is such a special tender eye of love, as opens
his ear, his heart, and his hand, for their good : 1 Peter iii. 12, ' For
the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto
their prayers ;' or, as the Greek hath it, ' his ears are unto their prayers.'
If their prayers are so faint, that they cannot reach up as high as
heaven, then God will bow the heavens and come down to their prayers.'
God's eye is upon every secret sigh, and every secret groan, and every
secret tear, and every secret desire, and every secret pant of love, and
every secret breathing of soul, and every secret melting and working of
heart ; all which should encourage us to be much in secret duties, in
closet services. As a Christian is never out of the reach of God's hand,
so he is never out of the view of God's eye. If a Christian cannot hide

^ Jer. xvi. 17 : Job xxxiv. 21 ; ProT. t. 21 ; Jer. xxxii. 19 ; Rev. ii. 23 ; Lam. iii. 56.
' Cf. Sibbes, vol. i. pages 168, 289. — G. » God is totua oeulut, all eye.

192 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

himself from the sun, which is God's minister of Hght, how impossible
will it be to hide himself from him whose eyes are ten thousand times
brighter than the sun ? In every private duty, a Christian is still under
the eye of God's omnisciency. When we are in the darkest hole, God
hath windows into our breasts, and observes all the secret actings of
our inward man, 1 Tim. ii. 8. The eye of God is not confined to this
place or that, to this company or that; God hath an eye upon his people
as well when they are alone, as when they are among a multitude ; as
well when they are in a corner, as when they are in a crowd. Diana's
temple was burnt down when she was busy at Alexander's birth, and
could not be at two places together.^ But God is present both in para-
dise and in the wilderness, both in the family aud in the closet, both in
public and in private at the same time. God is an omnipresent God ;
he is everywhere. Non est ubi, ubi non est Deus. As he is included
in no place, so he is excluded from no place : Jer. xxiii. 24», ' Can any
man hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him, saith the
Lord ?' Prov. xv. 3, ' The eyes of the Lord are in every place, behold-
ing the evil and the good,' or, ' contemplating the evil and the good,' as
the Hebrew may be read. Now, to contemplaie, is more than simply
to behold ; for contemplation addeth to a simple apprehension a deeper
degree of knowledge, entering into the very inside of a matter ; and so
indeed doth God discern the very inward intentions of the heart, and
the most secret motions of the spirit. God is an infinite and immense
being, whose centre is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere.
Now, if our God be omnipresent, then wheresoever we are, our God is
present with us : if we are in prison alone with Joseph, our God is pre-
sent with us there ; or if we are in exile alone with David, ovir God is
present with us there ; or if we are alone in our closets, our God is
present with us there.* God seeth us in secret ; and therefore let us seek
his face in secret. Though heaven be God's palace, yet it is not his
prison. But,

[15.] Fifteenthly, He that willingly neglects private prayer shall
certainly be neglected in his public prayer ; he that will not call upon
God in secret shall find by sad experience that God will neither hear
him nor regard him in public. Want of private duties is the great
reason why the hearts of many are so dead and dull, so formal and
carnal, so barren and unfruitful under public ordinances. Oh that
Christians would seriously lay this to heart ! Certainly, that man or
woman's heart is best in public who is most frequent in private. They
make most yearnings in public ordinances that are most conscientiously
exercised in closet duties. No man's graces rises so high, nor no man's
experiences rises so high, nor no man's communion with God rises so
high, nor no man's divine enjoyments rises so high, nor no man's
springs of comfort rises so high, nor no man's hopes rises so high, nor
no man's parts and gifts rises so high, &c., as theirs do, who conscien-
tiously wait upon God in their closets before they wait upon him in
the assembly of his people ; and who when they return from public or-
dinances retire into their closets and look up to heaven for a blessing
upon the public means. It is certain that private duties fit the soul

^ A remark assigned to Hegesias the Magnesian ; by Cicero to Timseus of Tauro-
menium. Plutarch : Alexander, 3. Cicero, de Nat. Deor, ii. 27. — G-

Mat. VL 6.] the privy key of heaven. 193

for public ordinances. He that makes conscience to wait upon God in
private, shall find by experience that God will wonderfully bless public
ordinances to him, Micah ii, 7. My design is not to set up one ordi-
nance of God above another, nor to cause one ordinance of God to clash
with another, — the public with the private, or the private with the public,
— but that every ordinance may have its proper place and right, the
desires of my soul being to prize every ordinance, and to praise every
ordinance, and to practise every ordinance, and to improve every ordi-
nance, and to bless the Lord for every ordinance. But as ever you
would see the beauty and glory of God in his sanctuary, as ever you
would have public ordinances to be lovely and lively to your souls, as
ever you would have your drooping spirits revived, and your languish-
ing souls refreshed, and your weak graces strengthened, and your strong
corruptions weakened under public ordinances, be more careful and
conscientious in the performance of closet duties, Ps. Ixiii. 1-3. Oh
how strong in grace ! Oh how victorious over sin ! Oh how dead to
the world ! Oh how alive to Christ ! Oh how fit to live ! Oh how
prepared to die ! might many a Christian have been, had they been but
more frequent, serious, and conscientious in the discharge of closet-
duties. Not but that I think there is a truth in that saying of Bede —
the word church being rightly understood— viz.. That he that comes not
willingly to church shall one day go unwillingly to helL But,

[16.] Sixteenthly, Consider, the times wherein we live call aloud for
secret prayenr. Hell seems to be broke loose, and men turned into in-
carnate devils •} land-destroying and soul-damning wickednesses walk
up and down the streets with a whore's forehead, without the least
check or control : Jer. iii. 3, ' Thou hast a whore's forehead, thou re-
fusest to be ashamed ;' chap. vi. 15, ' Were they ashamed when they
committed abomination ? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither
could they blush.' They had sinned away shame, instead of being
ashamed of sin. Custom in sin had quite banished all sense of sin and
all shame for sin, so that they would not suffer nature to draw her veil
of blushing before their great abominations. They were like to
Caligula, a wicked emperor, who used to say of himself, that he loved
nothing better in himself than that he could not be ashamed. The
same words are repeated in chap. viii. 12. How applicable these scrip-
tures are to the present time I will leave the prudent reader to judge.
But what doth the prophet do now they were as bold in sin and as
shameless as so many harlots ? That you may see in Jer. xiii. 17 : * But
if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places,' or secresies,
' for your pride ; and mine eye shall weep sore ' (Hebrew, weeping weep,
or shedding tears shed tears ; the doubling of the verb notes the bitter
and grievous lamentation that he should make for them), 'and run
down with tears.' Now they were grown up to that height of sin and
wickedness, that they were above all shame and blushing ; now they
were grown so proud, so hardened, so obstinate, so rebellious, so mad
upon mischief, that no mercies could melt them or allure them, nor no
threatenings nor judgments could any ways terrify them or stop them.
The prophet goes into a corner, he retires himself into the most secret

' Ourtiiis, an heathen, could say that he was an undone man that knoweth no ehame.

VOL. IL N

194 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

places, and there he weeps bitterly, there he weeps as if he were re-
solved to drown himself in his own tears. When the springs of sorrow
rise high, a Christian turns his back upon company, and retires himself
into places of greatest privacy, that so he may the more freely and the
more fully vent his sorrow and grief before the Lord. Ah, England,
England ! what pride, luxury, lasciviousness, licentiousness, wanton-
ness, drunkenness, cruelties, injustice, oppressions, fornications, adul-
teries, falsehoods, hypocrisy, bribery, atheism, horrid blasphemies, and
hellish impieties, are now to be found rampant in the midst of thee !
Ah, England ! England ! how are the Lord's Sabbaths profaned, pure
ordinances despised, Scriptures rejected, the Spirit resisted and derided,
the righteous reviled, wickedness countenanced, and Christ many thou-
sand times in a day by these cursed practices afresh crucified ! Ah,
England 1 England ! were our forefathers alive, how sadly would they
blush to see such a horrid degenerate posterity as is to be found in the
midst of thee ! How is our forefathers' hospitality converted into riot
and luxury, their frugality into pride and prodigality, their simplicity into
subtilty, their sincerity into hypocrisy, their charity into cruelty, their
chastity into chambering and wantonness, their sobriety into drunken-
ness, their plain-dealing into dissembling, their works of compassion
into works of oppression, and their love to the people of God into an
utter enmity against the people of God I &c. And what is the voice of
all these crying abominations, but every Christian to his closet, every
Christian to his closet, and there weep, with weeping Jeremiah, bitterly,
for all these great abominations whereby God is dishonoured openly.
Oh weep in secret for their sins who openly glory in their sins, which
should be their greatest shame. Oh blush in secret for them that are
past all blushing for their sins ; for who knows but that the whole
land may fare the better for the sakes of a few that are mourners in
secret ? But however it goes with the nation, such as mourn in secret
for the abominations of the times, may be confident that when sweep-
ing judgments shall come upon the land, the Lord will hide them in
the secret chambers of his providence, he will set a secret mark of de-
liverance upon their foreheads that mourn in secret for the crying sins
of the present day, as he did upon theirs in Ezek. ix. 4-6.

[17.] Seventeenthly, Consider that the near and dear relations that
you stand in to the Lord calls aloud for secret prayer, John xv. 14,
1 5. You are his friends. Now, a true friend loves to visit his friend
when he may find him alone, and enjoy privacy with him. A true
friend loves to pour out his heart into the bosom of his friend when he
hath him in a comer, or in the field, or under a hedge. You are his
favourites ; and what favourite is there that hides his secret from his
prince ? Do not all favourites open their hearts to their princes when
they are alone ? You are his children ; and what ingenuous child is
there that doth not delight to be much with his father when he is alone,
■when nobody is by ? Oh, how free and open are children when they
have their parents alone, beyond what they are when company is pre-
sent. You are the spouse of Christ ; and what spou.se, what wife is
there that doth not love to be much with her husband when he is alone?
True lovers are always best when they are most alone : Cant, vii, 10-1 2,
' I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me. Come, my beloved,

Mat. VI 6.] the privy key of heaven. 195

let us go forth into the field ; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get
up early to the vineyards ; let us see if the vines flourish, whether the
tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth : there will I give
thee my loves.' The spouse of Christ is very desirous to enjoy his com-
pany in the fields, that so, having her beloved alone, she might the
more freely and the more secretly open her heart to him. As wives,
when they are walking alone with their husbands in the fields, are more
free to open their minds and the secrets of their hearts, than they are
when in their houses with their children and servants about them, so
it was with the spouse. Without all perad venture, they have very
great cause to question whether they are Christ's real friends, favourites,
children, spouse, who seldom or never converse with Christ in their
closets, who are shy of Christ when they are alone, who never accustom
themselves to give Christ secret visits. What Delilah said to Samson,
Judges xvi. 15, ' How canst thou say, I love thee, when thou hast not
told me wherein thy great strength lieth' (the discovery of which secret
at last cost him his life), that, Christ may say to very many in our days :
How can you say you love me, when you never acquaint me with your
secrets ? How can you say you love me, when you never bestow any
private visits upon me ? How can you say that you are my friends,
my faithful friends, my bosom-friends, when you never in private un-
bosom yourselves to me ? How can you say that you are my favourites,
when you can spend one month after another, and one quarter of a
year after another, and yet not let me know one of all your secrets,
when every day you might have my ear in secret if you pleased ? How
can you say that you are my children, and yet be so close and reserved
as you are ? How can you say you are my spouse, and that you lie in
my bosom, and yet never take any delight to open your hearts, your
secrets, to me when I am alone ? What Alexander said to one that
was of his name, but a coward, * Either lay down the name of Alex-
ander, or fight like Alexander,'^ that I say to you. Either be frequent in
closet duties, as becomes a Christian, or else lay down the name of a
Christian ; either unbosom yourselves in secret to Christ, as friends,
favourites, children, spouses, or else lay down these names, &c. But,

[18.] EigMeentMy, Consider that God hath set a special mark of
favour, honour, a/rid observation, upon those that have prayed in
secret. As you may see in Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 28 ; and in Abraham,
Gen. xxi. 33 ; and in Isaac, Gen. xxiv. 63 ; and in Jacob, Gen. xxxii.
24-29 ; and in David, Ps. Iv. 16, 17 ; and in Daniel, chap. vi. 10 ; and
in Paul, Acts ix. 11 ; and in Cornelius, Acts x. 2, 4 ; and in Peter,
Acts X. 9-12 ; and in Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19. God hath put
all these worthies that have exercised themselves in secret prayer upon
record, to their everlasting fame and honour. The Persians seldom
write their king's name but in characters of gold. God hath writ, as
I may say, their names in characters of gold who have made conscience
of exercising themselves in secret prayer. The precious names of those
that have addicted themselves to closet-duties are as statues of gold,
which the polluted breath of men can no ways stain ; they are like so
many shining suns that no clouds can darken ; they are like so many
sparkling diamonds that shine brightest in the darkest night. A Chris-
' Plutarch, Alexander.— Qt.

196 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI 6.

tian can never get into a hole, a corner, a closet, to pour out his soul
before the Lord, but the Lord makes an honourable observation of him,
.and sets a secret mark of favour upon him, Ezek. ix. 4-6. And how-
should this provoke all Christians to be much with God alone ! The
Romans were very ambitious of obtaining a great name, a great report,
in this world ; and why should not Christians be as divinely ambitious
of obtaining a good name, a good report, in the other world ? Heb. xi,
39. A good name is always better than a great name, and a name in
heaven is infinitely better than a thousand names on earth ; and the
way to both these is to be much with God in secret. But,

[19.] Nineteenthly, Consider that Satan is a very great enemy to
secret prayer. Secret prayer is a scourge, a hell to Satan. Every
secret prayer adds to the devil's torment, and every secret sigh adds to
his torment, and every secret groan adds to his torment, and every
secret tear adds to his torment. When a child of God is on his knees
in his secret addresses to God, oh the strange thoughts, the earthly
thoughts, the wandering thoughts, the distracted thoughts, the hideous
thoughts, the blasphemous thoughts, that Satan often injects into his
soul ! and all to wean him from secret prayer.^ Sometimes he tells the
soul, that it is in vain to seek God in secret ; and at other times he
tells the soul it is too late to seek God in secret ; for the door of mercy
is shut, and there is no hope, no help for the soul. Sometimes he tells
the soul that it is enough to seek God in public ; and at other times he
tells the soul, that it is but a precise trick to seek the Lord in private.
Sometimes he tells the soul, that it is not elected, and therefore all his
secret prayers shall be rejected ; and at other times he tells the soul,
that it is sealed up unto the day of wrath, and therefore a secret prayer
can never reverse that seal ; and all this to dishearten and discourage a
poor Christian in his secret retirements. Sometimes Satan will object
to a poor Christian the greatness of his sins ; and at other times he will
object against a Christian the greatness of his un worthiness. Some-
times he will object against a Christian his want of grace ; and at other
times he will object against a Christian his want of gifts to manage
such a duty as it should be managed. Sometimes he will object against
a Christian his former straitenedness in secret prayer ; and at other
times he will object against a Christian the small yearnings that he
makes of secret prayer ; and all to work the soul out of love with secret
prayer, yea, to work the soul to loathe secret prayer ; so deadly an enemy
is Satan to secret prayer. Oh, the strange fears, fancies, and conceits,
that Satan often raises in the spirits of Christians, when they are alone
with God in a comer ; and all to work them to cast off private prayer.
It is none of Satan's least designs to interrupt a Christian in his private
trade with God. Satan watches all a Christian's motions ; so that he
cannot turn into his closet, nor creep into any hole to converse privately
with his God, but he follows him hard at heels, and will be still inject-
ing one thing or another into the soul, or else objecting one thing or
another against the soul. A Christian is as well able to tell the stars
' There is no one thing that many hundred Cliristians have more sadly lamented and
bewailed, as many faithful ministers can witness, tlian the sad interruptions that they
have met with from Satan, when they have been with God alone in a room, in a corner.
Oh ! how often have they been scared, aflfrighted, and amazed by noises and strange
apparitions, at least to their fancies, when they have been alone with God in a corner.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 197

of heaven, and to number the sands of the sea, as he is able to number
up the several devices and sleights that Satan uses to obstruct the soul's
private addresses to God. Now from that great opposition that Satan
makes against private prayer, a Christian may safely conclude these five
things :

(1.) First, The ecccellency of private prayer. Certainly if it were
not an excellent thing for a man to be in secret with God, Satan would
never make such head against it.

(2.) Secondly, The necessity of this duty. The more necessary any
duty is to the internal and eternal welfare of a Christian, the more Satan
will bestir himself to blunt a Christian's spirit in that duty.

(3.) Thirdly, The utility or profit that attends a conscientious dis-
charge of this duty. Where we are like to gain most, there Satan
loves to oppose most.

(4.) Fourthly, The prevalency of private prayer. If there were not
a kind of omnipotency in it, if it were not able to do wonders in heaven,
and wonders on earth, and wonders in the hearts and lives and ways
of men, Satan would never have such an aching tooth against it as he
hath.

(5.) Fifthly, That God is highly honoured by this duty, or else
Satan would never be so greatly enraged against it. This is certain. The
more glory God hath from any service we do, the more Satan will strive
by all his wiles and sleights to take us, either off from that service, or so
to interrupt us in that service, that God may have no honour, nor we
no good, nor himself no hurt, by our private retirements. But, in the
[20.] Twentieth and last place, Consider, that you are only the Lord's
secret ones, his hidden ones ; and therefore if you do not apply your-
selves to private prayer, and to your secret retirements, that you may
enjoy God in a comer, none will. It is only God's hidden ones, his
secret ones, that are spirited, principled, and prepared to wait on God
in secret : Exod. xix. 5, ' Then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me
above all people.' The Hebrew word segullah signifieth God's special
jewels, God's proper ones, or God's secret ones, that he keeps in store for
himself, and for his own special service and use. Princes lock up with
their own hands in secret their most precious and costly jewels ; and so
doth God his : Ps. cxxxv. 4, ' For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto him-
self, and Israel for his peculiar treasure,' or for his secret gem : Ps.
Ixxxiii. 3, ' They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and con-
sulted against thy hidden ones,' or thy secret ones ; so called partly
because God hides them in the secret of his tabernacle, Ps. xxxi. 20, and
partly because God sets as high a value upon them as men do upon their
hidden treasure, their secret treasure ; yea, he makes more reckoning
of them than he doth of all the world besides. And so the world shall
know when God shall arise to revenge the wrongs and injuries that hath
been done to his secret ones. Neither are there any on earth that knows
so much of the secrets of his love, of the secrets of his counsels, of the
secrets of his purposes, of the secrets of his heart, as his secret ones do.
Neither are there any in all the world that are under those secret in-
fluences, those secret assistances, those secret incomes, those secret
anointings of the Spirit, as his secret ones are under. And therefore,
no wonder if God calls them again, and again, and again, his secret ones.

198 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

Now, what can be more comely or more desirable than to see their
natures and their practices to answer to their names ? They are the
Lord's secret ones, his hidden ones ; and therefore how highly doth it
concern them to be much with God in secret, and to hide themselves
with God in a comer ! Shall Nabal's nature and practice answer to his
name ? 1 Sam. xxv, 25, ' Let not my Lord, I pray thee, regard this man
of Belial, even Nabal : for as his name is, so is he : Nabal is his name,
and folly is with him.' Nabal signifies a fool, a sot, a churl ; it notes
one that is void of wisdom and goodness ; it signifieth one whose mind,
reason, judgment, and understanding is withered and decayed. Now, if
you look into the story, you shall find that as face answers to face, so
Nabal's nature and practice did echo and answer to his name. And
why then, should not our natures and practices answer to our names
also ? We are called the Lord's secret ones, his hidden ones ; and how
highly therefore doth it concern us to be much with God in secret !
Why should there be any jarring or discord between oiu: names and our
practices? It is observable that the practice and carriage of other
saints have been answerable to their names. Isaac signifies laughter,
and Isaac was a gracious son, a dutiful son, a son that kept clear of
those abominations with which many of the patriarchs had defiled them-
selves, a son that proved matter of laughter to his father and mother
all their days. So Josiah signifies * the fire of the Lord ;' and his prac-
tice did answer to his name. Witness the pulling down of Jeroboam's
altar, and his burning of the vessels that were made for Baal, and his
pulling down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had set
up, and his burning the grove at the brook Kedron, and his stamping
it to powder, and his breaking down the houses of the Sodomites,
and his defiling of the high places where the priests had burnt
incense, and his breaking in pieces the images, and cutting down the
groves, and filling their places with the bones of men, &c., 1 Kings xiii. 2,
2 Kings xxiii. 4-21. So Joshua signifies 'a saviour;' and his practice
was answerable to his name. Though he could not save his people from
their sins, yet he often saved them from their sufferings. Great and
many were the deliverances, the salvations, that were instiiimentally
brought about by Joshua, as all know that have read the book of
Joshua. So John signifies ' gracious,' and his practice was answerable
to his name. He was so gracious in his teachings and in his walkings
that he gained favour in the very eyes of his enemies. By all these
instances, and by many more that might be given, you see that other
saints' practices have answered to their names ; and, therefore, let every
one of us look that our practices do also answer to our names, that as
we are called the Lord's secret ones, so we may be much with God in
secret, that so there may be a blessed harmony between our names and*
our practices, and we may never repent another day that we have been
called God's secret ones, his ' hidden ones,' but yet never made con-
science of maintaining secret communion with God in our closets. And
thus you see that there are no less than twenty arguments to persuade
you to closet prayer, and to maintain private communion with God in
a corner.

The use and application of all follows.

Is it 80 that closet prayer or private prayer is such an indispensable

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 1 99

duty, tliat Christ himself hath laid upon all thai are not willing to lie
under the woful brand of being hypocrites ? Then this truth looks very
sourly and sadly upon these five sorts of persons.

(1.) Fi7'st, It looks sourly and sadly upon all those that put off
secret prayer, private prayer, till they are moved to it by the Spirit;
for by this sad delusion many have been kept from secret prayer many
weeks, many months ; oh that I might not say, many years ! Though
it be a very fit season to pray when the Spirit moves us to. pray, yet it
is not the only season to pray, Isa. Ixii. 1, Ps. cxxiii. 1, 2, Glal. iv. 6. He
that makes religion his business, will pray as daily for daily grace as he
doth pray daily for daily bread : Luke xviii. 1, ' And he spake a parable
unto them to this end, that men oilght always to pray, and not to faint ;'
1 Thes. v. 17, 'Pray without ceasing;' Eph. vi. 18, 'Praying always ^
with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto
with aU perseverance, and supplication for all saints ;' Rom. xii. 12,
* Continuing instant in prayer.' The Greek is a metaphor taken from
hunting dogs, that never give over the game till they have got their
prey. A Christian must not only pray, but hold on in prayer, till he
hath got the heavenly prize. We are wanting always ; and therefore we
had need be praying always. The world is always alluring ; and there-
fore we had need be always a-praying ; Satan is always a-tempting ;
and therefore we had need be always a-praying ; and we are always
a-sinning ; and therefore we had need be always a-praying ; and we are
in dangers always ; and therefore we had need be prajring always ; and
we are dying always, 1 Cor. xv. 31 ; and therefore we had need be pray-
ing always. Man's whole life is but a lingering death ; man no sooner
begins to live, but he begins to die. When one was asked why he
prayed six times a day, he only gave this answer, * I must die, I must
die, I must die.' Dying Christians had need be praying Christians,
and they that are always a-dying had need be always a-praying. Cer-
tainly prayerless families are graceless families, and prayerless persons
are graceless persons, Jer. x. 25. It were better ten thousand times
that we had never been bom iuto the Avorld, than that we should go
still-bom out of the world. But,

(2.) Secondly, This truth looks sourly and sadly upon those that pray
not at all, neither in their families nor in their closets. Among all
God's children, there is not one possessed with a dumb devil. Prayer-
less persons are forsaken of God, blinded by Satan, hardened in sin,
and every breath they draw liable to all temporal, spiritual, and eternal
judgments. Prayer is that part of natural worship due to God, which
none will deny but stark atheists, Ps. xiv. 1.^

It is observable that amongst the worst of men, Turks, and the worst
of Turks, the Moors, it is a just exception against any witness, by their
law, that he hath not prayed six times in every natural day, it being
usual with them to pray six times a day.

(1.) Before the daybreak they pray for day.

(2.) When it is day, they give thanks for day.

' (> !r«»T) Koi^a. In every season, as occasion and opportunity offers itself, we must
pray.

* That wicked men ought to pray, and the grand objection against their prayers an-
swered at large in my treatise called ' The Crown and Glory of Christianity,' from page
326 to page 337. [See tub voce. Vol. IV.— G.]

200 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. YI. 6.

(3.) At noon, they thank God for half the day past.

(4.) After that, they pray for a good sunset.

(5.) And after that, they thank God for the day past.

And then, sixthly and lastly, they pray for a good night after their
day.

Certainly these very Moors will one day rise in judgment against
them who cast off prayer, who live in a total neglect of prayer, who
suffer so many suns and moons to rise and set upon their heads without
any solemn calling upon God. I have read of a man who, being sick,
and afraid of death, fell to his prayers ; and, to move God to hear him,
told him ' that he was no common beggar, and that he had never
troubled him with his prayers before; and if he would but hear him at
that time, he would never trouble him again.'' This world is full of
such profane, blasphemous, atheistical wretches. But,

(3.) Thirdly, This truth looks very sourly and sadly upon such whx)
are all for public prayer, but never regard private prayer; who are
all for going up to the temple, but never care for going into their
closets. This is most palpable hypocrisy, for a man to be very zealous
for public prayer, but very cold and careless as to private prayer. He
that pretends conscience in the one, and makes no conscience of the
other, is an hypocrite in grain. Mat. xxiii. 5, and vi. 1, 2, 5 ; and the
devil knows well enough how to make his markets of all such hypo-
crites that are all for the prayers of the church, but perfect Gallios as
to private prayer. Acts xviii. 17. Such as perform all their private
devotion in the church, but not in the chamber, do put too great a
slight upon the authority of Christ, who saith, ' When thou prayest,
enter into thy chamber :' he doth not say, ' When thou prayest, go to
the church,' but, ' When thou prayest, go into thy chamber.' But,

(4.) Fourthly, This truth looks sadly and sourly upon such who in
their closets pray with a loud clamorous voice. A Christian should
shut both the door of his closet and the door of his lips so close, that
none should hear without what he saith within. * Enter into thy closet,*
saith Christ, ' and when thou hast shut thy door, pray.' But what
need a man shut his closet door, if he may pray with a clamorous voice,
if he make such a noise as all in the street or all in the house may hear
him ? The hen, when she lays her eggs, gets into a hole, a corner ; but
then she makes such a noise with her cackling, that she tells all in the
house where she is, and about what she is. Such Christians that in
their closets, do imitate the hen, do rather pray to be seen, heard,
and observed by men, than out of any noble design to glorify God,
or to pour out their souls before him that seeth in secret. Sometimes
children, when they are vexed, or afraid of the rod, will run behind
the door, or get into a dark hole, and there they will lie crying, and
sighing, and sobbing, that all the house may know where they are.
Oh it is a childish thing so to cry, and sigh, and sob in our closets, as to
tell all in the house where we are, and about what work we are. Well !
Christians, for an effectual redress of this evil, frequently and seriously
consider of these five things.

[1.] First, That God seeth in secret.

[2.] Secondly, That God hath a quick ear, and is taken more with
» Heil. Mic. p. 876.

Mat. VI. 6.] the peivy key of heaven. 201

the voice of the heart, than lie is with the dainour of the mouth. God
can easily hear the most secret breathings of thy soul. God is more
curious in observing the messages delivered by the heart, than he is
those that are only delivered by the mouth. He that prays aloud in
private, seems to tell others, that God doth not understand the secret
desires, and thoughts, and workings of his people's hearts.

[3.] Thirdly, It is not meet, it is not convenient nor expedient, that
any should he acquainted with our secret prayers, hut Ood and our
own sovXs. Now it is as much our duty to look to what is expedient,
as it is to look to what is lawful, 2 Cor. viii. 10 ; 1 Cor. vi. 12, ' All things
are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.' So chap. x. 23,
' All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient : all things
are lawful for me, but all things edify not.' Now it is so far from being
expedient, that it is very high folly for men to lay open their secret in-
firmities unto others, that will rather deride them, than lift up a prayer
for them.

[4.] Fouiihly, Loud prayers may he a hindrance and disturbance
to others, that may he busied near us, in some religious or civil exer-
cises.

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, Hannah prayed and yet spoke never a word.
Her heart was full, but her voice was not heard, 1 Sam. i. 11. Moses
prays and cries, and yet lets fall never a word : Exod. xiv. 15, ' And
the Lord said unto Moses, Wherfore criest thou unto me ? ' Moses did
not cry with any audible voice, but with inward sighs, and secret breath-
ings, and wrestlings of soul ; and these inward and secret cries, which
made no noise, carried the day with God ; for Moses is heard and an-
swered, and his people are delivered. Oh the prevalency of those prayers
that make no noise in the ears of others !

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, This truth looks sourly and sadly upon those
that do all they can to hinder and discourage others from this duty of
duties, private prayer ; and that either by deriding or vilifying of the
duty, or else by denying of it to be a duty, or else by their daily neglect
of this duty, or else by denying them that are under them, time and
opportunity for the discharge of this duty. In Mat. xxiii. 13, you have
a woe pronounced against those that wiU neither go to heaven them-
selves, nor suffer others to go that are willing to enter into an everlasting
rest. And so I say, Woe to those parents, and woe to those husbands,
and woe to those masters and mistresses, that will neither pray in their
closets themselves, nor suffer their children, nor their wives, nor their
servants, to pour out their souls before the Lord in a corner. O sirs !
how will you answer this to your consciences, when you shall lie upon
a dying bed ! and how will you answer it to the Judge of all the world,
when you shall stand before a judgment seat ? Certainly all their sins,
and all their neglects, and all their spiritual losses, that might have been
prevented by their secret prayers, by their closet communion with
God, will one day be charged upon your accounts. And oh that you
were all so wise as to lay these things so to heart, that you may never
hinder any that are under your care or charge, from private prayer any
more ! But,

^. Secondly, This may serve to exhort us, to keep close to our closets,
to be frequent and constant in private prayer, to be often with God in

202 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

a corner. The twenty considerations already laid down may serve as
so many motives to provoke your hearts to this noble and necessary duty.

Objection. But many will be ready to object and say, We have Triuch
busiTiess upon our hands, anA we canTwt spare time for private prayer;
we have so much to do in our slwps, and in our ivarehouses, and abroad
with others, that we cannot spare time to wait upon the Loi^d in our
closets.

Now to this objection I shall give these eight answers, that this ob-
jection may never have a resurrection more in any of your hearts.

(1.) First, Wlud are all those busxTiesses that are upon your hands,
to those businesses and weighty affairs, that did lie upon the hands of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Elias, Nehemiah, Peter,
Cornelius P and yet you find all these worthies exercising themselves
in private prayers. And the king is commanded every day to read some
part of God's word, notwithstanding all his great and weighty employ-
ments, Deut. xvii. 18-20. Now certainly, sirs, your great businesses are
little more than ciphers compared with theirs. And if there were any
on earth that might have pleaded an exemption from private prayer,
upon the account of business, of much business, of great business, these
might have done it ; but they were more honest and more noble than
to neglect so choice a duty, upon the account of much business. These
brave hearts made all their public employments stoop to private prayer ;
they would never suffer their public employments to tread private prayer
under foot. But,

(2.) Secondly, I answer, No men's outward affairs did ever rfim^e
prosper than theirs did, who devoted themselves to private prayer,
notwitlistanding their many and great worldly employments. Witness
the prosperity and outward flourishing estates of Moses, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Nehemiah, David, Daniel, and Cornelius. These were much with
God in their closets, and God blessed their blessings to them. Gen. xxii. 1 7.
How did their cups overflow ! What signal favours did God heap upon
them and theirs ! No families have been so prospered, protected, and
graced, as theirs who have maintained secret communion with God in a
corner, 1 Chron. xi. 9. Private prayer doth best expedite our temporal
affairs. He that prays weU in his closet, shall be sure to speed well in his
shop, or at his plough, or whatever else he turns his hand unto, 1 Tim.
iv. 8. It is true, Abimelech was rich as well as Abraham, and so was
Laban rich as well as Jacob, and Saul was a king as well as David, and
Julian was an emperor as well as Constantino ; but it was only Abraham,
Jacob, David, and Constantino, who had their blessings blessed unto them,
all the rest had their blessings cursed unto them, Prov. iii. 33, Mai. ii. 2.
They had many good things, but they had not ' the good will of him
that dwelt in the bush' with what they had ; and therefore all their
mercies were but bitter-sweets unto themu Though all the sons of Jacob
returned laden from Egypt with corn and money in their sacks, yet
Benjamin only had the silver cup in the mouth of his sack. So though
the men of the world have their com and their money, &c., yet it is only
God's Benjamins that have the silver cup, the grace cup, the cup of
blessing, as the apostle calls it, for their portion, 1 Cor. x. 1 6. O sirs !
as ever you would prosper and flourish in the world ; as ever you would
' Seo the first conaideratiou. [Pages 166-169 ante. — G.]

Mat. VI. 6.J the privy key of heaven. 203

have your water turned into Avine, your temporal mercies into spiritual
benefits, be much with God in your closets. But,

(3.) Thirdly, I answer, It is ten to one but that the objector evei^
day fools away, or trifles away, or idles away, or sins away, one hour
i/n a day, and why then should he object the want of time? There
are none that toil and moil and busy themselves most in their worldly
employments, but do spend an hour .or more in a day to little or no
purpose, either in gazing about, or in dallying, or toying, or courting, or
in telling of stories, or in busying, themselves in other men's matters,
or in idle visits, or in smoking the pipe, &c.^ And why then should
not these men redeem an hour's time in a day for private prayer, out of
that time which they usually spend so vainly and idly ? Can you, not-
withstanding all your great worldly employments, find an hour in the
day to catch flies in, as Domitian the emperor did ? and to play the fool
in ? and cannot you find an hour in the day to wait on God in your
closets ?

There were three special faults whereof Cato professed himself to
have seriously repented : one was, passing by water when he might
have gone by land ; another was, trusting a secret in a woman's bosom ;
but the main was, spending an hour unprofitably. This heathen will
one day rise up in judgment against them who, notwithstanding their
great employments, spend many hours in a week unprofitably, and yet
cry out with the Duke of Alva, that they have so much to do on earth,
that they have no time to look up to heaven. It was a base and sordid
spirit in that King Sardanapalus, who spent much of his time amongst
women in spinning and carding, which should have been spent in ruling
and governing his kingdom. So it is a base sordid spirit in any, to
spend any of their time in toying and trifling, and then to cry out, that
they have so much business to do in the world, that they have no time
for closet-prayer, they have no time to serve God, nor to save their own
precious and immortal souls. But,

(4.) Fourthly, I answer. No man dares plead this objection before
the Lord Jesus in the great day of axicount, Eccles. xi. 9 ; Rom. xiv. 10 ;
2 Cor. V. 10. And why then should any man be so childish and foolish,
so ignorant and impudent to plead that before men, which is not plead-
able before the judgment-seat of Christ. sirs I as you love your
souls, and as you would be happy for ever, never put off your own con-
sciences nor others' with any pleas, arguments, or objections now, that
you dare not own and stand by, when you shall lie upon a dying bed,
and when you shall appear before the whole court of heaven, &c. In
the great day of account, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made
manifest, and God shall call men to a reckoning before angels, men, and
devils, for the neglect of private prayer, all guilty persons will be found
speechless : there will not be a man or woman found, that shall dare to
stand up and say, ' Lord, I would have waited upon thee in my closet,
but that I had so much business to do in the world, that I had no time
to enjoy secret communion with thee in a corner/ It is the greatest

* Myrmecides, a famous artist, spent more time in making a bee, than an unskilful
workman would do to build a house. — [Plutarch, o. v. Varro L. Ivii. ix. 62 ; Cicero, Acad.
ii. 38.— G.]

204 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

wisdom in the world, to plead nothing by way of excuse in this our day,
that we dare not plead in the great day. But,

(5.) FiftMy, I answer, That it is our duty to redeem time from all
our secular businesses for private prayer.^ All sorts of Christians,
whether bond or free, rich or poor, high or low, superiors or inferiors,
are expressly charged by God to redeem time for prayer, for private
prayer, as well as for other holy. exercises : Col. iv. 2, 3, ' Continue in
prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving ; withal praying also
for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the
mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.'

But here some may object and say. We have so much business to do
in the world that we have no time for prayer. The apostle answers
this objection in verse 5, ' Walk in wisdom towards them that are with-
. out, redeeming the time.' So Eph. v. 16, ' Redeeming the time, because
the days are evil ;' B^ayopa^6//.£voi rhv xai^hv, or buying out, or gaining the
time. The words are a metaphor taken from merchants, who prefer the
least profit that may be gained, before their pleasures or delights, closely
following their business whilst the markets are at best. A merchant
when he comes to a mart or fair, takes the first season and opportunity
of buying his commodities ; he puts it not off to the hazard of an even-
ing, or to the next morning, in hopes to have a better bargain, but he
improves the present season, and buys before the market is over.

Others carry the words thus : ' Purchase at any rate all occasions and
opportunities of doing good, that so ye may thereby, in some sort,
redeem that precious jewel of time which you have formerly lost' As
travellers that have loitered by the way, or stayed long at their inn,
when they find night coming upon them, they mend their pace, and
go as many miles in an hour as they did before in many. Though
time let slip is physically irrecoverable, yet in a moral consideration, it
is accounted as regained, when men double their care, diligence, and
endeavours to redeem it. The best Christian is he that is the greatest
monopoliser of time for private prayer. No Christian to him that
redeems time from his worldly occasions and his lawful comforts and
recreations, to be with God in his closet. David having tasted of the
sweetness, goodness, and graciousness of God, cannot keep his bed, but
will borrow some time from his sleep, that he might take some turns
in paradise, and pour out his soul in prayer and praises, when no eye
was open to see him, nor no ear open to hear him, but all were asleep
round about him, Ps. Ixiii. 6. Ps. cxix. 62, ' At midnight will I arise
to give thanks unto thee,' Verse 147, 'I have prevented the dawning
* of the morning, and cried.' David was up and at private prayer before
daybreak. David was no sluggish Christian, no slothful Christian, no
lazy Christian : he used to be in his closet when others were sleeping
in their beds. So ver. 148, ' Mine eyes prevent the night-watches,
^that I might meditate in thy word.' So Ps. cxxx. 6, ' My soul waiteth
for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning ; I say, more
than they that watch for the morning.' Look, as the weary sentinel
in a dark, cold, wet night, waits and peeps, and peeps and waits for the
appearance of the morning ; so David did wait and peep, and peep and

^ It is said of blessed Hooper, that he was spare of diet, spare of words, and sparest of
time.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heavex. 205

wait for the first and fittest season to pour out his soul before God in
a comer. David would never suffer his worldly business to justle out
holy exercises ; he would often borrow time from the world for private
prayer, but he would never borrow time from private prayer to bestow
it upon the world.

Mr Bradford, the martyr, counted that hour lost wherein he did not
some good, either with his pen, tongue, or purse.

Ignatius, when he heard a clock strike, would use to say, ' Now I have
one hour more to answer for.'

So the primitive Christians would redeem some time from their
sleep, that they might be with God in their closets, as Clemens observes.

And I have read of Theodosius [Nicephorus] the emperor, that after
the variety of worldly employments relating to his civil affairs in the
day time were over, how he was wont to consecrate the greatest part of
the night to the studying of the Scriptures and private prayer ; to which
purpose he had a lamp so artificially made, that it supplied itself with
oil, that so he might no way be interrupted in his private retire-
ments.

That time ought to be redeemed, is a lesson that hath been taught
by the very heathens themselves. It was the saying of Pittacus, one of
the seven wise men, ' Know time, lose not a minute.' And so Theo-
phrastus used to say, that ' Time is of precious cost.' And so Seneca :
'Time is the only thing,' saith he, 'that we can innocently be covetous of;
and yet there is nothing of which many are more lavishly and profusely
prodigal.' And Chrestus, a sophister of Byzantium in the time of
Hadriauus the emperor, he was much given to wine ; yet he always
counted time so precious, that when he had misspent his time all the
day, he would redeem it at night.

When Titus Vespasian, who revenged Christ's blood on Jerusalem,
returned victor to Rome, remembering one night as he sat at supper
with his friends, that he had done no good that day, he uttered this
memorable and praiseworthy apophthegm, Amid, diem perdidi, 'My
friends, I have lost a day.''

Chilo, one of the seven sages, being asked what was the hardest thing
in the world to be done, answered, ' To use and employ a man's time
well.'

Cato held, that an account must be given, not only of our labour, but
also of our leisure. And ^lian gives this testimony of the Lacedaemo-
nians, ' that they were hugely covetous of their time, spending it all
about necessary things, and suffering no citizen either to be idle or play.'
And, saith another, * We trifle with that which is most precious, and
throw away that which is our greatest interest to redeem.'

Certainly, these heathens will rise in judgment, not only against
Domitian the Roman emperor, who spent much of his time in killing
of flies ; nor only against Archimedes, who spent his time in drawing
lines on the ground when Syracuse was taken ; nor against Artaxerxes,
who spent his time in making hafts for knives ; nor only against Soly-
man the great Turk, who spent his time in making notches of horn for
bows ; nor only against Eropas, a Macedonian king, who spent his time
in; making of lanthoms ; nor only against Hyrcanus the king of Farthia
* Suetonius, sub nomine — G.

206 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

who spent his time in catching of moles ;' but also against many pro-
fessors who, instead of redeeming of precious time, do trifle and fool
away much of their precious time at the glass, the comb, the lute, the
viol, the pipe, or at vain sports, and foolish pastimes, or by idle jestings,
immoderate sleeping, and superfluous feasting, &c. O sirs ! good hours,
and blessed opportunities for closet prayer, are merchandise of the
highest rate and price ; and therefore, whosoever hath a mind to be rich
in grace, and to be high in glory, should buy up that merchandise, — they
should be still a-redeeming precious time. sirs ! we should redeem
time for private prayer out of our eating time, our drinking time, our
sleeping time, our buying time, our selling time, our sinning time, our
sporting time, rather than neglect our closet communion with God,
&c. But,

(6.) Sixthly, T answer, Closet prayer is either a duty or it is no duty.
Now that it is a duty, I have so strongly proved, I suppose, that no man
nor devil can fairly or honestly deny it to be a duty. And therefore,
why do men cry out of their great business ? Alas \^ duty must be done
whatever business is left undone ; duty must be done, or the man that
neglects it will be undone for ever. It is a vain thing to object business,
when a required duty is to be performed ; and, indeed, if the bare ob-
jecting of business, of much business, were enough to excuse men from
duty, I am afraid that there are but few duties of the gospel, but men
would endeavour to evade under a pretence of business, of much busi-
ness. He that pretends business to evade private prayer, will be as
ready to pretend business to evade family prayer ; and he that
pretends business to evade family prayer, will be as ready to pretend
business to evade public prayer. Well, sirs ! remember what became
of those that excused themselves out of heaven, by their carnal
apologies, and secular businesses : Luke xiv. 16-24. 'I have bought a
piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it ; I pray thee, have me
excused,' saith one. 'I have bought,' saith another, ' five yoke of oxen,
and I go to prove them ; I pray thee, have me excused.' And, ' I have
married a wife,' saith another, ' and therefore I cannot come.' The true
reason why they would not come to the supper that the King of kings
had invited them to, was not because they had bought farms and oxen,
but because their farms and oxen had bought them. The things of the
world and their carnal relations had taken up so much room in their
hearts and affections, that they had no stomach to heaven's dainties ;
and therefore it is observable what Christ adds at the end of the
parable, ' He that hateth not his father, and mother, and wife, and chil-
dren, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also,' much more
his farm and oxen, ' he cannot be my disciple,' verse 26. By these
words, it is evident, that it was not simply the farm nor the oxen, nor the
wife, but a foolish, inordinate, carnal love and esteem of these things,
above better and greater blessings, that made them refuse the gracious
invitation of Christ. They refused the grace and mercy of God offering
in the gospel, under a pretence of worldly business ; and God peremp-

* (1.) Domitian : SuetonivLS, sub nomine ; (2.) Archimedes: Tlut&Tch, sub nomine ; (3.)
Artaxerxes : Thucydides, tub nomine ; (4.) Solyman : KnoUes, as before ; (5.) Eropus :
rather, Eropon, Livy, xliv, 24, 27, 28 ; (6 ) Hyrcanus : spelled by Brooks, Harcanus.— G.

■ See Glosaary sub voce for peculiar use of this interjection elsewhere. — G.

Mat. VT. G.] the privy key of heaven. 207

torily concludes, that not a man of them should taste of his supper.
And indeed what can be more just and righteous, than that they should
never so much as taste of spiritual and eternal blessings, who prefer
their earthly business before heaven's dainties ; who, with the Reu-
benites, prefer a country commodious for the feeding of their cattle,
before an interest in the land of promise. Private prayer is a work of
absolute necessity, both to the bringing of the heart into a good frame,
and to the keeping of the heart in a good frame. It is of absolute neces-
sity, both for the discovery of sin, and for the preventing of sin, and for
the embittering of sin, and for the weakening of sin, and for the purging
away of sin. It is of absolute necessity, both for the discovery of grace,
and for a full exercise of grace, and for an eminent increase of grace.
It is of absolute necessity to arm us, both against inward and outward
temptations, afflictions, and sufferings. It is of absolute necessity to
fit us for all other duties and services, &c. For a man to glorify God,
to save his own soul, and to further his own everlasting happiness, is
a work of the greatest necessity. Now private prayer is such a work ;
and therefore why should any man plead business, great business, when
a work of such absolute necessity is before him ? If a man's child
or wife were dangerously sick, or wounded, or near to death, he would
never plead, * I have business, I have a great deal of business to do, and
therefore I cannot stay with my child, my wife; and I have no time to
go or send to the physician/ &c. Oh no ! but he would rather argue
thus : ' It is absolutely necessary that I should look after the preser-
vation of the life of my child, my wife, and this I will attend whatever
becomes of my business.' O sirs ! your souls are of greater concernment
to you than the lives of all the wives and children in the world ; and
therefore these must be attended, these must be saved, whatever busi-
ness is neglected. But,

(7.) Seventhly, I answer, Thxit God did Tiever appoint or design
any man's ordinary, particular calling to thrust private prayer out
of door} That it is a great sin for any professor to neglect his parti-
cular calling under any religious pretence, is evident enough by these
scriptures : Exod, xx. 9, ' Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy
work ;' 1 Cor. vii. 20, * Let every man abide in the same calling wherein
he was called ;' 2 Thes. iii. 10-12, 'For even when we were with you,
this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he
eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you dis-
orderly, working not at all, but are busy-bodies. Now them that are
such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with
quietness they work, and eat their own bread;' 1 Thes. iv. 11, 12,
' And that ye study to be qiuet, and to do your own business, and to
work with your own hands, as we commanded you ; that ye may walk
honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of
nothing ;' Eph. iv. 28, ' But rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth ;' 1 Tim. v. 8, * But if any provide not for his own, and spe-
cially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse
than an infidel.' Yea, our Lord Jesus Christ was a plain downright

'■ Paradise was man's workhouse as well as his storehouse, Gen. ii. 15. Man should
not have lived idly though he had not fallen from his innocency.

208 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

carpenter, and was laborious in that particular calling till he entered
upon the public ministry, as all the ancients do agree, Mark vi. 3 ;
Mat. xiii. 55, 56. And we read also that all the patriarchs had their
particular callings. Abel was a keeper of sheep. Gen. iv. 2 ; Noah was
a husbandman, Gen. v. 29 ; the sons of Jacob were shepherds and
keepers of cattle. Gen. xlvi. 34, &c. ; and all the apostles, before they
were called to the work of the ministry, had their particular callings.

By the law of Mahomet, the great Turk himself is bound to exercise
some manual trade or occupation.

Solon made a law,^ that the son should not be bound to relieve his
father when old, unless he had set himself in his youth to some occupa-
tion. And at Athens, every man gave a yearly account to the magis-
trate by what trade or course of life he maintained himself, which, if
he could not do, he was banished. And it is by all writers condemned
as a very great vanity in Dionysius, that would needs be the best poet ;
and Caligula, that would needs be the best orator ; and in Nero, that
would needs be the best fiddler ; and so became the three worst princes,
by minding more other men's business than their own particular calling.
But for a man to evade or neglect private prayer under pretence of his
particular calling, is agreeable to no scripture, yea, it is contrary to very
many scriptures, as is evident by the many arguments formerly cited.
Certainly no man's calling is a calling away from God or godliness. It
never entered into the heart of God that our particular callings should
ever drive out of doors our general calling of Christianity. Look, as
our general calling must not eat up our particular calling, so our par-
ticular calling must not eat up our general calling. Certainly our
particular calling must give place to our general calling. Did not the
woman of Samaria leave her water-pot, and run into the city, and say,
* Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did : is not this
the Christ ?' John iv. 28, 29. Did not the shepherds leave their flocks
in the field, and go to Bethlehem, and declare the good tidings of great
joy that they had heard of the angel, viz. ' That there was born that
day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which was Christ the Lord'? Luke
ii. 8-21. And did not Christ commend Mary for that holy neglect of
her particular calling, when she sat at his feet, and heard his word ?
Luke X. 38, et seq. And what do all these instances shew, but that our
particular callings must give the right hand to the general calling of
Christianity ? Certainly the works of our general calling are far more
great and glorious, more eminent and excellent, more high and noble,
than the works of our particular callings are ; and therefore it is much
more tolerable for our general calling to borrow time of our particular
calling, than it is for our particular calling to borrow time of our general
calling. Certainly those men are very ignorant or very profane, that
either think themselves so closely tied up to follow their particular
callings six days in the week, as that they must not intermeddle with
any religious services, or that think their particular callings to be a
gulf or a grave designed by God to swallow up private prayer in. God,
who is the Lord of time, hath reserved some part of our time to him-
self every day. Though the Jews were commanded to labour six days
of the week, yet they were commanded also to offer up morning and
1 Plutarch, in the Life of Solon.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 209

evening sacrifice daily, Deut. vi. 6-8 ; Exod. xxix. 38, 39 ; Num.
xxviii. 3.

The Jews divided the day into three parts :

The first, to prayer;

The second, for the reading of the law ;

And the 'third, for the works of their lawful callings.

As bad as the Jews were, yet they every day set a part of the day
apart for religious exercises. Certainly they are worse than Jews that
spend all their time about their particular callings, and shut closet-
prayer quite out of doors. Certainly that man's soul is in a very ill
case, who is so entangled with the incumbrances of the world, that he
can spare no time for private prayer. If God be the Lord of thy
mercies, the Lord of thy time, and the Lord of thy soul, how canst thou,
with any equity or honour, put off his service under a pretence of much
business ? That man is lost, that man is cursed, who can find time for
an3rthing, but none to meet with God in his closet. That man is doubt-
less upon the brink of ruin, whose worldly business eats up all thoughts
of God, of Christ, of heaven, of eternity, of his soul, and of his soul con-
cernments. But,

(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, I answer, The more worldly business lies
upon thy hand, the more need hast thou to keep dose to thy closet.
Much business lays a man open to many sins, and to many snares, and
to many temptations. Now, the more sins, snares, and temptations a
man's business lays him open to, the more need that man hath to be
much in private prayer, that his soul may be kept pure from sin, and
that his foot may not be taken in the devil's trap, and that he may
stand fast in the hour of temptation. Private prayer is so far from being
a hindrance to a man's business, that it is the way of ways to bring
down a blessing from heaven upon a man's business, Ps. i. 2, 3 ; cxxvii.
1, 2; cxxviii. 1, 2; as the first-fruits that God's people gave to him
brought down a blessing from heaven upon all the rest, Deut. xxvi.
10, 11. Whet is no let ; prayer and provender never hinders a journey.
Private prayer is like to Jacob, that brought down a blessing from
heaven upon all that Laban had. Gen. xxx. 27, 30. Private prayer
gives a man a sanctified use, both of all his earthly comforts, and of all
his earthly business ; and this David and Daniel found by experience :
and therefore it was not their great public employments that could take
them off from their private duties. Time spent in heavenly employ-
ments, is no time lost from worldly business, Deut. xxviii. 1-8. Private
prayer makes all we take in hand successful. Closet-prayer hath made
many rich, but it never made any man poor or beggarly in this world.
No man on earth knows what may be the emergencies, or the occur-
rences of a day : Prov. xxvii. 1, ' Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for
thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.' Every day is as it were
a great-bellied day ; every day is as it were with child of something, but
what it will bring forth, whether a cross or a comfort, no man can tell;
as whilst a woman is with child, no man can tell what kind of birth it
will be. No man knows what mercies a day may bring forth, no man
knows what miseries a day may bring forth ; no man knows what good
a ^ay may bring forth, no man knows what evil a day may bring forth ;

VOL. II. O

210 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

no man knows what afflictions a day may bring forth, no man knows
what temptations a day may bring forth ; no man knows what liberty
a day may bring forth, no man knows what Vwnds a day may bring
forth ; no man knows what good success a day may bring forth, no man
knows what bad success a day may bring forth ; and therefore, a mnn
had need be every day in his closet with God, that he may be prepared
and fitted to entertain and improve all the occurrences, successes, and
emergencies that may attend him in the course of his life. And let
thus much suffice for answer to this first objection. But,

Ohj. 2. Secondly, Others may object and say. Sir, we grant that
private prayer is an indispensable duty that lies vpon the people of
God; but %ve are servants, and we have no time that xve can call our
ofivn, and our masters business is such as will not allow us any time
for private prayer, and therefoi^e we hope we may be excused.

Solution (1.) First, The text is indefinite, and not limited io any
sort or rank of persons, whether high or low, rich or poor, bond or
free, sonant or master. ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet ; and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is
in secret.'^ Here are three thous, thou, thou, thou, which are to be
understood indefinitely : thou servant as well as thoii master, thou
bondman as well as thou freeman, tliou poor man as well as thou rich
man, thou maid as well as thou mistress, thou child as well as thou
father, thou wife as well as thou husband. Private prayer is an indis-
pensable duty that lies upon all sorts and ranks of persons. A man
may as well say that that pronoun tu, thou, that runs through the ten
commandments, — Exod. xx. 3-18, 'Thou shaft have no other gods before
me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Six days shalt thou labour.
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neigh-
bour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's,' &c., — relates to the rich,
and not to the poor, to masters and not to servants, to the free and
not to them that are in bonds, &c., as he may say, that the three thous
in the text relates to the rich and not to the poor, to masters and not
to servants, to those that are free but not to those that are bound ;
but certainly there is no man in his wits that will say so, that will
affirm such a thing. Doubtless this pronoun thou reacheth every man,
of what rank or quality soever he be in this world. But,

(2.) Secondly, I answer. That the first, the third, the fourth, the fifth,
the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth ansivers that are given to the first
objection, are here very applicable ; and oh that all masters and servants
were so wise, so serious, and so ingenuous, as to lay all those answers
warm on their own heartsl It might be a means to prevent miich sin,
and to bespeak masters and mistresses to give their pious servants a little
more time to lift up their hearts to Christ in a corner. But,

(3.) Thirdly, I answer, // thou art a servant that hast liberty to
choose a new master, thou wert better remove thy station than live
* Private prayer is a duty, that lieth upon saints as saints.

Mat. VI. 6] the privy key of heaven. 211

under such a master's roof, who is such an enemy to God, to Christ, to
religion, lo himself, and to the eternal welfare of thy "poor soul, as that
he vjill not give thee half an hour's time in a day to spend in thy
chamber, thy closet, though the glory of God, the goad of his own
fami'y, and the everlasting happiness of thine own soul, is concerned
i/iiit, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, cxx. 5. It is better for thee to shift thy master,
than to neglect thy duty: 1 Cor. vii. 21, 'Art thou called, being a
servant ? care not for it ; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.'
We lost our liberty by sin, and we affect nothing more than liberty by
nature.^

The Rabbins say of liberty, that 'if the heavens were parchment, the
sea ink, and every pile of grass a pen, the praises of it could not be
comprised nor expressed.' Laban's house was full of idols. Great houses
are often so. Jacob's tent was little, but the true worship of God was
in it. It is infinitely better to live in Jacob's tent, than in Laban's
house. It is best being with such masters where we may have least of
sin, and most of God ; where we may have the most helps, the best
examples, and the choicest encouragements to be holy and happy.

The religious servant should be as careful in'the choice of his master,
as the religious master is careful in the choice of his servant. Gracious
servants are great blessings to the families where they live ; and that
master may well be called the uniiappy master, who will rather part
with a gracious servant, than spare him a little time in a day to pour out
his soul before the Lord in a corner. But,

(■i.) Fourthlij, I answer. If thou aii a gracious servant, then thou
art spirited and principled by God, to this very jpurpose, that titou
mayest cry, Abba, Father, when thou art alone, when thou art in
a corner, and no eye seeth thee, but his who seeth in secret, Rom. viii.
15 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; 1 Cor. vi. J 9 ; 2 Tim. i. 14. If thou art a gracious
servant, then thou hast received not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is of God, 1 Cor. ii. 12. Now, he that hath this tree of
life, he hath also the fruit that grows upon this tree : Gal. v. 22, 23,
•■But the fruit of the Spirit is iove, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, &c. Now, grace is called, not
the works of the Spirit, but the fruits of the Spirit.

(1.) Because all grace is derived from the Spirit as the fruit is derived
from the root. And,

(2.) To note the pleasantness and delightfulness of grace, for what is
more pleasant and delightful than sweet and wholesome fruits ? Cant,
iv. 16, vi. 2.

(3.) To note the profit and advantage that doth redound to them
that have the Spirit ; for as many grow rich by the fruits of their gar-
dens and orchards, so many grow rich in grace, in holiness, in comfort,
in spiritual experiences, by the fruits of the Spirit. Now why hath
God given thee his Spirit, and why hath he laid into thy soul a stock
of supernatural graces, but that thou mayest be every way qualified,
disposed, and fitted for private prayer, and to maintain secret com-
munion with God in a corner ?

Certainly God never gave any poor servant a talent of gifts, or a

^ Justinus the second emperor's motto was, Liberttu ret inestmabilis. Liberty is in-
valuable.

212 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

talent of grace, but in order to his driving of a secret trade heaven-
ward.

(5.) Fifthly, I answer, Though king Darius had made a decree that
none should ask any petition of any god or man, for thiHy days,
upon the penalty of being cast into the den of lions, yet Daniel, who
was both a subject and a servant to king Darius, and one upon wlwse
hand^ tJie chiefest and greatest affairs of the kingdom, did lie, did
keep up his private devotions. In the first and second verses of that
sixth of Daniel, you will find that Daniel had abundance of great and
weighty employments upon his hands ; he was set over the whole affairs
of the whole empire of Persia, and he with two other presidents, of
whom himself was chief, were to receive the accounts of the whole
kingdom from all those hundred and twenty princes, which in the
Persian monarchy were employed in all public businesses. And yet,
notwithstanding such a multiplicity of business as lay upon his hands,
and notwithstanding his servile condition, yet he was very careful to
redeem time for private prayer ; yea, it is very observable that the
heart of Daniel, in the midst of all his mighty businesses, was so much
set upon private prayer, upon his secret retirements for religious exer-
cises, that he runs the hazard of losing all his honours, profits, pleasures,
yea, and life itself, rather than he would be deprived of convenient
time and opportunities to wait upon God in his chamber. Certainly
Daniel will one day rise in judgment against all those subjects and
servants who think to evade private prayer by their pleas of much
businass, and of their being servants, &c. But,

(6.) Sixthly, I answer, If you who are gracious servants, notwith-
standing your masters' businesses, cannot redeem a little time to
wrestle with God in a corner, what singular thing do you ? What,
do you more than others ? Do you hear ? So do others. Do you
read ? So do others. Do you follow your masters to public prayers ?
So do others. Do you join with your masters in family prayers ? So
do others. Oh ! but now gracious servants should go beyond all other
servants in the world, they should do singular things for God : Mat.
v. 47, ' What do you more than others V ri 'jti^iaah '^onTn ? What ex-
traordinary thing do you ? What more ordinary than to find servants
follow their masters to pubhc prayers and to family prayers ? Oh !
but now to find poor servants to redeem a little time from their masters'
business to pour out their souls before the Lord in a corner, this is not
ordinary, yea, this is extraordinary, and this doth wonderfully well be-
come gracious servants. Oh ! that all men's servants, who are servants
to the most high God, would seriously consider,

[l.J How singularly they are privileged by God above all other
servants in the world. They are called, adopted, reconciled, pardoned,
justified before the throne of God, which other servants are not, &c.,
1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. And why then should not such servants be singular
in their services, who are so singular in their privileges ?

[2 ] Secondly, Gracious servants are made partakers of a more
excellent nature than other servants are. 2 Pet«r i. 4, ' Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by these
you might be made partakers of the divine nature.' The apostle in
this expression doth not aim at any essential change and conversion of

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 213

our substance into the nature of God and Christ, but only at the eleva-
tion and dignifying of our nature by Christ. Though that real, that
near, that dear, that choice, that mysterious, that peculiar, that singular,
union that Christians have with Christ, doth raise them up to a higher
similitude and likeness of God and Christ than ever they had attained
to in their primitive perfection ; yet it doth not introduce any real
transmutation, either of our bodies or souls, into the divine nature. It is
certain that our union and conjunction with Christ doth neither mingle
persons nor unite substances, but it doth enjoin our affections, and
brings our wills into a league of amity with Christ' To be made par-
taker of the divine nature notes two things, say some.
^First, A fellowship with God in his holiness ;

Secondly, A fellowship with God in his blessedness, viz., in the beati-
fical vision and brightness of glory. To be made 'partakers of the
divine nature,' say others, is to be made partakers of those holy graces,
those divine qualities, which sometimes are called, * the image of God,
the likeness of God, the life of God,' &c., Eph. iv. 24, CoL iii. 10, whereby
we resemble God, not only as a picture doth a man in outward linea-
ments, but as a child doth his father in countenance and conditions.
Now, take the words which way you will, how highly doth it concern
those servants, that are made partakers of the divine nature, to do
singular things for God, to do such things for God, that other servants,
that are not partakers of the divine nature, have no mind, no heart, no
spirit to do ! yea, that they refuse and scorn to do !

[3.] Thirdly, Gracious servants are worthily descended ; they have
the most illustrious extraction and honourable original, 1 John v. 19 ;
John iii. 8 ; James ii. 5.

[4] FouHhly, Gracious servants are worthily attended, they are
nobly guarded ; Ps. xxxiv. 15 ; Heb. i. 14 ; Deut. xxxiii. 26, 27 ; Zech.
ii. 5.

[5.] Fifthly, Gracious servants are worthily dignified; they are
dignified with the highest and most honourable titles, 1 Peter i. 2, 9 ;
Rev. i. 5, 6 ; v. 10.

[6.] Sixthly, Take many things in one : gracious servants have
•more eaxellent graces, experiences, comforts, communions, 'promises,
assurances, discoveries, hopes, helps, principles, diet, raiment, portion,
than all other sei^ants in the vjorld have; and therefore God may
well expect better and greater things from them than from all other
servants in the world. God may very well expect that they should do
singular things for his glory, who hath done such singular things for
their good. Certainly God expects that gracious servants should be
a-blessing of him, when other servants are a-blaspheming of him ; that
they should be a-magnifying of him, when other servants are a-debas-
ing of him ; that they should be a-redeeming of precious time, when
other servants are a-trifling, fooling, playing or sinning away of precious
time ; that they should be a-weeping in a corner, when other servants
are a-sporting and making themselves merry among their jovial com-
panions ; that they should be a-mourning in secret, when other servants

^ * None but Familists will say that we are made partakers of the substance of the God-
head, for that is incommunicable to any creature. The essence of God cannot be im-
parted to any created beings.

214 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

are a-sinning in secret ; and that they should be at their private de-
votion, when other servants are sleeping and snorting, &c.

Solomon, that was the wisest prince that ever sat upon a throne,
and who was guided by an infallible Spirit, hath delivered it for a stand-
ing maxim above two thousand years ago, 'that the righteous is more
excellent than his neighbour,' Prov. xii. 26. When Solomon dropped this
aphorism from his royal pen, there was not a man in the world that was
legally righteous ; Adam and all his posterity being fallen from all their
honour, glory, dignity, and excellency, into a most woful gulf of sin and
misery ; and therefore Solomon must be understood of him that is evan-
gelically righteous, Ps. xiv. 1-3 ; Rom. iii. 9-12 ; Lam. v. 16. He that
is evangelically righteous, be he master or servant, rich or poor, bond or
free, high or low, is more excellent than his neighbour. And oh that
all masters wouW seriously consider of this, that they may carry it no
more so proudly, so loftily, so scornfully, so forwardly, so strangely, so
sourly, so bitterly, so rigorously, towards their pious servants, as not to
afford them a little time to pour out their souls before the Lord in a
corner !

I have read of Ingo, an ancient king of the Braves^ and Veneds,^ who,
making a stately feast, appointed all his pagan nobles to sit in the hall
below ; and at the same time commanded certain poor Christians to be
brought up into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, that
they might eat of his kingly cheer ; at which many wondering, he told
them, that he accounted Christians, though never so poor, a greater orna-
ment at his table, and more worthy of his company, than the greatest
nobles that were not converted to the Christian faith ; for saith he, when
these pagan nobles shall be thrust down to hell, these poor Christians
shall be my consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.'' Certainly, this noble
prince will one day rise in judgment against all sour, churlish Labans,
who carry it so harshly and so severely towards their gracious servants, as
that they will not allowthem a little time to wait upon God in a hole, Eph.
vi. 9. \^ hy should not gracious musters give their gracious servants a
little time for closet prayer now, considering that they are sharers with
them in all the fundamental good that comes by Christ in this world ; and
considering that they shall be partakers with them iji all the glory of
another world ? The poorest servant in a family hath a soul more pre-
cious than heaven and earth ; and the greatest work that lies upon his
hand in this world, is to look to the eternal safety and security of that :
for if that be .safe, all is safe; if that be well, all is well ; but if that be lost,
all is lost * Every gracious servant, though he be never so poor and mean,
yet hath he the image of God, the image of the King of kings stamped
upon him ; and woe to him that shall wrong, or despise, or trample
upon that image! Certainly, God himself is wronged by the injury that
is done to his image. The contempt and despite that is done to the
image or coin of a king, is done to the king himself; and accordingly he
will revenge it.

* Qu. Inliabltants of the territories on the Dravus? [Strabo, vii.] — G.
' Toe Veuedae. [Tacitus, Germ 4G. I'liny, iv. 18, and 27.]— G.

« .^iijeiis >yivins Ainialiuin. cf-p xx Eiuop Aven. lib. A.

* Every man liath two tilings to look unto more than all the world beside, a body and &
Boul : fi>r the one, every cue iu either a fool or a physician ; for the other, either a dcTil
or a divine, suith one.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 215

If it was a capital crime in Tiberius his days, to carry the image of
Augustus upon a ring or coin into any sordid place, as Suetonius saith
it was ; what crime must it be in those masters who despise, revile, re-
proach, scorn, abuse, and tread under foot, such servants as have the
image of the great God stamped upon their souls, and all because they
look God-ward, Christ-ward, heaven-ward, holiness-ward, duty-ward ?
Masters should never twit their servants in the teeth with their in-
feriority, penury, poverty, misery, mean parentage, or servile condition ;
but remember that these things are more the Creator's pleasure than
the servant's fault, and that that God that hath made the master rich
and the servant poor, can as quickly make the master poor and the ser-
vant rich, Prov. xxii. 2, xvii. 5. God many times puts down the mighty
from their seats, and exalts them of low degree, Luke i. 52. Certainly,
no master nor mistress should dare to insult or triumph over such servants
as have souls as noble as their own ; but they should seriously and fre-
quently consider of Solomon's aphorism, * The righteous, though a ser-
vant,' though the meanest among all the servants, 'is more excellent
than his neighbour,' and accordingly give them a little time and liberty
to converse with God in secret. And oh that all gracious servants would
discover themselves to be more excellent than their neighbours, by
making more conscience of private prayer than their neighbours do,
and by being more in their closets than their neighbours are, and by
delighting themselves in their secret retirements more than their neigh-
bours will, and by redeeming some time for God, for their souls, and for
eternity, more than their neighbours do. But,

(7.) Seventhly, I answer, That God is only the Lord of time} Time
is more the Lord's than it is thy master's ; and therefore it is no ne-
glecting of thy master's business, to take a little time daily for private
prayer. Times do belong to providence as well as issues ; and as God
is the God of our mercies, so he is the Lord of our times: 'My times
are in thy hands,' saith David, Ps. xxxi. 15. Not only the times of his
sorrows, but also the times of his comforts; not only the times of his
miseries, but also the times of his mercies ; not only the times of his
dangers, but also the times of his duties, were in the hands of God.

It is observable the Psalmist doth not say time, but times, in the
plural, to shew that every point and period, of time depends upon the
hand of God.

One, complaining of those who say. Come, let us talk together, to
pass away the time, with grief of spirit cries out, donee prcetereat
hora, &c., ' Oh until the hour be gone, oh until time be past, which the
mercy of thy Maker hath bestowed upon thee to perform repentance,
to procure pardon, to gain grace, and to obtain glory.' ^ That servant
that borrows a little time every day to seek the face of God in a corner,
borrows it rather of God than of his master; and therefore why should
his master swell, or rage, or complain, considering that God never made
him Lord of time ? But,

(8.) Eighthly, J answer. That servants should rather redeem time
from their sleep, their recreations, their daily meals, than neglect
doset-duty a day. And certainly those servants that, out of conscience

* Hub ii. 3 ; Dan. xi. 27, 29, 86 ; Job vii. 1 ; Ps. cii. 13 ; Eccles. iii. 1 ; Dan. ii. 21 ; Isa.
Ix. 22 ; Job xiv. 14. » Bernard, serm. de tripl. cuitod.

216 THE PRIVV KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

towards God, and out of a due regard to the internal and eternal wel-
fare of their own souls, shall every day redeem an hour's time from
their sleep, or sports, or feedings, to spend with God in secret, tliey
shall find by experience that the Lord will make a few hours' sleep
sweeter and better than many hours' sleep to them ; and their outward
sports shall be made up with inward delights; and for their common
bread, God will feed them with that bread that came down from heaven.
Sirs, was not Christ his Father's servant?^ Isa. xlii. 1. 'Behol^ my ser-
vant, whom I uphold, mine elect' (or choice one), ' in whom my soul
delighteth' (or is well pleased) ! ' I have put my Spirit upon him ; he
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.' And did not he redeem
time from his natural rest, rather than he would omit private prayer?
Mark i. 35, ' And in the morning, rising up a great while before day,
he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.'
Christ spent the day in preaching, in healing the sick, in working of
miracles ; and rather than these noble works should shut out private
prayer, he rises a great while before day, that he might have some
time to wrestle with his Father in secret. So Luke vi. 1 2, ' And it came
to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and
continued all night in prayer to God.' O sirs ! did Christ spend whole
nights in private prayer for the salvation of your souls ; and will you
think it much to redeem an hour's time from your natural rest to seek
and to serve him in a corner, and to make sure the things of your ever-
lasting peace ? The redeeming of time for private prayer is the redeem-
ing of a precious treasure, which, if once lost, can never fully be re-
covered again. If riches should make themselves wings, and fly away,
they may return again, as they did to Job ; or if credit, and honour,
and worldly greatness and renown, should fly away, they may return
again, as they did to Nebuchadnezzar ; if success, and famous victories
and conquests, should make themselves wipgs, and fly away, they may
return again, as they did to many of the Roman conquerors and others;
but if time, whom the poets paint with wings, to shew the volubility
and swiftness of it, fly from us, it will never more return unto us.*

A great lady [Queen Elizabeth] of this land, on her dying bed cried
out, ' Call time again, call time again ; a world of wealth for an inch of
time !' but time past was never, nor could never be recalled.

The Egyptians drew the picture of time with three heads.

The first was of a greedy wolf gaping for time past, because it hath
ravenously devoured even the memory of so many things past recalling.

The second of a crowned lion roaring for time present, because it
hath the principality of all action, for which it calls aloud.

And the third was of a deceitful dog, fawning for time to come, be-
cause it feeds fond men with many flattering hopes, to their eternal
undoing. Oh that all this might prevail with servants to redeem time
for private prayer ! And if my counsel might take place, I should
rather advise servants to redeem some time for private prayer from
their sleep or lawful recreations, or set meals, &c., than to spend in.
private prayer that time which their masters call their time, especially

' The evangelist applies these words to Christ, Mat. xii. 15-18. Christ is called God's
servant in regard of his human nature, and in regard of his office of mediatorahip.
» Sophocles, Phocilides, &c. [Qu. Philoctetes, as be/ore.— G.]

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 217

if their masters be unconverted, and in ' the gall of bitterness and bond
of iniquity ;' and that for these five reasons.

[1.] First, Because this may be a means to prevent m^ueh sin on
the masters side. Masters that are in their unregenerate estate are
very apt to storm, and take on, and let fly against God, and Christ, and
religion, and profession, &c., when they see their servants spend that
time in private prayer, or in any other religious exercise, wbich, ac-
cording to their understanding, is their time, and ought to be wholly
spent in following their businesses. Now gracious servants should
have that honourable respect, and that tender affection, and that Chris-
tian compassion to their masters' souls, as to do to the utmost all that
lies in them to prevent their masters from contracting guilt upon their
souls, or from making work for repentance, for hell, or for the physician
of souls, Jude 22, 23.

The Persians, the Turks, and many Indians are so compassionate,
that they erect hospitals not only for lame and diseased men, but also
for birds, beasts, and dogs that are either aged, starved, or hurt. Oh
then, what tender compassions should gracious servants exercise to-
wards their masters' souls, which are jewels more worth than heaven
and earth ! But,

[2.] Secondly, Because this m,ay he a mMins to convince the judg-
ments and consciences of their masters, that there is some worth, some
excellency, some sweetness. &c., to be found in private prayer, and in
other closet-duties; for when masters shall observe their servants to
redeem time for closet duties, from their very sleep, recreations, dinners,
suppers, they will be ready to conclude, that certainly there is more
worth, more goodness, more sweetness, more excellency, more glory,
more gain in closet duties, than ever they have understood, felt, or expe-
rienced, &c., and that their very poor servants are better and more right-
eous than themselves. Sozomen reports, that the devout life of a poor
captive Christian woman, made a king and all his family embrace the
faith of Jesus Christ. Good works convince more than miracles them-
selves.

I have read of one Pachomius, a soldier under Constantine the em-
peror, how that his army being almost starved for want of necessary
provision, he came to a city of Christians, and they of their own charity
relieved them speedily and freely ; he wondering at their free and noble
charity, inquired what kind of people they werewhom he saw so bountiful?
It was answered that they were Christians, whose profession it is to hurt
no man, and do good to every man. Hereupon Pachomius, convinced
of the excellency of this religion, threw away his arms, and became a
Christian, a saint.^ Look as husbands sometimes are won by the con-
versation of their wives without the word, 1 Peter iii. 1,2; so masters
may sometimes be won by the gracious carriage and conversation of
their servants, without the word. The servant's redeeming of time for
private duties, upon the hardest and severest terms, may be so blessed to
the master, that it may issue in his conviction, conversion, and salva-
tion. There is a may-be for it ; and a very may-be should be a suffi-
cient encouragement for every gracious servant to do all he can to save
the* soul of his master from going down into the infernal pit. But,
• Sozomen H.E. III. et alibi.— G.

218 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

[3.] Thirdly, Because the servant's redeeming of time from his
sleep, recreations, meals, for private prayer, will most clearly and
abundantly evidence the singular love, the great delight, and the high
esteem that lie liath of private prayer. We say those children love their
books well, and delight much in learning, who will be at their books
when others are gone to their beds, and who will be at their books be-
fore others can get out of their beds. Certainly they love private prayer
well, and they delight much in closet communion with God, who will
be a-praying when others are a-sleeping, and who will be a-dressing
their souls before God m a corner, before their mistress is a-dressiug of
herself at the glass, or their fellow-servants a-dressiug themselves in the
shop. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Because the servant's redeeming of time for privaie
prayer, from his sleep, set meals, recreations, &c., may be of most use
to other fellow-servants, both to awaken them, and to convince them
that the things of religion are of the greatest and highest importance,
and that there is no trade, or pleasure, or profit, to that private trade
that is driven between God and a mans own soul ; and also to keep
them from trifling, or fooling away of that time, which is truly and pro-
perly their masters' time, and by the royal law of heaven ought to be
spent solely and wholly in their service and business. For what inge-
nuous servant is there in the world but will argue thus ? I see that
such and such of my fellow-servants will redeem time for private prayer,
and for other closet-services, from their very sleep, meals, recreations,
&c.; rather than they will borrow, or make bold with that time which
my master saith is his, &c. ; and why then should 1 be so foolish, so
brutish, so mad, to trifle, or idle, or play, or toy away that time which
should be spent in my master's service, and for my master's advantage ?
But,

[5.] Fifthly, and lastly. Because the servant's redeeming of time for
private prayer from his sleep. Ids meals, his recreations, &c., cannot
but be infinitely pleasing to God ; and that which will afford, him
most comfort when he comes to die. The more any poor heart acts
contrary to flesh and blood, the more he pleases God ; the more any
poor heart denies himself, the more he pleases God ; the more any poor
heart acts against the stream of sinful examples, the more he pleases
God; the more difficulties and discouragements a poor heart meets
with in the discharge of his duty, the more love he shews to God ; and
the more love a poor heart shews to God, the more he pleases God :
Jer, ii. 2, 3, ' Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith the
Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that
was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first-fruits
of his increase : all that devour him shall offend ; evil shall come upon
them, saith the Lord.' God was very highly pleased and greatly de-
lighted with the singular love and choice affections of his people towards
him, when they followed after him, and kept close to him, in that tedious
and uncouth passage through the waste, howling wilderness. How all
these things do comport with that poor pious servant that redeems
time for private prayer tipon the hardest terms imaginable, i shall leave
the ingenuous reader to judge. And certainly, upon a dying bed, no

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. . 219

tongue can express, nor heart conceive but he that feels it, the unspeak-
able comfort that closet-duties will afford to him that hath been
exercised in them, upon those hard terms that are under present con-
sideration. But,

(9.) Ninthly, I answer, If tJwu art a gracious servant, then the near
and dear relations that is between God and thee, and the choice pri-
vileges that thou art interested in, calls aloud for pHvate prayer,
John viii. 32, 33, 36. As thou art thy Master's servant, so thou art the
Lord's free-man : 1 Cor. vii, 22, 23, ' For he that is called in the Lord,
being a servant, is the Lord's iree-man ; likewise, also he that is called
being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye
servants of men,' — either when they command you things forbidden by
Christ, or forbid you things commanded by Christ; or when they would
exercise a dominion over your faith, or a lordship over your consciences.
Suffer not yourselves in spiritual things to be brought into such bon-
dage by any men or masters in the world, as not to use that freedom
and liberty that Christ hath purchased for you with his dearest blood,
GaL V. 1, Col. ii. 20, GaL ii. 4. No servants are to serve their masters
in opposition to Christ ; nor no servants are to serve their masters as
spiritual masters ; nor no servants are to serve their masters as supreme
masters, but as subordinate masters, Eph. vi. 5-7. And as every
gracious servant is the Lord's free-man, so every gracious servant is the
Lord's friend, Isa. xli. 8, James ii. 23, John xv. 13-15. And as every
gracious servant is the Lord's friend, so every gracious servant is the
Lord's son, Gal. iv. 5, 6, Rom. viii. 16. And as every gracious servant
is the Lord's son, so every gracious servant is the Lord's spouse, Hosea
ii 19, 20, 2 Cor. xi. 2.

And now I appeal to the consciences of all that have tasted that the
Lord is gracious, whether the near and dear relations that is between
the Lord and pious servants doth not call aloud upon them to take all
opportunities and advantages that possibly they can to pour out their
souls before the Lord in secret, and to acquaint him in a corner with all
their secret wants, and weaknesses, and wishes, &c. And as gracious
servants are thus nearly and dearly related to God, so gracious servants
are very highly privileged by God. Gracious servants are as much
freed from the reign of sin, the dominion of sin, and the damnatory
power of sin, as gracious masters are, Rom. vi. 14. Gracious servants
are as much freed from hell, from the curse of the law, and from the
wrath of God, as their gracious masters are, Rom. viii. 1. Gracious
servants are as much adopted, as much reconciled, as much pardoned, as
much justified, and as much redeemed, as their gracious masters are.
Gal. iii. 13. Gracious servants are as much heirs, heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Christ, as their gracious masters are.' Gracious ser-
vants are as much a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people, called out of darkness into his marvellous
light, as their gracious masters are. And therefore they being all alike
interested in all these great and glorious privileges which belong to
saints as saints, they are, without all peradventure, alike obliged and
engaged to all those duties which lies upon saints as saints, among which

> 1 Thes. i. 10 ; Col. iii. 11 ; Gal. v. 6 ; Eora. viii. 17 ; Gal. vi. 14 ; 1 Peter ii. 9.

220 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

private prayer is one ; and therefore they are to buckle to this duty
against all carnal reasons and objections whatsoever. But,

(10.) Tentldy, and lastly, I answer, that the promised reward in tJte
teed lies as fair and as open to the servant as to the 7)iaster, to the
bond as to the free, to the peasant as to the pHnce. Whosoever prays
to his heavenly Father in secret, be he high or low, rich or poor, honour-
able or base, servant or master, he shall receive an open reward. The
reward in the text is not to be confined or limited to this or that sort or
rank of men, but it is to be extended to all ranks and sorts of men that
make conscience of private prayer, of closet duties. So Eph. vi. 5-8,
' Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.
Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart : with good will doing service, as
to the Lord, and not to men : knowing that whatsoever good thing any
man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or
free.' Col. iii. 22-24, ' Servants obey, in all things, your masters, accord-
ing to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singlenevSS
of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord, and not unto men ; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance ; for ye serve the Lord Jesus Christ.' *
Such servants as serve their masters faithfully, cordially, and in single-
ness of spirit, shall receive the reward of grace and the reward of the
inheritance. The meanest servant that is faithful in the service of his
master, shall for a recompence receive the eternal inheritance, Rom. viii.
15-17. The recompence of reward in the scripture last cited is not of
merit, but of mere grace, because the inheritance belongs only to chil-
dren upon the account of their birth or adoption. Faithful servants
shall of servants be made sons, and so enjoy the heavenly inheritance.
Christ is so noble a master, that he will not sufier any service that hath
been performed to men out of conscience to his command to pass un-
rewarded. Oh how much more will he recompense pious servants for
those spiritual services that they perform for his sake, for his glory !
God is so liberal a paymaster, that no man shall so much as shut the
door, or kindle a fire upon his altar, or give a cup of cold water — one of
the least, readiest, and meanest refreshments that be — but he shall be
rewarded, Mai. i. 10, Mat. x. 42.

It is au excellent observation of Calvin, upon God's rewarding of the
Rechabites' obedience, Jer. xxxv. 19, * God,' saith he, ' often recom-
penseth the shadows and sepming appearances of virtue, to shew that
complacency he takes in the ample rewards that he hath reserved for
true and sincere piety.' Nebuchadnezzar, though a tyrant, yet being
engaged in God's service against Tyre, he shall have Egypt as his pay,
for his pains at Tyre, Ezek. xxix. 18-20. It is an ancient slur and slan-
der that hath been cast upon God, as if he were an austere master, an
illiberal Lord, and as if there were nothing to be got in his service but
knocks, blows, wounds, crosses, losses, &c., whereas he is a rewarder,
not only of them that diligently seek him, but even of the very worst of
men that do any service for him, Heb. xi. 6. I have read of Herod

' The Persian kings did usually reward the faithful services of their servants. Surely
the King of kings will not fall short of the kings of Persia ?

Mat. VI. 6.] the prr^y key of heaven. 221

Agrippa, the same that was smitten by the angel and eaten up of
worms, because he gave not glory to God, Acts xii. 23, that, being
bound in chains, and sent to prison by Tiberius for wishing Caius in
the empire, one Thaumastus, a servant of Caius, carrying a pitcher of
water, met him, and Agrippa being very thirsty, desired him to give
him some of his water to drink, which he willingly did : whereupon
Agrippa said, * This service thou hast done in giving me drink, shall do
thee good another day.' And he was as big and as good as his word ;
for afterwards, when Caius was emperor, and Agrippa made king of
Judea, he first got his liberty, then made him chief officer of his house-
hold, and after his decease took order that he should continue in the
same office with his son.^ Now how much more then will the King of
kings reward all those poor pious servants of his, that do not only give
to him in his members cups of cold water, but do also redeem time
from their very rest, meals, and recreations, that they may have some
time to seek the face of God in a corner. Certainly, there shall not be
a sigh, a groan, a prayer, a tear let fall by a poor servant in a corner,
that shall not be at last regarded and rewarded by the great God.
Lyra saith, that Mordecai waited six years, before his good service was
rewarded by king Ahasuerus, It may be God may reward thee sooner
for all thy closet services ; but if he do not reward thee sooner, he will
certainly reward thee better, he will reward thee with higher honours,
with greater dignities, with more glorious robes, and with a more royal
crown, even an incorruptible crown, a crown of righteousness, a crown
of life, a crown of glory, 1 Cor. ix. 29 ; 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; Rev. ii. 10 ; James
i. 12 ; 1 Pet. v. 4. And therefore hold on and hold out in your secret
retirements. Though some may deride you, and others revile you, and
your carnal masters discourage you, yet God is faithful and will cer-
tainly reward you ; yea, he will openly reward you for all the secret
pourings out of your souls in his bosom. But,

Obj. 3. Some may further object and say, Oh but we cannot pray alone;
we want those gifts and endowments which others have ; we are shut
up and know not how to pour out our souls before God in a corner ;
we would willingly pray, but we want ability to pour out our souls
before the Lord in secret, &c.

Solution 1. God's dearest children may sometimes be shut up; they
may with Zacharias, for a tiine, be struck dumb, and not able to speak,
Luke i. 20 ; Ps. Ixxvii. 4. ' I am so troubled that I cannot speak,' Ps.
xxxviii. 9. ' Lord, all my desire is before thee : and my groaning is
not hid from thee.' God's dearest children have sometimes been so
shut up, that they have been able to say nothing, nor to do nothing but
groan. A child of God may sometimes meet with such a blow from
God, from conscience, from Scripture, from Satan, from the world, that
may for a time so astonish him, that he may not be able to speak to
God, nor speak to others, nor speak to his own heart. Look, as the
Holy Spirit is not always a teaching Spirit, nor always a leading Spirit,
nor always a comforting Spirit, nor always a sealing Spirit, nor always
a witnessing Spirit, nor always an assuring Spirit to any of the saints ;
so he is not always a supplicating Spirit in any of the saints. When
he ie grieved, vexed, quenched, provoked, he may suspend his gracious
1 Josephus, Anliq. lib. 18^ cap. 8.

222 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

influences, and deny the soul his assistance ; and what can a Christian
then say or do ? h\it,

[2.] Secondly, I answer, Tfiou canst not pray ; hut canst thou not
»igh, nor groan neither ? 1 here may be the Spirit of**adoption in
sighs and groans, as well as in vocal prayer, Rom. viii. 26. The force,
the virtue, the efficacy, the excellency of prayer doth not consist in
the number and flourish of words, but in the supernatural motions of
the Spirit, in sighs, and groans, and pangs, and strong affections of heart,
that are unspeakable and unutterable. Certainly, the very soul of
prayer lies in the pouring out of a man's soul before the Lord, though
it be but in sighs, groans, and tears, I Sam. i. 13-19. One sigh and
groan from a broken heart, is better pleasing to God, than all human
eloquence. But,

[3.] Thirdly, I answer, Beg of God to teach thee to pray. Oh beg the
Holy Spirit, that is a Spirit of prayer. God hath promised his Holy
Spirit to them that avsk it, Luke xi, 13. 'If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him !*
Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. ' A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my
Spirit within jou, and cause you to walk in my statutes ; and ye shall
keep my judgments, and do them,' Ezek. xi. 19. 'And I will give
them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them ; and I will
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of
flesh,' Zech. xii. 10. ' I will pour upon the house of David and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication.'
Now gracious promises are God's bonds, and he loves to see his people
put them in suit. God expects that we should be his remembrancers,
and that we should pray over his promises, Isa. Ixii. 6, 7 ; Isa. xlii. 25,
26. When he had promised great things to his people concerning justi-
fication, sanctification, and preservation, he subjoins, 'Yet, I will for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it,' Ezek. xxxvi. 37.
God looks that we should spread his gracious promises before him, as
Hezekiah did Sennacherib's letter, Isa. xxxvii. 14. God is never better
pleased than when his people importune him in his own words, and urge
him with arguments taken from his own promises. Though God be a
very affectionate father, and a very liberal father, yet he is not a prodigal
father, for he will never throw away his mercies on such as will not
stoutly and humbly plead out his promises with him. God loves to take
state upon him, and will be sought unto, both for his giving in of mer-
cies, and for his making good of precious promises. Thou sayest thou
canst not pray; why ! canst thou not go into a corner, and spread the
promises last cited before the Lord, and tell him how much it concerns
his honour and glory, as well as thy own internal and eternal good, to
make good those gracious promises that he hath made concerning his
giving of his Spirit to them that ask him, and his putting his Spirit
within them, and his pouring out a Spirit of grace and supplication upon
them ?

We read of Tamar, Gen. xxxviii. 18, 25, that when Judah her father-
in-law lay with her, she took as a pledge his signet, bracelets, and staff;

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 223

and afterwards, when she was in great distress, and ready to be burnt
as an harlot, she then brought out her staff, and signet, and bracelets,
and said, ' By the man whose these are, am I with child,' and thereby
she saved her life. The promises are as so many rich mines, tliey are
as so many choice flowers of paradise, they are the food, life, and
strength of the soul. They are as a staff" to support the soul, and they
are as a signet and bracelets to adorn the soul, and to enrich the soul ;
and therefore poor sinners should bring them forth, and lay them before
the Lord, and urge God with them, there being no way on earth to
save a man's soul, and to prevent a burning in hell like this. Con-
cerning precious promisevS, let me give you these eight hints.

[1,] First, That they are truly propounded and stated by God,
Mark x. .30.

[2.] Secondly, That they sJiall certainly be performed, 2 Cor. i. 20,
they being all made in and through Christ. They are made first to
Christ, and then to all that have union and communion with him.

Sirtorius, saith Plutarch, paid what he promised with fair words ;
but so doth not God. Men many times say and unsay ; they often eat
their words as soon as they have spoken them ; but God will never eat
the words that are gone out of his mouth : Isa. xlvi. 10, 1 J, ' My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure : yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass : I have purposed it, I will also do it.'

[3.] Thirdly, That they all issue from free grace, from special love,
from divine goodness, Hos. xiv. 4.

[4<.] Fourthly, That they are all as unchangeable as he is that made
tJiem, Jer. xxxi. 3,

[5.] Fifthly, That they are all bottomed and founded upon the
truth, faithfulness, and all-suffi.ciency of God, Mai. iii. 6.

[6.] Sixthly, T/tat they are pledges and pawns of great things that
God will do for his people in tirfie, Heb. xiii. 5.

[7.] Seventhly, That they are m,ost sure and certain evidences of
divine favour, and a declaration of the heart and good-will of God
to his poor people, Heb. vi. 12, Num. xxiii. 19.

[8.] Eighthly, That they are the price of Christ's blood.

Now how should all these things encourage poor souls to be still
a-pressing of God with his promises. But,

[4.] Fourthly, You say you cannot pray, &c. Oh that you would
leave off objecting, and fall upon praying. If you cannot pray as you
would, nor as you should, pray as well as you can. Joseph's brethren
stood so long dallying, and delaying, and trifling out the time, that,
having a journey to go to buy corn, they might have bought and re-
turned twice before they went and bought once. When Elijah called
Elizeus, he goes about the bush, and he must needs go bid his father
and mother farewell before he could follow the prophet, 1 Kings xix.
20. O friends ! take heed of dallying, delaying, trifling, and going
about the bush, when you should be a-falling upon the work of prayer.
What though with Hannah thou canst but weep out a prayer, or with
Moses stammer out a prayer, or with Hezekiah chatter out a prayei",
yet do as well as thou canst, and thou shalt find acceptance with God :
2 Cpr. viii. 12, ' For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted ac-
cording to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.'

224; THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

The publican's prayer had nat much rhetoric or eloquence in it, ' God
be merciful to me a sinner,' Luke xviii. 13, and yet God accepted it.
He prayed much, though he spake little, and God did not turn a deaf
ear upon him. That God that once accepted a handful of meal for a
sacrifice, and a gripe of goat's hair for an oblation, and the poor widow's^
two mites, as if they had been two millions, will certainly accept of what
thou art able to do, though thou dost fall short, yea, much short, of
what thou oughtest to do, Lev. ii. 1, 2, and vi. 15, Luke xxi. 3. ' Lord,'
saith Luther, ' thou commandest me to pray. I cannot pray as I would,
yet I will obey ; for though my prayer be not acceptable, yet thine own
commandment is acceptable to thee,' If weak Christians would but
put forth in prayer that little strength they have, God would quickly
renew their spiritual strength ; he would certainly carry them on from
strength to strength ; he would still, by secret assistances and secret
influences, help them on in their heavenly trade, Isa. xlix. 20-22, Ps,
Ixxxiv. 7. As a loving indulgent father will take his little child in
his arms, and carry him on in his way homeward, when his strength
begins to fail him, and he can walk no further, and the way proves
dirty, slippery, or uneven, so doth God by his : Hos. xi. 3, ' I taught
Ephraim also to go ' (as a nurse doth the infant), ' taking them by their
arm.' When God's poor children come to a foul way, or a rough place,
he takes them up in his own arms, and helps them over the quagmire
of crosses, and the difficulties of duties, and over all that straitness, and
narrowness, and weakness of spirit that doth attend them in their closet
performances.

It is observable, that when the king of Israel was to shoot the arrow,
he did put his hand upon the bow, and Elisha did put his hand upon
the king's hand, 2 Kings xiii. 16. So when we go into our closets, we
are to put up our hand, and then the Spirit of God likewise will put
his hand upon our hand, he will put his strength to our strength, or
rather to our weakness : Rom, viii. 26, 'Likewise the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities,' lifts with us, or helpeth together. The Greek word- euvav-
7iXa/ji,<^%viTa/ doth properly signify such a help, as when another man of
strength and ability steppeth in to sustain the burden that lieth upon
our shoulders, be it a log, or a piece of timber, setting his shoulders
under it, to lift up, and bear part of it with us, or to help us as the
nurse helpeth her little child, upholding it by the sleeve. When a poor
Christian sets himself to closet prayer, or to mourn, or to believe, or to
obey, &c., then the Spirit comes in with new help, and new influences,
and new assistances, and so carries him on in all these noble services.
That child that doth but stammer at flrst, in time will speak plainly
and fluently. Oh how many Christians are there that now can pray with
much freedom, liberty, and fluency, who at first could only sigh out a
prayer, or stammer out a prayer, or weep out a prayer ! Thou sayest
thou cannot pray, but didst thou but stir up thyself to obey that com-
mand. Mat. vi. 6, as well as thou canst, thou dost not know but that a
power may go forth with the command, that may enable thee to act
suitable to the command. In Mat, ix, 1-9, Christ bid the palsy man
rise and walk : ' Take up thy bed, and go unto thine house,' The palsy
man might have objected, 'Alas ! I am carried by four, I am not able
to stir a limb, much less to rise, but least of all to take up my bed and

Mat. VI. C] the privy key of heaven. 225

walk, &c. Oh but he rouseth up himself as well as he could, and a
power went forth with the command, that enabled him to do what
was commanded. So Mat. xii. 10-14, there was a poor man that had
a withered hand, and Christ commands him to stretch forth his hand ;
he might have repUed, * My hand is withered, and if I might have as
many worlds as there be men in the world, to stretch it forth, I could
not stretch it forth ; yea, if my very life, if my very salvation did lie
upon stretching forth my withered arm, I could not stretch it forth.'
Oh ! but he throws by all such pleas, and complies with Christ's com-
mand as well as he could, and a power Went forth and healed his hand.
O sirs ! if you would but pray in your closets as well as you can, you do
not know but that such a power and virtue might flow from Christ into
your hearts, as might carry you on in your closet-duties, beyond ex-
pectation, even to admiration ;' others have found it so, and why not
you, why not you ? Well ! remember, that God is no curious nor critical
observer of the incongruous expressions that falls from his poor children
when they are in their closet-duties ; he is such a Father as is very well
pleased with the broken expressions and divine stammerings of his
people when they are in a comer. It is not a flood of words, nor studied
notions, nor seraphical expressions, nor elegant phrases in prayer, that
takes the ear, or that delights the heart of God, or that opens the gates
of glory, or that brings down the best of blessings upon the sonl ; but
uprightness, holiness, heavenliness, spiritualness, and brokenness of heart:
these are the things that make a conquest upon God, and that turns
most to the soul's account. But,

(5.) Fifthly Thou sayest thou canst not pray, hut if thou aH a child of
God, thou hast the SpiHt of God, and the Spirit of God is a Spirit of
prayer and supplication. That all the children of God have the Spirit
of God is most evident in the blessed Scriptures. Take these for a taste :
Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the in-
habitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication ;' Ps. li. 11,
' Take not thy Holy Spirit from me ;' Eom. viii. 15, * Ye have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father;' 1 Cor. ii. 12,
'We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of
God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to tis of
God ;' 1 Thes. iv. 8, ' Who hath given unto us his Holy Spirit ;' 1 John
iii 4, ' Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he
hath given us;' chap. iv. 13, 'Hereby we know that we dwell in him,,
and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.'

That all the children of God have the Spirit of God, may be further
made evident by an induction of these seven particulars.

[1.] First, They are all sanxitified hy the Spirit-. J Cor. vi. 11, 'Ye
are sanctified by the Spirit of our God.' I do not say, that they are all
equally sanctified by the Spirit, but I say they are aU really sanctified
by the Spirit. Though all the servants of Christ have their talents, yet
all have not their ten talents, nor all have not their five talents, nor all
have not their two talents ; some have only their one talent, Mat. xxv.
15. Though Benjamin's mess was five times as much as his brethren's
mess, yet eveiy one of his brethren had their mess, Gen, xliii 32-34,

» 'Wonder.'— G.

VOL. n. p

226 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

SO though some Christians have five times more measures of the Spirit,
and more measures pf light, of love, of holiness, of heavenly-mindedness,
&c., than others have, yet every Christian hath some measures of the
Spirit, and some measures of grace and holiness, &c. Though some are
babes in Christ, and others are children in Christ, though some are
young men in Christ, and others old men in Christ, yet every one of
them is born of the Spirit of Christ, I Peter ii. 2; 1 John ii. 12-14;
John iii. 8. Though none of the people of God in this Hfe^ have the
Spirit in perfection, yet every one of them have so much of the Spirit
as will bring him to salvation. Every Christian hath so much of the
Spirit as will bring Christ and his soul together; and therefore without
all peradventure, every Christian hath so much of the Spirit, as will at
last bring heaven and his soul together.

[2.] Secondly f They are all led hy the Spirit': Rom. viii. 14, 'As
many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.' Every child
of God hath a twofold guide: the word without, and the Spirit within,
Isa. XXX. 20, 21. How the Spirit leads by the rule of the word, and
how he leads to God, and leads to Christ, and leads to truth, and leads
to righteousness, and leads to holiness, and leads to happiness, I shall
not now undertake to shew, Prov. vi. 22, Eph. v. 9.

[3.] Thirdly, They are all upheld and strengthened hy the Spirit :
Ps. Ii. 12, ' Uphold me with thy free Spirit ;' or underprop me or sus-
tain me, as the Hebrew hath it, with thy free, voluntary Spirit ; or, as
the Greek turns it, with thy noble, princely Spirit. So Eph. iii. 16,
' To be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.' By
the inner man, some understand the regenerate part of man ; others, by
the inner man, do understand the soul with all its noble faculties and
motions. Take the words which way you will, it is certain that all the
spiritual might and strength that a Christian hath, he hath it from the
Holy Spirit. Though the Spirit strengthens every Christian in the
inner man, yet I do not say that the Spirit strengthens every Christian
alike in the inward man. Some have stronger corruptions to subdue
than others, and more violent temptations to withstand than others, and
greater difficulties to wrestle with than others, and choicer mercies to
improve than others, and higher and harder duties of religion to man-
age than others, and accordingly they are more strengthened in the
inner man than others.

[4.] Fourthly, They are all] partakers of the first-fruits of the
'Spirit : Rom. viii. 23, ' Ourselves have the first-fruits of the Spirit,'
which are but as a handful of corn in respect of the whole crop. All
the grace and all the holiness which we have from the regenerating
Spirit at first conversion is but a drop to that sea, a mite to those
talents, which we shall receive in the life to come, 2 Cor. i. 22.

[5.] Fifthly, They are all taught by the Spirit, John xiv. 26. * The
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things,' Isa. lix. 21.

This promise primarily belongs to the apostles ;

Secondarily, to all believers.

Though these words were spoken at first to the apostles only, yet
they were not spoken of the apostles only : Isa. liv. 13, ' And all thy
children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of

Mat. VT. 6.] the privy key op heaven. 227

thy children.' In these words there are three things promised to the
apostles :

First, Immediate illumination by the Spirit of God.

Secondly/, A full knowledge of all those truths belonging to their
apostolical oflSbe, and that were necessary for them at that juncture of
time.

Thirdly, Absolute infallibility as to matter of doctrine.

There are also three things promised to all believers :

First, Mediate illumination, teaching truths by the Spirit of truth, in
the use of the means of grace.

Secondly, Knowledge of all truth necessary to salvation.

Thirdly, Infallibility too, so far forth as they adhere and keep close
to the Spirit's teaching in the word.

Philo saith that the primitive Christians were called tillers, because,
as husbandmen till their fields and manure their grounds, so did they
teach their families and nurture their children and servants with good
instructions.* Oh, what choice teachings of the Spirit were these
primitive Christians under, who made it so much their business, their
work, to teach those that were under their charge, 1 Thes. iv. 9, 2 Cor.
iii. 8. So 1 John iL 27, ' But the anointing which ye have received of
him abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you : but as
the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth.' Not that
we know all things simply, or that we need not a ministry to teach and
instruct us ; but he speaks comparatively : you shall not be so helped
by any instructions without the Spirit, as with the Spirit. The Spirit
shall declare the truth as it is in Jesus more clearly, more freely, more
particularly, more certainly, more universally, more effectually, than any
other is able to do.^ The Spirit, this holy unction, shall teach the saints
all things ; not all things knowable, for that is impossible for finite
creatures to attain unto. Who knows the motions of the heavens, the
influences of the stars, the nature of the creatures, or how the bones do
grow in the womb of her that is with child ? Who knows the reason
why the river Nilus should overflow in the summer, when waters are at
the lowest ; or why the loadstone should draw iron to it, or incline to
the pole star ?

Pliny tells us of one that spent eight and fifty years in learning out
the nature of the bee, and yet had not fully attained to it.' How is it
possible, then, for the wisest naturalist to enter into the deep things
of God ?

Paul, that learned his divinity among the angels, and that had the
Holy Ghost for his immediate teacher, tells us plainly that ' he knew
but in part,' 1 Cor. xiii. 9-1 1 ; and oh then, how little a part of that
part do we know ! But the Spirit teacheth the saints all things ; that is,

First, He teacheth them all things needful for the salvation of their
souls, all things necessary to bring them to heaven, John xvii. 3.

Secondly, All things needful to life and godliness, 2 Peter i. 3.
Thirdly, All things needful to their places, callings, sexes, ages, and
conditions.

1 Cf. Works, by Yonge, vol. i. pp. 378, aeq.—Gc.
* « 1 Cor. vi. 9-11 ; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; John xvi. 26 ; Isa. xlviii. 17 ; Eceles. xi. 6.
. ' [NcU. Hist."] Lib. xi. cap. ix. [viz., Aristomachus of Soli. — Q.]

228 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

Fourthly, All things needful for you to know to preserve you in the
truth, and to preserve you from being deluded and seduced by those
false teachers of whom he speaks, 1 John ii. verses 10, 19, 22, 23, 26.
And certainly this is the main thing that John hints at in that expres-
sion. The ' all things' spoken of in ver. 27, according* to the ordi-
nary Scripture style, must necessarily be interpreted only of all those
things which are there spoken of. But,

[6.] Sixthly, They are all comforted by the Spirit ;' Acts ix. 31,
' They walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost ;' Rom. xiv. 17, ' For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink,
but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ;' 1 Thes. i. 6,
* And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the
word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.' Not that all
Christians have always actual comfort, actual joy. Oh no ! For as the
air is sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy, and as the sea is some-
times ebbing and sometimes flowing ; so the comforts and joys of the
people of God are sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing, sometimes
clear and sometimes cloudy.

Hudson the martyr being deserted at the stake, went from under his
chain ; and having prayed earnestly, was comforted immediately, and
suffered valiantly.^

So Mr Glover the martyr was deserted in prison , but as he was going
to the stake he looked back, and cried out to his friend, 'He is come, he
is come,' meaning the Comforter, and so he laid down his life with joy.*

Rachel wept, and would not be comforted ; she gave so much way
to weeping, that she would not give the least way to comfort ; and so it
is many times with the choicest saints, ' My soul refused to be com-
forted,' Ps. Ixxvii. 2. It is not my purpose at present to insist on the
several ways whereby the people of God refuse comfort, and fall short
of those strong consolations which God is willing that they should re-
ceive. The sun may operate where it doth not shine, and a man may
be in a state of salvation, and yet want consolation ; a man may fear
the Lord, and obey the voice of his servant, and yet walk in darkness
and see no light, Isa. 1. 10. There is no Christian but may sometimes
have trouble in his conscience, and grief in his heart, and tears in his
eyes, and fears and questionings in his soul, whether God be his Father,
and whether Christ be his redeemer, and whether mercy belongs to him,
yea, whether any promise in the book of God belongs to him? &c. Joy
and comfort are those dainties, those sweetmeats of heaven, that God
doth not every day feast his people with, Ps. xxx. 6, 7 ; every day is not
a wedding day, nor every day is not a harvest day, nor every day is not
a summer's day. The fatted calf is not killed every day, nor the robe
and the ring is not every day put on ; every day is not a festival day
nor a dancing day, Luke xv. 22, 23 ; Eccles. iii. 4 ; Rom. xii. 15. As
there is a time to sing, so there is a time to sigh ; as there is a time to
laugh, so there is a time to weep ; and as there is a time to dance, so
there is a time to mourn. All tears will never be clear wiped from our
eyes till all sin be quite taken out of our hearts. But notwithstanding
ail this, yet gracious souls have always sure and choice grounds of con-
solation ; they have the promises, they have the ' first-fruits of the

» John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, and xvi. 7. » Clarke, as before.— G. ^ Ibid.— G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 229

Spirit,' they have union with Christ, and they have right to eternal life,
though they have not always sensible comforts. The children of God
have always cause to exercise faith and hope on God in their darkest
condition, though they have not always actual joy and consolation, Job
xiii. 15, Ps. xlii. 5. The Comforter always abides with the saints,
though he doth not always actually comfort the saints, John i. 1 6. The
Spirit many times carries on his sanctifying work in the soul when he
doth not carry on his comforting work in the soul ; the Spirit many
times acts in a way of humiliation when he doth not act in a way of
consolation ; the Spirit many times fills the soul with godl}'' sorrow
when he doth not fill the soul with holy joy. The actings of the Spirit,
as to his comforting work, are all of his own sovereign will and pleasure ;
and therefore he may abide in the soul when he doth not actually
comfort the soul. But,

[7.] Seventhly, The people of God, first or last, are sealed by the
Spirit : Eph. i. 13, 'In whom, after ye believed, ye were sealed by the
Holy Spirit of promise.'' The nature of sealing consists in the imparting
of the image or character of the seal to the thing sealed. To seal a
thing is to stamp the character of the seal on it. Now, the Spirit of
God doth really and effectually communicate the image of God to us,
which image consists in riorhteousness and true holiness. Then are we
truly sealed by the Spirit of God when the Holy Ghost stamps the image
of grace and holiness so obviously, so evidently upon the soul, as that the
soul sees it, feels it, and can run and read it ; then the soul is sealed
by the Holy Spirit. So Eph. iv. 30, ' And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' The per-
son of the Holy Ghost is here set forth in the Greek with a very great
energy, such as our tongue is not able fully to express.

Here are three words, that have three articles, every word his several
article by itself, '■^ wixjiia, rh aym, roZ 3 gov, the Spirit, not a Spirit ; and
not holy, but the holy; nor of God, but of thxit God : 2 Cor. i. 22, 'Who
hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.*
In these scriptures you see that the Spirit is a seal Now, a seal
among men is.

First, For secresy.

Secondly, For distinction.

Tliirdly, For authority.

Fourthly, For certainty. A writing sealed is authentic ; and for en-
suring.

In the three texts last cited, if you compare them together, you may
observe these six things :

First, The person sealing, and that is, the Father.

Secondly, In whonj, in Christ.

Thirdly, With what seal, the Spirit of promise. Where are all the
persons in the Trinity making us sure of our inheritance.

Fourthly, When, after ye believed.

Fifthly, The end, which is twofold:

(1.) Suhordinaie, and that is the certainty of our salvation ;

• These words, saith Zanchy [Zanchins]. are a metaphor taken from merchants, who
having bought goods, seal them as their own. and so transport them to other places
Eph.iv. 24.

230 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

(2.) VTtimate, and that is, the praise of his glory.

Sixthly, The time, how long this seal and earnest shall assure us,
and that is, ' till we have the complete possession of what it is an ear-
nest.' To prevent mistakes and disputes about the sealings of the
Spirit on the one hand, and to support, comfort, and encourage the
poor people of God on the other hand, let me briefly hint at the Spirit's
special sealing times.

[1.] First, Conversion times are often the Spirit's sealing times,
Luke XV. 22, 23. Upon the prodigal's return, the fatted calf is killed,
and the best robe is put upon his back, and the ring is put upon his
hand, and shoes on his feet. Some by the robe understand the royalty
of Adam, others, the righteousness of Christ. And by the ring, some
understand the pledges of God's love, rings being given as pledges
of love ; and by the ring others understand the seal of God's Holy
Spirit, men using the seal with their rings. Among the Romans the
ring was an ensign of virtue, honour, and nobility, whereby they that
wore them were distinguished from the common people. I think the
main thing intended by the robe and the ring is, to shew us, that God
sometimes upon the sinner's conversion and returning to him, is gra-
ciously pleased to give him some choice manifestations of his gracious
pleasure and good-will, and to seal up to him his everlasting love and
favour. And henceit comesto pass that some that are but babes in Christ,
1 Pet. ii. 2, 3 ; 1 John ii. 12-14, are so dihgent and active in religious
duties, and so conscientious and dexterous in the exercise of their graces.
At first conversion, God helps some of his people to read their own
names written in legible letters in the book of life. Acts ix. 3-6. No
sooner are some converted, but the Spirit stamps his seal upon them.

[l'.] Secondly, Believing tim.es are sealing times, Eph. i. 13. When
they were in the veiy exercise of their faith, when they were acting of
their faith, — for so much the original imports, — the Spirit came and
sealed them up to the day of redemption, Rom. xv. 1 3 ; 1 Pet. i. 8. He
that honours Christ by frequent actings of faith on him, him will Christ
honour, by setting his seal and mark upon him.

- [3.] Thirdly, Humbling times, moui'ning times, are sealing times.
When a holy man was asked, which were the joyfullest days, the com-
fortablest days, that ever he enjoyed, he answered, his mourning days.
His mourning days were his joyfullest days ; and therefore he cried out,
* Oh give me my mourning days, give me my mourning days ; for they
were my joyfullest days.' Those were days wherein God sealed up his
everlasting love to his soul, Job xxii. 29 ; Isa. xxix. 19. When the
prodigal had greatly humbled himself before liis father, then the best
robe and ring were put upon him, Luke xv. 1 7-24. There are none
that long for the sealings of the Spirit like humble souls ; nor none
set so high a price upon the sealings of the Spirit, as humble souls ; nor
none make so choice an improvement of the sealings of the Spirit, as
humble souls. And therefore when men's hearts are humble and low,
the Spirit comes and sets the privy-seal of heaven upon them.

[4.] Fourthly, Sinkilling, sin-mortifying, sin-subduing times, are
the Spirit's sealing times; Rev. ii. 1 7, *To him thatovercometh will I give
to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the
stone a new name written, that no man knows saving he that receiveth it.*

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 231

God will give to the victorious Christian a secret' love-token, whereby
his soul may rest assured of the unspeakable love of God, and of its
freedom from condemnation. White stones were of very great use
among the Romans, and among the Athenians, and served to acquit the
accused in courts of justice. When malefactors were accused, arraigned,
and condemned in their courts, they gave them a black stone in token
of condemnation ; but when they were acquitted, they gave them white
stones, in token of absolution ; and to this practice the Holy Ghost
seems to allude. He that is victorious over his lusts shall have a new
name, ' that is better than the names of sons and daughters,' Isa. Ivi. 5 ;
and he shall have the pardon of his sins writ in fair letters upon the white
stone, so that he may run and read his absolution. The victorious
Christian shall have assurance of the full discharge of all his sins, he
shall have a clear evidence of his justification, and a blessed assurance
of his eternal election ; all which are hidden and mysterious things to
all but those that have experienced and tasted what these sweet meats
of heaven mean, 1 John i. 7.

Among the Romans there were solemn feasts held in honour of those
that were victorious in their sacred games. Now those that were to be
admitted to those feasts were wont to have their names written on white
shells, and white stones, and by these tickets they were admitted. Now
some think the Holy Ghost alludes to this practice, and so would hint
to us a privy mark whereby victorious Christians may be known, and
admitted as bidden guests to the heavenly banquet of the hidden
manna, according to Rev. xix. 9. O sirs ! when predominate lusts are
brought under, when bosom-sins lie slain in the soul, then the Spirit
comes and seals up love, and life, and glory to the soul.

[5.] Fifthly, Suffering times are seoXing times ; Acts vii. 55, 56, 59,
60; Rev. i. 9, 10 ; 2 Cor. iv. 15-17. The primitive Christians found
them so, and the suffering saints in the Marian days found them so.*
When the furnace is seven times hotter than ordinary, the Spirit of the
Lord comes and seals up a man's pardon in his bosom, and his peace
with God, and his title to heaven. When the world frowns most, then
God smiles most ; when the world puts their iron chains upon the
saints' legs, then God puts his golden chains about the saints' necks ;
when the world puts a bitter cup into one hand, then the Lord puts
a cup of consolation into the other hand ; when the world cries out,
' Crucify them, crucify them !' then commonly they hear that sweet voice
from heaven, ' These are my beloved ones, in whom I am well pleased.'

Blessed Bradford looked upon his sufferings as an evidence to him
that he was in the right way to heaven. And saith Ignatius, ' It is
better for me to be a martyr than to be a monarch.'

[6.] Sixthly, Self-denying tim,es are the Spirit^ 8 sealing tiTnes, Mat.
xix. 27-29.

First, There is sinful self, which takes in a man's lusts.

Secondly, There is natural self, which takes in a man's arts, parts, gifts,
with reason.

Thirdly, There is religious self, which takes in all a man's religious
duties and services, whether ordinary or extraordinary.
4 Fourthly, There is moral self, which includes a freedom from gross,
» Acta V. 40-42 ; Pa. Ixxi. 20, 21 ; and f s. xciv. 19 ; Rev. i. 9, 10.

232 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

heinous, enormous wickednesses, and a fair, sweet, harmless behaviour
towards men.

Fifthly, There is relative self, which takes in our nearest and dearest
relations in the flesh ; as wife, children, father, mother, brothers, sisters,
&c., Ps. xlv. 7-1 1. Now when a man comes thus universally to deny
himself for Christ's sake, and the gospel's sake, and religion's sake, then
the Spirit of the Lord comes and seals him up unto the day of redemp-
tion. This is a truth confirmed by the experiences of many mart}TS
now in heaven, and by the testimony of many Christians still alive.

[7.] Seventhly, Sacrament times are sealing times. In that ' feast
of fat things,' God by his Spirit seals up his love to his people, and his
covenant to his people, and pardon of sin to his people, and heaven and
happiness to his people. There are many precious souls that have found
Christ in this ordinance, and when they could not find him in other
ordinances, though they have sought him sorrowingly. In this ordinance
many a distressed soul hath been strengthened, comforted and sealed.

I might give you many instances. Take one for all. There was a
gracious woman, who, after God had filled her soul with comfort, and
sealed up his everlasting love to her, fell under former fears and trouble
of spirit, and being at the Lord's supper, a little before the bread was
administered to her, Satan seemed to appear to her, and told her that
she should not presume to eat ; but at that very nick of time, the Lord
was pleased to bring into her mind that passage in the Canticles, * Eat,
O my friend,' Cant. v. 1. But notwithstanding this, Satan still con-
tinued terrifying of her, and when she had eaten, he told her that she
should not drink ; but then the Lord brought that second clause of the
verse to her remembrance, * Drink, yea drink abundantly' (or, ' be
drunk,' as the Hebrew hath it) 'my beloved' (or, 'my loves,' as the
Hebrew hath it ; — all faithful souls are Christ's loves), and so she drank
also, and presently was filled with such unspeakable joys, that she hardly
knewhowshe got home ; whi^hsoul-ravishing joys continued forafortnight
after, and filled her mouth with songs of praise, so that she could neither
sleep nor eat, more than she forced herself to do out of conscience of
duty. At the fortnight's end, when God was pleased to abate her mea-
sure of joy,^he came to a settled peace of conscience, and assurance of
the love of God ; so that for twenty years after she had not so much as
a cloud upon her spirit, or the least questioning of her interest in Christ.
But,

[8.] Eighthly, When God calls his people to some great and noble
work, when he puts them upon some high services, some dijfflcult duties,
some holy and eminent employments, then his Spirit comes and seta
his seal upon them : Jer. i. 5, ' Before I formed thee in the belly I knew
thee : and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee,
and I ordained thee to be a prophet unto the nations.' The Lord send-
ing the prophet- Jeremiah to denounce most dreadful judgments against
a rebellious people, an impudent brazen-faced nation, he assures him of
his eternal election, and of his choice presence, and singular assistance
in that work that he set him about, verses 8th, 17th, 18th 19th. Thus
the Lord dealt with Peter, James, and John, Mat. xvii. 1st to the 6th,
and thus he dealt with Paul, Acts ix. 1st to 23d.

[9.] Ninthly, When they are taken up into more than ordinary

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 233

communion with God, then is the Spirit's sealing time. When was it
that the spouse cried out, ' My beloved is mine, and I am his !' but when
Christ brought her to his banqueting house, and his banner over her
was love ? Cant. ii. 16 ; 3-6, compared, &c.

[10.] Tenthly and lastly. When ChHstians give themselves up to
private prayer, when Christians are more than ordinaHly exercised
i/n secret prayer, in closet duties, then the Spirit comes and seals up
the covenant and the love of the Father to them. When Daniel had
been wrestling and weeping, and weeping and wrestling all day long
with God in his closet, then the angel tells him, 'that he was a man
greatly beloved of God,' or a man of great desires, as the original hath
it, Daniel ix. 20-23. There was a gracious woman who, after much
frequenting of sermons, and walking in the ways of the Lord, fell into
great desertions ; but being in secret prayer, God came in with abundance
of light and comfort, sealing up to her soul that part of his covenant, viz.,
' I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an
heart of flesh ; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine
ordinances, and do them : and they shall be my people, and I will be
their God,'Ezek. xi. 19, 20. And thus I have given you a brief account
of the Spirit's special sealing times. Now mark, this seal God sets upon
all his wares, upon all his adopted children ; for sooner or later there
are none of his but are sealed with this seal. God sets his seal of re-
generation, he stamps his image of holiness upon all his people, to dif-
ference and distinguish them from all profane, [im]moral,*and hypocritical
persons in the world, John iii. 3 ; 2 Thes. ii. 13; Heb. xii. 14. Doubt-
less the sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, imprinting the draughts
and lineaments of God's image of righteousness and holiness upon man,
as a seal or signet doth leave an impression and stamp of its likeness
upon the thing sealed, is the seal of the Spirit spoken of in Scripture :
2 Tim. ii. 19, 'The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The
Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity.' But to prevent mistakes, you
must remember, that though the Spirit of the Lord, first or last, will
set his seal upon every real saint, yet the impression of that seal is not
alike visible in all; for some bear this impression as babes, others as
men grown up to some maturity. All God's adopted children bear this
impression truly, but none of them bear it perfectly in this life. Some-
times this seal of regeneration, this seal of holiness is so plain and obvious
that a man may run and read it in himself and others ; and at other
times it is so obscure and dark, that he can hardly discern it, either in
himself or others. This seal is so lively stamped on some of God's people,
that it discovers itself very visibly, eminently, gloriously ; but on others
it is not alike visible. And thus I have made it evident by these seven
particulars, that all the children of God have the Spirit of God.

Now mark, the Spirit of God that is in all the saints, is a Spirit of
prayer and supplication : Rom. viii. 15, 'Ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.' While the child is in the
womb it cannot cry, but as soon as it is born it cries. Whilst Paul did
lie in the womb of his natural estate, he could not pray; but no sooner
was^e born of the Spirit, but the next news is, 'Behold he prayethT
» Qu. ' moral ' ; that is, merely moral, as distinguished from ' holy ' ?— Ed.

234? THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

Acts ix. 11, Prayer is nothing but the turning of a man's inside out-
ward before the Lord. The very soul of prayer lies in the pouring out
of a man's soul into the bosom of God. Prayer is nothing but the
breathing that out before the Lord that was first breathed into us by
the Spirit of the Lord. Prayer is nothing but a choice, a free, a sweet,
and familiar intercourse of the soul with God. Certainly, it is a great
work of the Spirit to help the saints to pray : Gal. iv. 6, ' Because you
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, cry-
ing, Abba, Father.' God hath no still-born children. The gemination,
' Abba, Father,' notes fiducial, filial, and vehement affection. The first
is an Hebrew or Syriac word, the second a Greek,* whereby is signified
the union of the Hebrews and Grecians, or the Jews and Gentiles, in one
church, 'Abba, Father.' What is Abba ? say others in Hebrew, Father ;
and it is added, because in Christ the corner-stone both peoples are
joined, alike becoming sons, whencesoever they come : circumcision
from one place, whereupon Abba; uncircumcision from another, where-
upon Father is named : the concord of the walls being the glory of the
corner-stone.

The word Abba, say others, signifies father in the Syriac tongue,
which the apostle here retaineth, because it is a word full of affection,
which young children retain almost in all languages, when they begin
to speak. And he adds the word father, not only to expound the same,
but also the better to express the eager movings and the earnest and
vehement desires and singular affections of believers, in their crying
unto God ; even as Christ himself redoubled the word Father, Mark
xiv. 86, to the same purpose, when he was in his greatest distress. This
little word Father, saith Luther, lisped forth in prayer by a child of,
God, exceeds the eloquence of Demosthenes, Cicero, and all other so
famed orators in the world. It is certain that the Spirit of God helps
the saints in all their communions with God, viz., in their meditations
of God, in their reading and hearing of the word of God, in the com-
munions one with another, and in all their solemn addresses to God.
And as to this the apostle gives us a most special instance in that
Rom. viii. 26, ' Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we
know not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself
maketh intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.'
When we are to pray, there is in us sometimes an infirmity of ignorance,
so that we know not what to pray for, either in regard of the matter
or the manner. And there is in us at other times an infirmity of pride
and conceitedness, so that we cannot pray with that humility and low-
liness of spirit as we should, spiritual pride having fly-blown our
prayers. Sometimes there is in us an infirmity of deadness, dulness,
drowsiness, &c., so that we cannot pray with that warmth, heat, life,
spirit, and fervency, as we should, or as v/e would ; and at other times
there is in us an infirmity of unbelief and slavish fears, so that we can-
not pray with that faith and holy boldness, as becomes children that
draw near to a throne of grace, to a throne of mercy, &c. But now the
Spirit helps these infirmities by way of instruction, prompting and
teaching us what to pray for, and how we should spell our lesson ; and
by telling us as it were within, what we should say, and how we should
' Pareus [in loco, as before. — G.]

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 235

sigh and groan ; and by rousing and quickening, and stirring of us up
to prayer, and by his singular influence and choice assistance opening
and enlarging our hearts in prayer ; and by his tuning the strings of
our affections, he prepares us and fits us for the work of supplication ;
and therefore every one that derides the spirit of prayer in the saints,
saying These are the men and the women that pray by the Spirit ! blas-
pheme against the Holy Spirit ; it being a main work of the Spirit to
teach the saints to pray and to help them in prayer. Now, all the saints
having the Spirit, and the Spirit being a Spirit of prayer and supplica-
tion, there is no reason in the world why a saint should say, I would
pray in secret, but I cannot pray, I cannot pour out my soul nor my
complaint before the Lord in a corner.

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, Thou sayest thou canst not pray, thou hast
not the gifts and parts which others have. But thou canst manage
thy callings, thy worldly business as well as others ; and why then
canst thou not pray as well as others ? Ah, friends ! did you but love
private prayer as well as you love the world, and delight in private
prayer as much as you delight in the world, and were your hearts as
much set upon closet-prayer as they are set upon the world, you would
never say you could not pray, yea, you would as quickly pray as well
as others. It is not so much from want of ability to pray in secret.
that you don't pray in secret, as it is from want of a will, a heart to
pray in secret, that you don't pray in secret. Jacob's love to Rachel,
and Shechem's love to Dinah, carried them through the greatest diffi-
culties, Gen. xxix. and xxxiv. Were men's affections but strongly set
upon private prayer, they would quickly find abilities to pray. He
that sets his affections upon a virgin, though he be not learned nor
eloquent, will find words enough to let her know how his heart is taken
with her. The application is easy. He in Seneca complained of a
thorn in his foot, when his lungs was rotten. So many complain of
want of ability to pray in their closets, when their hearts are rotten.
Sirs ! do but get better hearts, and then you will never say you can't
pray. It is one of the saddest sights in all the world, to see men
strongly parted and gifted for all worldly businesses, to cry out that they
can't pray, that they have no ability to pour out their souls before the
Lord in secret. You have sufiicient parts and gifts to tell men of your
sins, your wants, your dangers, your difficulties, your mercies, your
deliverances, your duties, your crosses, your losses, your enjoyments,
your friends, your foes ; and why then are you not ashamed to
complain of your want of parts and gifts, to tell those very things
to God in a corner, which you can tell to men even upon the housetops?
&c. But,

Ohj. 4. Fourthly, Some may further object and say, God is very well
acquainted with all our wants, necessities, straits, trials; and there is
no moving of him to bestow any favours upon us, which he doth not
intend to bestow upon us, whether we pray in our closets or no ; and
therefore to what purpose do you press secret prayer so hard upon us ?
&c.

To this objection I shall give these answers.

(1 .) First, Tlud this objection lies as strong against family prayer

236 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. P^AT. VI. 6.

and public prayer as it doth against private prayer. God knows all
thy wants and necessities, all thy straits and trials, &c., and therefore
what needest thou pray in thy family, what needest thou attend public
prayers in the communion of saints ? There is no wringing of any
mercy out of the hands of heaven, which God doth not intend to
bestow. This objection faces all kind of prayer, and fights against all
kinds of prayer. But,

(2.) Secondly, I answer. That pnvate prayer is that piece of divine
worship and adoration, it is a paH of that homage which we owe to
God upon the account of a divine command, as 1 have already proved.
Now, all objections must bow before the face of divine commands ; as
Joseph's brethren bowed before him. Gen. xlii. 6; or as king Ahasuerus
his servants bowed before Haman, Esther iii. 2. Indeed, every objection
that is formed up against a divine command, should fall before- it, as
Dagon fell before the ark, or as Goliah fell before David. He that
casts off private prayer under any pretence whatsoever, he casts ofif
the dominion of God, the authority of God, and this may be as much
as a man's life and soul is worth. But,

(3.) Thirdly, I answer, Though prayer be not the ground, the cause
of obtaining favours and mercies from God, yet it is the means, it is
the silver channel, it is the golden pipe, through which the Lord is
pleased to convey to his people all temporal, spiritual, and eternal
favours,^ Ezek. xxxvi. from the 26th to the 37th verse of that chapter.
God promises to give them the cream, the choicest, the sweetest of all
spiritual, eternal, and temporal blessings ; but mark, verse 37th, ' I
will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.'
Though God be very prompt and ready to bestow upon his people the
best and the greatest of blessings, yet he will by prayer be sought unto
for the actual enjoyment of them. He that hath no heart to pray for
a mercy he needs, he hath no ground to believe that ever God will give
him the mercy he needs. There is no receiving without asking, no
finding without seeking, no opening without knocking. The threefold
promise annexed to the threefold precept in Mat. vii. 7, should encour-
age all Christians to be instant, fervent, and constant in prayer. The
proud beggar gets nothing of men, and the dumb sinner gets nothing
of God. As there is no mercy too great for God to give, so there is no
mercy too little for us to crave. Certainly that man hath little worth
in him that thinks any mercy not worth a seeking. But,

(4.) Fourthly and lastly, I answer, Every Christian should labour
to enjoy his mercies in mercy ; he should labour to have his blessings
blessed unto him ; he should labour to have 'the good will of him that
dwelt in the bush,' with all he hath, Gen. xxii. 17. Now this is an
everlasting truth, a maxim to live and die with, that whatsoever mercy
comes not in upon the wing of prayer is not given in mercy. Oh, how
sweet is that mercy that comes flying in upon the wing of prayer !
How sweet was that water to Samson which streamed to him in the
channel of private prayer. Judges xv. 19 ; he called the name of it
En-hakkore, the well of him that prayed. Samson prayed as for life,
and that water that was handed to him was as sweet as life. Every
mercy that is gathered by the hand of prayer is as sweet as the rose of
' Isa. Iv. 6 ; James i. 6; Isa. Ixii. 7 ; Fs. xxii. 24.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 237

Sharon, Cant. ii. 1 . But that mercy that comes not in at the door of
prayer, comes not in at the right door ; and that mercy that comes not
in at the right door will do a man no good : such mercies will make
themselves wings and fly from us, Prov. xxiii. 5. Every Christian should
narrowly look that all his mercies are sanctified mercies. Now, every
mercy is sanctified by the word and prayer, 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. Prayer
prepares and fits us for mercy, and mercy for us. It is prayer that gives
us a right and holy use of all our mercies. Such mercies are but great
miseries that come not in upon the wing of prayer. Prayerless men's
mercies are all given in wrath ; yea, their blessings are cursed unto
them, Prov. iii. 33, Mai. ii. 2. Look, as every sacrifice was to be sea-
soned with salt, so eveiy mercy is to be sanctified by prayer. Look, as
gold sometimes is laid not only upon cloth and silks, but also upon
silver itself, so prayer is that golden duty that must be laid not only
upon all our natural and civil actions, as eating, drinking, buying, sell-
ing, &c., but also upon all our silver duties, upon all our most religious
and spiritual performances, as hearing, reading, meditating, conference,
church-fellowship, breaking of bread, &c.

Certainly prayer is very necessary to make every providence, and
every ordinance, and every mercy to be a blessing to us. Every mercy
that comes in upon the wing of private prayer is a double mercy ; it is
a great-bellied mercy ; it is a mercy that hath many mercies in the
womb of it. Happy is that Christian that can lay his hand upon every
mercy that he enjoys, and say of them all as once Hannah said of her
Samuel : 1 Sam. i. 27, ' For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath
given me my petition which I asked of him.' But,

Objection 5. Fifthly, Some may further object and say, I would
drive a private trade with God, I would exercise myself in secret
prayer, hut I want a convenient place to retire into ; I want a private
corner to unbosom my soul to my Father in, &c.

To this objection I shall give these three short answers :
(1.) First, / suppose this objection concerns but a few Christians in
our days. That God that hath given a Christ to believers doth com-
monly give them a convenient corner to enjoy private communion with
himself in, Rom. viii. 32. Most Christians, I am afraid, do rather want
a heart for private prayer, than a convenient place for private prayer.
What men set their hearts upon, they will find time and place to effect
it, whether it be good or whether it be evil, whether it concerns tem-
porals or spirituals, whether it concerns this world or another world,
this life or a better hfe. If most men would but get better hearts, they
would quickly find or make convenient places for private prayer. He
who hath an inflamed love to God will certainly find out a corner to
enjoy secret communion with God, True lovers will find out corners to
enjoy one another in. How many men are there that can easily find
out private places for their dogs to lie in, and their swine to sleep in,
and their horses to stand in, and their oxen to feed in, &c., who can't
find out a private place to seek the face of God in ! But did these men
but love their God, or their souls, or private prayer, or eternity, as well
or better than their beasts, they would not be such brutes but that they
would quickly find out a hole, a corner, to wait u£)on the Lord in. B\it,

238 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

(2.) Secondly, I answer, If a Christian he on the top of a house with
Peter, he may pray there ; or if he he walking in the field with Isaac,
he may pray there ; or if he on the mountain with Christ, he iriay
pray there ; or if he he hehind the door with Paul, he may pray
there ; or if he he waiting at table with Nehemiah, he may secretly
pray there ; or if he he in a wood, he may pray there, as the primi-
tive Chi'istians in times of persecution did ; or if he he hehind a tree,
he may pray there ; or if he he hy the sea side, he may pray there, as
the apostles did. It was a choice saying of Austin, 'Every saint is God's
temple/ saith he, ' and he that carries his temple about him, may go
to prayer when he pleaseth.' Some saints have never had so much of
heaven brought down into their hearts, as when they have been with
God in a corner. Oh the secret manifestations of divine love, the secret
kisses, the secret embraces, the secret influences, the secret communion
with God, that many a precious Christian hath had in the most solitary
places : it may be behind the door, or behind the wall, or behind the
hedge, or behind the arbour, or behind the tree, or behind the rock, or
behind the bush, &c. But,

(3.) Thirdly, and lastly. Didst thou never in thy unregenerate estate
make use of all thy wits, and parts, and utmost endeavours, to find
out convenient seasons, and secret corners, and solitary places to sin
in, and to dishonour thy God in, and to undo thine own and others'
souls in ? Yes ! I remember with shame and blushing, that it was so
with me when I was dead in trespasses and sins, and walked according
to the course of this world, Eph. ii. 1-3. Oh, how much then doth it
concern thee in thy renewed, sanctified, and raised estate, to make use
of all thy wits, and parts, and utmost endeavours, to find out the fittest
seasons, and the most secret comers, and solitary places thou canst, to
honour thy God in, and to seek the welfare of thine own and others'
souls in ! Oh that men were but as serious, studious, and industrious,
to find out convenient seasons, secret places to please and serve and
glorify the Lord in, as they have been serious, studious, and industrious
to find out convenient seasons, and secret places to displease and grieve
the Spirit of the Lord in. But,

Ohf 6. Sixthly, and lastly, others may further object and say. We
would he often in private with God, we would give ourselves up to
closet-prayer, but that we can no sooner shut our closet door8,hut a mul-
titude of infirmities, weaknesses, and vanities do face us, and Hse up
against us. Our hearts being full of distempers and follies, and our
bodies, say some, are under great indispositions; and our souls, say
others, are imder present indispositions; and how then can we seek
the face of God in a comer ? how can we wrestle with God in our
closets ? &c.

Now, to this objection I shall give these six answers.

(1.) If these kinds of reasonings or arguingswere sufficient to shut
private prayer out of doors, where lives that man or woman, that
husband or wife, that father or child, that master or servant, that
would ever he found in the practice of that duty /' Where is there a

« Ps. xl. 12 ; Ps. li. 5 ; Rom. yii. 16, 24 ; Pa. cxxx. 8 ; 1 Cor. iv. 4 ; 2 Chron. vi. 86 ;
Philip, iii. 12. :

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 239

person under heaven whose heart is not full of infirmities, weaknesses,
follies, and vanities; and whose body and soul is not too often indis-
posed to closet duties ? 1 Kings viii. 46, ' If they sin against thee, for
there is no man that sinneth not, &c. ;'^ Eccles. vii. 20, ' For there is not
a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not;' Prov. xx.
9, * Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my
sin?' Job xiv. 4, 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not
one.' Job ix. 30, 31, ' If I wash myself with snow-water, and make
my hands never so clean ; yet shall thou plunge me in the ditch, and
mine own clothes shall abhor me.' Job ix. 20, 'If I justify myself, my
own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove
me perverse.' Ps. cxliii. 2, ' And enter not into judgment with thy
servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.' James iii. 2,
* For in many things we offend all.' 1 John i. 8, ' If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' Such that afiirm
that men may be fully perfect in this life, or without sin in this life,
they do affirm that which is expressly contrary to the Scriptures last
cited, and to the universal experience of all saints, who daily feel and
lament over that body of sin and death that they bear about with
them ; yea, they do affirm that which is quite contrary to the very
state or constitution of all the saints in this life. In every saint, * the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth against the flesh,
and these are contrary one to the other, so that they cannot do the
things that they would,' Gal. v. 17. In every good man there are two
men, the old man and the new; the one must be daily put on, and the
other daily put off, Eph. iv. 22-24. All saints have a law in their
members rebelling against the law of their minds; so that the good that
they would do, they do not ; and the evil that they would not do, that they
do, Rom. vii. 23, 25, comp. They have two contrary principles in them,
from whence proceeds two manner of actions, motions, and inclinations,
continually opposite one to another; hence it is that there is a continual
combat in them, like the struggling of the tv/ins in Rebekah's womb.
An absolute perfection is peculiar to the triumphant state of God's
elect in heaven : heaven is the only privileged place, where no unclean
thing can enter in. Rev. xxiii. 21 ; that is the only place where neither
sin nor Satan shall ever get footing. Such as dream of an absolute
perfection in this life, do confound and jumble heaven and earth toge-
ther ; the state of the church militant, with the state of the church
triumphant, which are certainly distinct both in time and place, and in
order, measure, and concomitants, Heb. xii. 22, 23. This dangerous
opinion of absolute perfection in this life, shakes the very foundation of
religion, and overthrows the gospel of grace ; it renders the satisfaction
of Christ, and all his great transactions, null and void ; it tells the world
that there is no need of faith, of repentance, of ordinances, of watchful-
ness. They that say they have no sin, say they have no need of the
blood of Christ to cleanse them from sin, 1 John i. 7. Such as say they
have no sin, say they have no need of faith to rest upon Christ for
imputed righteousness to justify their persons. Such as say they have
no sin, say they have no need of Christ as king to subdue their lusts;
nor a^ priest, to expiate offences ; nor as prophet, to teach and instruct
• Grace in this life is like gold in the ore, full of mixture.

240 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

them ; nor as a Saviour, to save them from their sins, or from wrath to
come, Mat. i. 21 ; 1 Thes. i. 1 0. They that have a perfect righteousness
of their own, need not be beholden to Christ for his pure, perfect, spotless,
matchless righteousness. Such as are without sin have no cause to
repent of sin, nor yet to watch against sin. Such as are perfect cannot
say, We are unprofitable servants. But are they indeed just? Then
they must live by faith, Heb. ii. 4. Are they men, and not angels ?
Then they must repent, Acts xvii. 30, ' For now he commands men
everywhere to repent.' Surely the best of men are but men at the
best. Oh how bad those men must be, who make God himself a liar,
1 John i. ] 0. But if these men are absolutely perfect, how comes it to
pass that they are afflicted and diseased as other men ? How comes it
to pass that they eat, and drink, and sleep, and buy, and sell, and die
as other men ? Are these things consistent with an absolute perfec-
tion 1 Surely no. An absolute perfection is not a step short of heaven ;
it is heaven on this side heaven ; and they that would obtain it must
step to heaven before they have it. But,

(2.) iSecondly, I answer, That this objection lies as strong against
family-prayer, and against all oilier kind of prayer, as it doth against
closet-prayer. He that shall upon any grounds make this objection a
great bug-bear to scare his soul from closet-prayer ; he may upon the
same ground make it a great bug-bear to scare his soul not only from
all other kind of prayer, but from all other duties of religion also,
whether private or public. The spirit of this objection fights against all
religion at once; and therefore you should say to it, as Christ said to
Peter, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' But.

(3.) Thirdly, I answer. It is not the infirmities and weaknesses of a
Christian which are seen, lairfiented, bewailed, and resisted, that can
obstructor hinderthe efficacy and success of his prayers.^ Letmeclearup
thi s in afew instances. Jonah, you know, was a man full of sinful passions,
and other weaknesses, &c,, and yet his prayer was very prevalent with
God : Jonah ii. 1, 2, 7, 10, compared. So Elias his prayers were exceed-
ing prevalent with God ; he could open and shut heaven at his pleasure ;
and yet subject to like passions as we are, James iii. 17. Elias was a
man of extraordinary sanctity and holiness, a man that lived in heaven
whilst he dwelt on earth ; Enoch-like, he walked with God, and yet sub-
ject to like passions as we are, 1 Kings xix. 8 ; Romans xi. 2, 3. God
did in an eminent way communicate to him his counsel and secrets ; he
lay in the bosom of the Father ; and yet was a man subject to like
passions as we are. He was a very powerful and prevalent prophet ;
his very name imports as much ; Eli-jah signifies my strong God. In
that 1 Kings xvii. 1, it is Uli-jahu, that is, the Lord he is my strong God ;
and yet subject to like passions as we are. He was a man much in
fasting and prayer ; he was an inferior mediator between God and his
people ; and yet subject to like passions as we are. Now because some
from hence might object and say. No wonder if such a man as he was,
could by his prayers open and shut heaven at his pleasure ; but 1 am
a poor, weak, low, sinful, and unworthy creature ; I am full of infirmi-
ties, weaknesses, and passions ; and shall my prayers ever find access to

1 A spiritual infirmity is the sickness or indisposition of the soul, that arises from
weakness of grace.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven, 241

God, and acceptance with God, or gracious answers and returns from God ?
Now to obviate this objection, and to remove this .discouragement out
of the thoughts and hearts of poor sinners, the Holy Ghost addeth this
clause, that he was not a god, nor an angel, but a man, and such a man
as was not exempted from common infirmities ; for he had his passions,
frailties, and weaknesses as well as other saints ; intimating to us, that
infirmitiesin the meanest saints should no more prejudice the acceptance
and success of their prayers with God, than they did in Elias himself.
The word passion sometimes signifies, first, a motion of the sensual
appetite, arising from the imagination of good or ill, with some com-
motion of the body ; secondly, sometimes passions signify sinful infirmi-
ties, sinful perturbations of the mind ; and thirdly, sometimes passion
is taken more strictly for the especial affection of sinful anger and
wrath, which Chrysostom calls brevis dcemon, a short devil It makes a
man speak he knows not what, as you may see in Jonah ; and to do he
knows not what, as you may see in SauL Now in these two last senses
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and yet a man so
potent with God, that by private prayer he could do even what he
listed in the court of heaven. In that 1 Sam. chap, xxi, you may read
of David's round lies, and of his other failings, infirmities, and unseemly
carriages before Achish, kingof Gath, and for which he was turned out
of the king's presence, under the notion of a madman ; and yet at that
veiy time he prays, and prevails with God for favour, mercy, and de-
liverance : Ps. xxxiv. 4, ' I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and de-
livered me out of all my fear.' But when was this ? Ilead the title of
the psalm, and you shall find it : ' A psalm of David, who changed his
behaviour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.'
In that Num. xx. 10-12, Moses his infirmities are pointed out. First,
You have there his immoderate anger. (2.) His speaking to the people,
when he should have spoke to the rock, ver. 8. (3.) His smiting of it,
when he should only have spoken to it with the rod in his hand ; and
smiting it twice, as in a pang of passion and impatiency. (4.) His dis-
trusting of the Lord's word, ver. 12. (5.) His reviling of the people,
when he should have convinced them, ' Hear, ye rebels.' (6.) He seems
to be so offended at his commission, that he can hardly forbear mur-
muring : ' Must we bring water out of the rock V Mark that word,
' must we.' Oh how is the meekest man in all the world transported
into passion, and anger, and unbelief, and hurried into sad indecencies !
Num. xii. 3 ; and yet there was not a man on earth whose prayers were
so powerful and prevalent with God as Moses his were, Ps. cvi. 23,
Exod. xxxii. 9-15, xxxiii. 11-17, xiv. 13-16, &c. So king Asa was a
man full of infirmities and weaknesses ; he relies on the king of Syria,
and not on the Lord, 2 Chron. xvi. 7-13; he is very impatient, and
under a great rage upon the seer's reproof He imprisons the seer ; he
oppressed some of the people ; or, as the Hebrew hath it, ' he crushed,'
or he trampled upon some of the people at the same time ; and being
greatly diseased in his feet, he sought to the physicians and not to
the Lord ; and yet this man's prayer was wonderful prevalent with
God, 2 Chron. xiv. 11-15. The saints' infirmities can never make
void those gracious promises by which God stands engaged to hearken

VOL. IL Q

242 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6-

to the prayers of his people, Ps. 1. 15, Isa. xxx. 19, and Ixv. 24. God's
hearing of our prayers doth not depend upon sanctification, but upon
Christ's intercession ; not upon what we are in ourselves, but upon
what we are in the Lord Jesus ; both our persons and our prayers
are acceptable in the beloved, Eph. i, 6, 1 Pet. ii. 5, When God hears
our prayers, it is neither for our own sakes nor yet for our prayers*
sake, but it is for his own sake, and his Son's sake, and his glory's
sake, and his promise's sake, &c.

Certainly God will never cast off his people for their infirmities.

First, It is the glory of a man to pass by infirmities, Prov. xix. 1 1.
Oh how much more, then, must it be the glory of God to pass by the
infirmities of his people !

Secondly, Saints are children ; and what father will cast off his chil-
dren for their infirmities and weaknesses? Ps. ciii. 13, 14, 1 Cor. xii. 27.

Thirdly, Saints are members of Christ's body ; and what man will
cut off a member because of a scab or wart that is upon it ? ' What
man will cut off his nose,' saith Luther, ' because there is some filth in it?'

Fourthly, Saints are Christ's purchase ; they are his possession, his
inheritance.* Now what man is there that will cast away, or cast off
his purchase, his possession, his inheritance, because of thorns, bushes,
or briars that grow upon it ?

Fifthly, Saints are in a marriage-covenant with God, Hos. ii. 19, 20.
Now what husband is there that will cast off his wife for her failings
and infirmities ? So long as a man is in covenant with God, his infir-
mities can't cut him off from God's mercy and grace. Now it is cer-
tain a man may have very many infirmities upon him, and yet not
break his covenant with God, for no sin breaks a man's covenant with
God but such as unties the marriage knot. As in other marriages,
every offence or infirmity doth not disannul the marriage union ; it is
only the breach of the marriage vow, viz. adultery, that unties the mar-
riage knot ; so here it is only those sins which breaks the covenant
which unties the marriage knot between God and the soul : (1.) When
men freely subject^ to any lust as a new master ; or, (2.) When men
take another husband ; and this men do, when they enter into a league
with sin or the world, when they make a new covenant with hell and
death, Isa. xxviii. 15, 18. Now from these mischiefs God secures his
chosen ones. In a word, if God should cast off his people for their in-
firmities, then none of the sons or daughters of Adam could be saved :
' For there is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth
not,' Eccles. vii. 20. Now if God will not cast off his people for their
infirmities, then certainly he will not cast off the prayers of his people
because of those invincible infirmities that hang upon them ; and there-
fore our infirmities should not discourage us, or tate us off from closet
prayer, or from any other duties of Religion. But,

(4.) FouHhly, I answer. The more infirmities and weaknesses hang
upon us, the more cause have we to keep close and constant to our
closet-duties.^ If grace be weak, the omission of private prayer will
make it weaker. Look, as he that will not eat will certainly grow

' Eph. i. 22, 28; 1 Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23 ; 1 Pet. i. 18-20.

* In our older writers subject is frequently used aa an intransitiTO verb. — Ed.

3 The omission of good diet breeds diseases.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 243

weaker and weaker, so he that will not pray in his closet will certainly
grow weaker and weaker. If corruptions be strong, the neglect of
private prayer will make them stronger. The more the remedy is
neglected, the more the disease is strengthened. Whatsoever the dis-
tempers of a man's heart be, they will never be abated, but augmented,
by the omission of private prayer. The more bodily infirmities hang
upon us, the more need we have of the physician ; and so the more sinful
infirmities hang upon our souls, the more need we have of private
prayer. All sinful omissions will make work for repentance, for hell,
or for the physician of souls. Sinful omissions lead to sinful commis-
sions, as you may see in the angels that fell from heaven to hell, and
in Adam's fall in paradise.

Origen going to comfort and encourage a martyr that was to be tor-
mented, was himself apprehended by the officers, and constrained either
to offer to the idols, or to have his body abused by a blackamore that
was ready for that purpose ; of which hard choice, to save his life, he
bowed unto the idol ; but afterwards, making a sad confession of his
foul fact, he said, ' That he went forth that morning before he had been
with God in his closet ;' and so peremptorily concludes, 'that his neglect
of prayer was the cause of his falling into that great sin.'

The neglect of one day, of one duty, of one hour, would undo us for
ever, if we had not an advocate with the Father, 1 John ii. 1, 2. Those
years, those months, those weeks, those days, those hours that are not
filled up with God, with Christ, with grace, with duty, will certainly be
filled up with vanity and folly. All omissions of duty, will more and
more unfit the soul for duty. A key thrown by, gathers rust ; a pump
not used, will be hardly got to go ; and armour not used, will be hardly
made bright, &c. Look, as sinful commissions will stab the soul ; so
sinful omissions will starve the soul. Such as live in the neglect of
private prayer may well cry out, Isa. xxiv. 16, Job xvi. 8, 'Our lean-
ness, our leanness !' And therefore away with all these pleas and rea-
sonings about infirmities, and weaknesses, and indispositions, and address
yourselves to closet prayer. But,

(5.) Fifthly, I answer. It 'may he thy disteTrtper and indisposition of
body is not so great, but that thou canst buy, and sell, and get gain}
Notwithstanding thy aching head, and thy shooting back, and thy
pained sides, and thy feeble knees, yet thou canst, with Martha, cumber
thyself about thy worldly affairs. In that Cant. v. 3, Christ calls upon
his spouse to open the door, and let him in. But sin and shifting com-
ing into the world together, see how poorly and unworthily she labours
to shift Christ off : ' I have put off my coat ; how shall I put it on ?
I have washed my feet ; how shall I defile them ?' Rather than she
will make* no excuse for herself, she will make a silly excuse, a worthless
excuse. She was past a child ; and what a great business had it been
for her to have risen to have let in such a guest, that brings everything
with him that heart can wish or need require. Rev. iii. 17, 18. She
was not grown so decrepid with old age, but that she was able to make
herself ready ; at least, she might easily have slipped on her morning-coat
and stepped to the door without any danger of taking cold, or of being

' I'he body itself, if you set too high a price upon it, will make a cheap soul ; and he
is the most unhappy man whose outaide is his best side.

244 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

wet to the skin, and so have let him in, who never comes empty-handed,
Kev. xxii. 12 ; yea, who was now come full of the dew of divine bless-
ings to enrich her ; for so some sense those words, ' Mine head is filled
with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.' Oh, the frivolous
pretences, and idle excuses that even gracions persons are apt sometimes
to take up to over-colour their neglect of duty !

But some may say. It may be the spouse of Christ was asleep. Oh no !
for she saith, verse 2, ' I sleep, but my heart waketh.' She slept with
open eyes, as the lion doth; she slept but half-sleep ; though her outward
man was drowsy, yet her inward man was wakeful ; though the flesh
took a nap, yet her spirit did not nod.

Oh ! but it may be Christ made no noise, he gave no notice that he
was at the door ! O yes ! he knocked, he knocked and bounced by the
hammer of his word, and the hand of his Spirit ; he knocked by outward
coiTections and inward admonitions ; he knocked by providences, and
he knocked by mercies. His importunity and vehemency for admission
was very great.

Oh ! but it may be he did but only knock, he should have called as well
as knocked ; for none but madmen would open their doors in the
night, except they knew the voice of him that knocketh. Oh yes ! he
did not only knock, but called also.

Oh ! but it may be she did not know his voice, and therefore she would
not open. No chaste wife will at unseasonable hours arise and open
her doors unto a stranger, especially in her husband's absence. Oh yes,
she knew his voice : verse 2, 'It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh.'
She was not so fast asleep, but that she knew the voice of her beloved
from all other voices, and could tell every tittle that he said.' The calls
of Christ were so strong, so loud, and his pulsations so mighty, that she
could not but know and confess, that it was the voice of her beloved,
though she was not so respectful and dutiful as to obey that voice.

Oh ! but it may be Christ knocked and called, like a friend in his jour-
ney, only to inquire how it was with her, or to speak to her at the
window. Oh no ! he speaks plainly, he speaks with authority, ' Open
to me.'

Oh ! but it may be she had no power to open the door. Oh yes ; for
when he commands his people to open, he lends them a key to open the
door, that he may enter in, Philip, i. 6, 13 ; 1 Cor. xv. 10. Infused grace
is a living principle that will enable the soul to open to Christ. If a man
be not a free agent to work and act by the helps of grace received, to
what purpose are counsels, commands, exhortations and directions, given
to perform this, and that, and the other work ? And certainly it is our
greatest honour and happiness in this world to co-operate with God in
those things which concern his own glory, and our own internal and
eternal good.

Oh ! but it may be Christ had given his spouse some distaste, or it
may be he had let fall some hard words, or some unkind speeches,
which made her a little froward and pettish. Oh no ! for he owns her as
his beloved, and courts her highly, with the most winning and amicable
terms of love: 'My sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, or my perfect
one.' He calls her so for her dovelike simplicity, purity, and integrity.
All these endearing and honouring titles, are the rhetoric of divine

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 245

love ; and should have been as so many sacred engagements upon her,
to open to her beloved.

Oh ! but it may be Christ was too quick for her, it may be he gave but
a knock and a call, and was gone before she could rise and open the
door. O no ! Christ stayed till his head was filled with dew, and his
•locks with the drops of the night ; which most passionate expression
notes the tender goodness, patience, and gentleness of our Lord Jesus,
who endures far greater and harder things for his spouse's sake, than ever
Jacob did for his Eachel's salce. After Christ had suffered much for
her sake, and waited her leisure a long while, she very unkindly, and
very unmannerly, and unworthily turns her back upon all his sweet and
comfortable compellations, and blessed and bleeding embracements, and
turns him off to look [for] his lodging in some other place ; so that he
might well have said. Is this thy kindness to thy friend, thy husband, thy
Lord, to suffer him to stand bareheaded, and that in foul weather, yea,
in the night time, wooing, entreating, and beseeching admittance; and
yet to turn him off as one in whom thy soul could take no pleasure ?

Now, if you will but seriously weigh all these circumstances in tlie
balance of the sanctuary, you may run and read the fault and folly,
the weakness and madness, the slightness and laziness of the spouse ;
and by her you may make a judgment of those sad and sinful distempers
that may seize upon the best of saints, and see how ready the flesh is
to frame excuses ; and all to keep the soul off from duty, and the doors
fast bolted against the Lord Jesus.

It is sad when men are well enough to sit, and chat, and trade in their
shops, but are not well enough to pray in their closets. Certainly, that
man's heart is not right with God, at least at this time, who, under all
his bodily distempers, can maintain and keep up his public trade with
men, but is not well enough to maintain his private trade with heaven.
Our bodies are but dirt, handsomely tempered, and artificially formed ;
we derive our pedigree from the dirt, and are akin to clay. One calls
the body ' the blot of nature ;' another calls it the ' the soul's beast,' ' a
sack of dung,' ' worms' meat ;' another calls it ' a prison, ' a sepulchre ;'
and Paul calls it ' a body of vileness.' Now for a man to make so much
ado about the distempers of his body to excuse the neglects of his soul,
is an evil made up of many evils. But really, sir, I am so ill, and my
body is so distempered and indisposed, that I am not able to mind or
meddle with the least things of the world ! Well ! if this be so, then
know that God hath on purpose knocked thee off from the things of this
world, that thou mayest look the more effectually after the things of
another world. The design of God in all the distempers that are upon
thy body, is to wind thee more off from thy worldly trade, and to work
thee to follow thine heavenly trade more close. Many a man had
never found the way to his closet, if God by bodily distempers had not
turned him out of his shop, his trade, his business, his all, &c.

Well, Christians ! remember this once for all, if your indisposition to
closet prayer doth really arise from bodily distempers, then you may be
confident that the Lord will pity you much, and bear with you much,
and kindly accept of a little. You know how affectionately parents and
ingenuous masters do carry it towards their children and servants, when
they are under bodily distempers and indisposition ; and you may be

246 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

confident that God will never carry it worse towards you than they do
towards them. Ponder often upon that Ezek. xxxiv. 4, 16, 21, 22. But,

(6.) Siocthly, and lastly, 1 shall answer this objection by way of dis-
tinction, thus :

First, 2 here is a contracted indisposition to private prayer, and
there is an involuntary indisposition to private prayer. There is a
contracted indisposition, and that is when a man, by his wilful sinning
against light, knowledge, conviction, &c., contracts that guilt that lies
as a load upon his conscience. Now guilt makes the soul shy of God ;
and the greater the guilt is, the more shy the soul is of drawing near
to God in a corner. The child that is sensibly under guilt hides him-
self, as Adam did, in the day from his father's eye, and at night he slips
to bed, to avoid either a chiding or a whipping from his father, Gen. iii.
7, 8. Guilt makes a man fly from God, and fly from prayer. It is a
hard thing to look God in the face, when guilt stares a man in the face.
Job xi. 14, 15. Guilt makes a man a terror to himself, Jer. xx. 3, 4 ;
now when a man is a terror to himself, he is neither fit to live, nor fit to
die, nor fit to pray. When poison gets into the body, it works upon the
spirits, and it weakens the spirits, and it endangers life, and unfits and
indisposes a man to all natural actions. It is so here ; when guilt lies
heavy upon the conscience, it works upon the soul, it weakens the soul,
it endangers the soul, and it doth wonderfully unfit and indispose the
soul to all holy actions. Guilt fights against our souls, our consciences,
our comforts, our duties, yea, and our very graces also, 1 Peter ii. 11.
There is nothing that wounds and lames our graces like guilt ; there is
nothing that weakens and wastes our graces like guilt ; there is nothing
that hinders the activity of our graces like guilt ; nor there is nothing
that clouds our evidences of grace like guilt. Look, what water is to
the fire, that our sinnings are to our graces, evidences, and duties. Guilt
is like Prometheus's vulture, that ever lies gnawing. It is better with
Evagrius to lie on a bed of straw with a good conscience, than to lie on
a bed of down with a guilty conscience. What the probationer-disciple
said to our Saviour, — Mat. viii. 19, ' Master, I will follow thee whither-
soever thou goest,' — that a guilty conscience saith to the sinner, 'Whither-
soever thou goest I will follow thee/ If thou goest to a fast, I will
follow thee, and fill thy mind with black and dismal apprehensions of
God ; if thou goest to a feast, I will follow thee, and shew thee the hand-
writing on the wall, Dan. v. 5 ; if thou goest abroad, I will follow thee,
and make thee afraid of every leaf that wags ; thou shalt look upon
every bush as an armed man, and upon every man as a devil ; if thou
stayest at home, I will follow thee from room to room, and fill thee with
horror and terror ; if thou liest down to rest, I will follow thee with
fearful dreams and tormenting apparitions; if thou goest intotliy closet,
I will follow thee, and make thy very closet a hell to hold thee.

It is storied of king Richard the Third, that after he had murdered
his two nephews in the Tower, guilt lay so hard upon his conscience,
that his sleeps were very unquiet ; for he would often leap out of his
bed in the dark, and catching his sword in his hand, which hung by his
bed side, he would go distractedly about his chamber seeking for the
traitor.

So Charles the Ninth of France, after he had made the streets of

Mat. VL 6.] the privy key of heaven. 247

Paris run down with the blood of the Protestants, he could seldom take
any sound sleep, nor could he endure to be awakened out of his sleep
without music'

Judge Morgan, that passed the sentence of condemnation upon Jane
Grey, a virtuous lady, shortly after fell mad, and in his raving cried
out continually, ' Take away the Lady Jane from me, take away the
Lady Jane from me,' and in that horror ended his wretched life.

James Abyes, going to execution for Christ's sake, as he went along,
he gave his money and his clothes to one and another, till he had given
all away to his shirt, whereupon one of the sheriff's men fell a-scoffing
and deriding of him, and told him that he was a madman and an heretic,
and not to be believed ; but as soon as the good man was executed,
this wretch was struck mad, and threw away his clothes, and cried out
that * James Abyes was a good man, and gone to heaven, but he was a
wicked man, and was damned,' and thus he continued crying out till
his death.^ Certainly he that derides or smites a man for walking
according to the word of the Lord, the Lord will, first or last, so smite
and wound that man's conscience, that all the physicians in the world
shall not heal it.

Now if thy indisposition to private prayer springs from contracting
guilt upon thy conscience, then thy best way is speedily to renew thy
repentance, and greatly to judge and humble thine own soul, and so
to act faith afresh upon the blood of Christ, both for pardoning mercy
and for purging grace. When a man is stung with guilt, it is his
highest wisdom in the world to look up to the brazen serpent, and not
to spend his time or create torments to his own soul by perpetual por-
ing upon his guilt. When guilt upon the conscience works a man to
water the earth with tears, and to make heaven ring with his groans,
then it works kindly. When the sense of guilt drives a man to God,
to duty, to the throne of grace, then it will not be long night with that
man. He that thinks to shift off private prayer under the pretence of
guilt, doth but in that increase his own guilt. Neglect of duty will
never get guilt off the conscience.

But then there is an involuntary indisposition to private prayer;
as in a sick man, who would work and walk, but cannot, being hindered
by his disease ; or as it is with a man that hath a great chain on his
leg, he would very fain walk or get away, but his chain hinders him.
Now if your indisposition to private prayer be an involuntary indispo-
sition, then God will in mercy, in course, both pardon it and remove it.

Secondly, There is a total indisposition to private prayer, and
there is a partial indisposition to private prayer. A total indisposi-
tion to private prayer is, when a man hath no mind at all to private
prayer, nor no will at all to private prayer, nor no love at all to private
prayer, nor no delight, nor no heart at all to private prayer, Jer. iv.
22, and xliv. 17-19. Now where this frame of heart is, there all is
naught, very naught, stark naught. A partial indisposition to private
prayer is, when a man hath some will to private prayer, though not
such a will as once he had ; and some mind to private prayer, though
not such a mind as once he had; and some affections to private prayer,
though not such warm and burning affections as once he had. Now'if
' ThuanuB, lib. Ivii. Cf. Sibbes, vol. i. p. 149.— G. » Clarke, as before, p. 457.— G.

248 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

your indisposition to private prayer be total, then you must wait upon
the Lord in all his appointments for a changed nature, and for union
with Christ ; but if your indisposition to private prayer be only partial,
then the Lord will certainly pardon it, and in the very use of holy
means in time remove it. But,

Thirdly, and lastly. There is a transient, accidental, occasional, or
fieeting indisposition to private prayer; and there is a customary,
a constant, or permanent indisposition to private prayer. Now a
transient, accidental, occasional, or fleeting indisposition to that which
is good may be found upon the best of saints, as you may see in Moses,
Exod. iv. 10-14; and in Jeremiah, Jer. i. 5-8, 17-19, and xx. 9; and
in Jonah, chap. i. ; and in David, Ps. xxxix. 2, 3. Now if this be the
indisposition that thou art under, then thou mayest be confident that
it will certainly work off by degrees, as theirs did that I have last cited,
Isa. Ixv. 2. But then there is a customary, a constant or permanent
indisposition to private prayer, and to all other holy duties of religion.
Now if this be the indisposition that thou art under, then I may safely
conclude that thou art in the very gall of bitterness and in the bond
of iniquity. Acts viii. 21-23, and thy work lies not in complaining of
thy indisposition, but in repenting and believing, and in labouring for
a change of thy heart and state ; for till thy heart, thy state be changed,
thou wilt remain for ever indisposed both to closet prayer and to all
other duties of religion and godliness. To see a sinner sailing hell- ward
with wind and tide on his side, to alter his course, and tack about for
heaven, to see the earthly man become heavenly, the carnal man be-
come spiritual, the proud man become humble, the vain man become
serious, to see a sinner move contrary to himself in the ways of Christ
and holiness, is as strange as to see the earth fly upward, or the bowl
run contrary to its own bias ; and yet a divine power of God upon the
soul can effect it ; and this must be effected before the sinner will be
graciously inclined and sincerely disposed to closet prayer. And let
thus much suffice by way of answer to this objection also.

Now, for the better management of this great duty, viz., closet
prayer, I beseech you take my advice and counsel in these eleven follow-
ing particulars.

(1.) First, Be frequent in closet prayer, and not now and then only.
He will never make any yearnings of closet prayer, that is not frequent
in closet prayer. Now, that this counsel may stick, consider,

[1.] First, Other eminent servants of the Lord have been frequent
i/n this blessed work : Neh. i. 6, ' Let thine ear now be attentive, and
thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant,
which I pray before thee, day and night.' So Daniel, he kneeled upon
his knees three times a-day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God,
as he did before-time, Dan. vi. 10. So David, 'My voice shalt thou hear
in the morning, and in the evening will I direct my prayer unto thee, and
will look up/ Ps. V. 3. So. Ps. Ixxxviii. 1 3, ' But unto thee have I cried,
Lord ; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.' So. Ps.
cxix. 147, * I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried unto
the Lord.' So Ps. Iv. 17, 'Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I
pray and cry alofld.' Yea, he was vir orationis for his frequency in it.
Ps. cix. 4, ' For my love they are my adversaries : but I give myself

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 249*

unto prayer ;' or, as the Hebrew may be read, ' But I am a man of
prayer.'

Of Garolus Magnus it was said, Garolus -plus cum, Deo quam homi-
nibus loquitur, that he spake more with God than with men.

[2.] Secondly, Consider the blessed Scripture doth not only enjoin
this duty, but it requires frequency in it also, Luke xviii. 1 ; 1 Thes.
V. 17 ; Col. iv. 2. In the former part of this discourse, I have given
light into these scriptures ; and therefore the bare citing of them must
now suffice.

[3.] Thirdly, Christ was frequent in private prayer, as you may easily
see by com,paring of these scriptures together, Mark i. 35 ; Mat. xiv,
23 ; Luke xxii. 39 ; John xviil 2. In my second argument for private
prayer you may see these scriptures opened and amplified. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Consider that you have the examples of the very worst
of men in this ca^se. Papists are frequent in their private devotions.
And the Mahomedans, what occasion soever they have, either by profit
or pleasure, to divert them, will yet pray five times every day. Yea,
the very heathens sacrificed to Hercules morning and evening upon the
great altar at Rome. Now, shall blind nature do more than grace ?
But,

[5.] Fifthly, Consider you cannot have too frequent- communion
with God, you cannot have too frequent intercourse with Jesus, you
cannot have your hearts too frequently filled with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, and with that peace that parses understanding,
you cannot have heaven too frequently brought dbum into your hearts,
nor you cannot have your hearts too frequently carried up to heaven ;
and therefore you cannot be too frequent in closet prayer. But,

[6.] Sixthly, Consider that you are under frequent wants, and
frequent sins, and frequent snares, and frequent temptations, and
frequent allurements, and frequent trials, and frequent cares, and
frequent fears, and frequent favours, 1 Peter v. 8, Job i. 7 ; and
therefore you had need be frequent with God in your closets. But,

[7.] Seventhly, Consider you are the favourites of heaven, you are
greatly beloved, you are highly honoured, you are exceedingly esteemed
and valued in the court of the Most High ; and remember, that the
petitions of many weak Christians, and of many benighted Christians,
aiid of many tempted Christians, and of many clouded Christians, and
of many staggering Chjristians, and of many doubting Christians, and
of many bewildered Christians, and of many fainting Christians, &c.,
are put into your hands, for a quick and speedy despatch to the throne
of grace ; so that you had need be frequent in your closets, and improve
your interest in heaven, or else many of these poor hearts may be
wronged, betrayed, and prejudiced by your neglect. Such as are
favourites in princes' courts, if they are active, diligent, careful, and
watchful, they may do much good for others, they may come as often
as they please into their prince's presence, and with Queen Esther have
for asking what they please, both for themselves and others, Esther vii.
Oh what a world of good may such do for others that are God's favou-
rites, if they would be but frequent with God in their closets !

0. sirs ! if you have not that love, that regard, that pity, that com-
passion to your own souls, as you should have, yet, oh let not others

250 THE PEIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

suffer by your neglect of private prayer ! Oh, let not Zion suffer ! Oh,
let not any particular saint suffer by your being found seldom in your
closets.

Certainly, it might have gone better with the churches of Christ, and
with the concernments of Christ, and with many of the poor people of
Christ, if most Christians had been more frequent with God in their
closets. But,

[8.] Eighthly and lastly, Consider tlmt this liberty to approach nigh
to Ood i/n your closets, cost Christ his dearest blood, Eph. ii. 13, Heb. x.
20.' Now, he that is not frequent with God in his closet, tells all about
him, that he sets no great value upon that liberty that Christ hath
purchased with his blood. The incomparable, the unparalleled price
which Christ hath paid down upon the nail, above sixteen hundred years
ago, that we might have liberty and free access to his Father in our
closets, argues very strongly, yea, irrefragably, the superlative excellency
of that liberty, 1 Peter i. 19. Oh therefore let us improve to purpose
this blessed purchase of our Lord Jesus, by being frequent with God in
our closets. It is disputed by some whether one drop of Christ's blood
was sufficient for the pardon of our sins and redemption of our souls.*
My intention is not to dispute, but to offer a few things to your con-
sideration.

First, It must be granted, that by reason of the hypostatical union,
a drop of Christ's blood was of an inestimable worth and excellency;
and the value of his passion is to be measured by the dignity of his
person. But,

Secondly, A proportion was to be observed betwixt the punishment
due to men, and that which was suffered for man ; that his sufferings
might be satisfactory, two things were necessary, Posnce gravitas, as
well as personce dignitas.^ That the least drop of Christ's blood was
not sufficient for the redemption of our souls may thus appear :

First, If it were, then the circumcision of Christ was enough, for
there was a drop, if not many drops of blood shed.

Secondly, Then his being crowned with a crown of thorns, was
sufficient ; for it is most probable that they drew blood from him.

Thirdly, Then all Christ's sufferings besides were superfluous and
vain.

Fourthly, Then God was unjust and unrighteous to take more than
was due to his justice. But for any man to affirm that God hath taken
beyond what was his just due, is high blasphemy.

Fifthly, Then Christ was weak and imprudent to pay more than he
needed ; for what need was there of his dearest heart blood, if a drop
from his hand would have saved our souls ? Let schoolmen fancy what
they please, it is certain, that not one dram of that bitter cup that
Christ drunk off could be abated, in order to his Father's full satisfac-
tion, and man's eternal redemption. Christ hath given under his own
hand that it was necessary that he should suffer many things, Luke
xxiv. 26. O sirs ! shall Christ shed not only a few drops of blood, but

• Sanguis Christi clavis axli.

* One little drop of Christ's blood is more worth than heaven and earth. — Luther.

» What is the blood of a grape, or the blood of a son, an only son, to the blood of a
Saviour?

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 251

his very heart blood, to purchase you a freedom and liberty to be as
often in your closets with his Father as you please; and will you only
now and then give God a visit in private ? The Lord forbid.

(2.) My second advice and counsel is this, Take the fittest seasons
and opportunities that possibly you can for closet prayer. Many
take unfit seasons for private prayer, which do more obstruct the
importunity of the soul in prayer, than all the suggestions and instiga-
tions of Satan. As,

First, When the body is drowsy and sleepy; this is a very unfit
season for closet prayer, Cant. iii. 1. Take heed of laying cushions of
sloth under your knees, or pillows of idleness under your elbows, or of
mixing nods with your petitions, or of being drowsily devoted when
you draw near to God in your closets.

Secondly, When a man's head and heart is filled with worldly cares
and distractions ; this is a very unfit season for closet-prayer, 1 Cor. vii.
35, Ezek. xxxiii. 31.

When Dinah must needs be gadding abroad to see fashions, Shechem,
prince of that country, meets with her, and forces her virginity. So
when our hearts, Dinah-like, must needs be a-roving and gadding
abroad after the things of the world, then Satan, the prince of the air,
usually seizes upon us, commits a rape upon our souls, and either leads
us off from prayer, or else he doth so distract us from prayer, that it
were, better not to have prayed at all, than to have offered the sacrifice
of foolish and distracted prayer,

I have read a story, how that one offered to give his horse to his
fellow, upon condition he would but say the Lord's prayer, and think
upon nothing but God ; the proffer was accepted, and he began, ' Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.' But I must have
the bridle too, said he. ' No, nor the horse neither,^ said the other, for
thou hast lost both already. The application is easy.

Certainly, the most free and lively season for closet-prayer is the
mornings, before a man's spirit be blunted or cooled, deadened, damped,
or flatted by worldly businesses. A man should speak with God in his
closet, before he speaks with his worldly affairs and occasions. A man
should say to all his worldly business, as Abraham said unto his young
men, when he went to offer up his only Isaac, ' Abide you here, and I
will go yonder and worship, and then return to you again.' He that
will attend closet prayer without distraction or disturbance, must not,
first, slip out of the world into his closet, but he must first slip into
his closet before he be compassed about with a crowd of worldly
employments.

It was a precept of Pythagoras, that when we enter into the temple
to worship God, we must not so much as speak or think of any worldly
business, lest we make God's service an idle, perfunctory, and lazy
recreation. The same I may say of closet-prayer.

Jerome complains very much of his distractions, dulness, and indis-
posedness to prayer, and chides himself thus, 'What ! dost thou think,
that Jonah prayed thus when he was in the whale's belly; or Daniel
when he was among the lions ; or the thief when he was upon the
cross V

Thirdly, When men or women are under rash and passionate dis-

252 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VT. 6.

tempers, 1 Tim. ii. 8 ; for when passions are up, holy affections are
down, and this is a very unfit season for closet-prayer ; for such prayers
will never reach God's ear which do not first warm our own hearts. In
the Muscovy churches, if the minister mistake in reading, or stammer
in pronouncing his words, or speak any word that is not well heard, the
hearers do very much blame him, and are ready to take the book from
him, as unworthy to read therein. And certainly God is no less
offended with the giddy, rash, passionate, precipitate, and inconsiderate
prayers of those who, without a deliberate understanding, do send their
petitions to heaven in post-haste. Solomon's advice is worthy of all
commendation and acceptation : ' Be not rash with thy mouth, and let
not thy heart be hasty, to utter any thing before God,' Eccles. v. 2. ; or
as the Hebrew may be read, ' Let not thy heart through haste be so
troubled or disturbed, as to tumble over, and throw out words with-
out wisdom or premeditation.' Good men are apt many times to be
too hasty, rash, and unadvised in their prayers, complaints, and depre-
cations. Witness David, Job, Jeremiah, Jonah, and the disciples.'
No Christian to him that doth wisely and seriously weigh over his
prayers and praises before he pours out his soul before the Lord. He
never repents of his requests, who first duly deliberates what to re-
quest ; but he that blurts out whatsoever lies uppermost, and that brings
into the presence of God his rash, raw, tumultuary, and indigested peti-
tions, confessions, complaints, &c., he doth but provoke God, he doth but
brawl with God, instead of praying to him or wrestling with him. Suitors
at court observe their fittest times and seasons of begging ; they com-
monly take that very nick of time, when they have the king in a good
mood, and so seldom or never come off but with good success.

Sometimes God strongly inclines the heart to closet-prayer ; some-
times he brings the heart beforehand into a praying frame ; sometimes
both body and soul are more enlivened, quickened, raised, and divinely
inflamed than at other times ; sometimes conscience is more stirring,
working, and tender, &c. Oh now strike while the iron is hot ! Oh
now lay hold on all such blessed opportunities, by applying of thyself
to private prayer. sirs ! can you take your fittest times, seasons, and
opportunities for ploughing, and sowing, and reaping, and buying and
selling, and eating, and drinking, and marrying, &c. And cannot you
as well take your fittest times and seasons to seek the Lord in your clo-
sets ? Must the best God be put off with the least and worst of your
time ? The Lord forbid. Neglect not the seasons of grace, slip not
your opportunities for closet-prayer ; thousands have lost their seasons
and their souls together.

(3.) My third advice and counsel is this, Be marvellous careful that
you do Tiot perform closet duties merely to still your consciences. You
must perform them out of conscience, but you must not perform them
only to quiet conscience. Some have such a light set up in their under-
standings, that they cannot omit closet-prayer, but conscience is upon
their backs, conscience is still upbraiding and disquieting of them, and
therefore they are afraid to neglect closet-prayer, lest conscience should

> Pa. xxxi. 2, 8 ; Pb. civi. 11 ; Job x. 1-3; Jer. xviii. 15, 18; Jonah iv. 2-4 ; Mat.
XI. 20, 21.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 253

qiiestion, arraign, and condemn them for their neglects.^ Sometimes
when men have greatly sinned against the Lord, conscience becomes
impatient, and is still accusing, condemning, and terrifying of them ;
and now in these agonies they will run to their closets, and cry, and
pray, and mourn, and confess, and bitterly bewail their transgressions,
but all this is only to quiet their consciences ; and sometimes they find
upon their performance of closet-duties, that their consciences are a
little allayed and quieted ; and for this very end and purpose do they
take up closet-prayer as a charm to allay their consciences ; and when
the storm is over, and their consciences quieted, then they lay aside
closet-prayer, — as the monk did the net when the fish was caught, — and
are ready to transgress again. O sirs ! take heed of this, for this is but
plain hypocrisy, and will be bitterness in the end. He that performs
closet-prayer only to bribe his conscience that it may not be clamorous,
or to stop the mouth of conscience that it may not accuse him for sin,
he will at length venture upon such a trade, such a course of sinning
againt conscience, as will certainly turn his troubled conscience into a
seared conscience, 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; and a seared conscience is like a sleepy
lion, when he awakes he roars, and tears his prey in pieces; and §o will
a seared conscience, when it is awakened, roar and tear the secure
sinner in pieces.

When Dionysius's conscience was awakened, he was so troubled with
fear and horror of conscience that, not daring to trust his best friends
with a razor, he used to singe his beard with burning coals, as Cicero
reports. All the mercy that a seared, a benumbed conscience doth
afford the sinner, when it doth most befriend him, when it deals most
seemingly kind with him, is this, that it will not cut, that it may kill ;
it will not convince, that it may confound ; it will not accuse, that it
may condemn ; it will spare the sinner a while, that it may torment
him for ever ; it will spare him here, that it may gnaw him hereafter ;
it will not strike till it be too late for the sinner to ward off the blow.
Oh cruel mercy, to observe the sin, and let alone the sinner till the gates
of mercy be shut upon him, and hell stands gaping to devour him :
Gen. iv. 7, ' Sin lieth at the door.' The Hebrew word robets signifies to
lie down, or couch, like some wild beast at the mouth of his cave, as if
he were asleep, but indeed watcheth and waketh, and is ready to fly at
all that come near it. sirs ! sin is rather couchant thaij dormant ;
it sleeps dog's sleep, that it may take the sinner at the greater advan-
tage, and fly the more furiously in his face. But,

(4.) My fourth advice and counsel is this. Take heed of resting
upon closet-duties, take heed of trusting in closet-duties.^ Noah's dove
made use of her wings, but she did not trust in her wings, but in the
ark ; so you must make use of closet-duties, but you must not trust in
your closet-duties, but in Jesus, of whom the ark was but a type.
There are many that go a round of duties, as mill horses go their round

1 An ill conscience, saith Austin, is like a scolding wife ; a man, saith he, that hath an
111 conscience, he cares not to be at home, he cares not to look into his own soul, but loves
to be abroad.

* Amama quotes Tamovius, who mentions a sort of men that brought in an opinion
which he calls a new gospel, that if a man perform the external duties of religion, viz.,
if he go to the church, hear the word, pray. &c., it was sufScient to salvation. [Qu. Anama?
Tamovius, a learned commentator on Scripture. — G-]

254! THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

in a mill, and rest upon them when they have done, using the means
as mediators, and so fall short of Christ and heaven at once. Closet-
duties rested in, will as eternally undo a man as the greatest and foulest
Qjiormities ; open wickedness slays her thousands, but a secret resting
upon duties slays her ten thousands. Multitudes bleed inwardly of this
disease, and die for ever. Open profaneness is the broad dirty way
that leads to hell, but closet-duties rested in is a sure way, though a
cleaner way, to hell. Profane persons and formal professors shall meet
at last in one hell. Ah, Christians ! do not make closet-duties your
money, lest you and your money perish together.

The phoenix gathers sweet odoriferous sticks in Arabia together, and
then blows them with her wings and burns herself with them ; so do
many shining professors burn themselves by resting in their duties and
services. You know, in Noah's flood all that were not in the ark,
though they climbed up the tallest trees, and the highest mountains
and hills, yet were really drowned ; so let men climb up to this duty
and that, yet, if they don't get into Christ, they will be really damned.
It is not thy closet, but thy Christ, that must save thee. If a man be
not interested in Christ, he may perish with ' Our Father* in his mouth.
It is as natural to a man to rest in his duties as it is for him to rest
in his bed.

This was Bernard's temptation, who, being a little assisted in duty,
could stroke his own head with bene fecisti Bemarde, O Bernard, this
was gallantly done, now cheer up thyself. Ah, how apt is man, when
he hath been a little assisted, heated, melted, enlarged, &c., in a way of
duty, to go away and stroke himself, and bless himself, and hug him-
self, and warm himself with the sparks, with the fire of his own kind-
ling, Isa. 1. 11.

Adam was to win life and wear it ; he was to be saved by his doings:
* Do this and live,' Gen. ii. 2. Hence it is that all his posterity are so
prone to seek for salvation by doing : Acts ii. 37, chap. xvi. 30, ' What
shall we do to be saved V and ' good Master, what shall I do that I
may inherit eternal lifef Mark x. 17, 20. Like father, like son. But
if our own duties or doings were sufficient to save us, to what purpose
did Christ leave his Father's bosom, and lay down his dearest life ? &c.
Closet-duties rested in may pacify conscience for a time, but this will
not always hold. ' When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw
his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb;
yet could they not heal him, nor cure him of his wound,' Hosea v. 13.
If we rest on closet-duties, or on anything else on this side Christ, we
shall find them as weak as the Assyrian, or as Jareb ; we shall find to
our cost that they cannot help us nor heal us; they cannot comfort us nor
cure us of our wounds. As creatures, so duties, were never true to any
that have trusted in them. When the Israelites were in great distress,
the Lord bids them go and cry unto the gods which they had chosen,
and let them deliver you, saith God, in the time of your tribulation,
Judges X. 14. O sirs ! if, when you are under distress of conscience, or
lying upon a dying bed, God should say to you, Go to your closet prayers
and performances, that you have made and rested in, go to your
closet tears that you have shed and rested in, and let them save you
and deliver you; oh, what miserable saviours and comforters would

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 255

they be unto you ! Look, what the ark of God was to the Philistines,
1 Sam. chap, v., that closet-duties are to Satan ; he trembles every
time he sees a poor sinner go into his closet and come out of his closet,
resting and glorying in Jesus, and not in his duties ; but when he sees
a poor creature confide in his closet-duties, and rest upon his closet-
duties, then he rejoiceth, then he claps his hands and sings, Aha ! so
would I have it. Oh, rest not on anything on this side Jesus Christ ;
say to your graces, say to your duties, say to your holiness, You are not
my saviour, you are not my mediator ; and therefore you are not to be
trusted to, you are not to be rested in. It is my duty to perform
closet-duties, but it is my sin to rely upon them, or to put confidence
in them ; do them I must, but glory in them I must not. He that
rests in his closet-duties, he makes a saviour of his closet-duties. Let
all your closet-duties lead you to Jesus, and leave you more in com-
munion with him, and in dependence upon him; and then thrice happy
will you be, Heb. vii. 25. Let all thy closet prayers and tears, thy
closet fastings and meltings, be a star to guide thee to Jesus, a Jacob's
ladder by which thou mayest ascend into the bosom of eternal loves ;
and then thou art safe for ever.

Ah ! it is sad to think, how most men have forgotten their resting-
place, as the Lord complains : Jer. 1. 6, * My people have been like lost
sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have turned
them away to the mountains ; they have gone from mountain to hill,
and forgotten their resting-place.' Ah ! how many poor souls are there,
that wander from mountain to hill, from one duty to another, and here
they will rest, and there they will rest, and all on this side their resting-
place ! sirs ! it is God himself that is your resting-place ; it is his free
grace, it is his singular mercy, it is his infinite love that is your resting-
place ; it is the bosom of Christ, the favour of Christ, the satisfaction of
Christ, and the pure, perfect, spotless, matchless, and glorious righteous-
ness of Christ, that is your resting-place ; and therefore say to all your
closet duties and performances. Farewell ; prayer, farewell ; reading, fare-
well; fasting, farewell ; tears, farewell; sighs and groans, farewell ; melt-
ings and humblings, I will never trust more to you, I will never rest
more on you ; but I will now return to my resting-place, I will now
rest only in God and Christ, I will now rest wholly in God and Christ,
I will now rest for ever in God and Christ.

It was the saying of a precious saint, that * he was more afraid of his
duties than of his sins ; for the one made him often proud, the other
made him always humble.' But,

(5.) M.y fifth advice and counsel is this, Labour to bring your hearts
into all your closet-prayers and performances. Look that your
tongues and your hearts keep time and tune. Ps. xvii. 1, ' Give ear
unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned Ups,' or, as it is in the
Hebrew, * without lips of deceit.' Heart and tongue must go together ;
word and work, lip and life, prayer and practice, must echo one to
another, or else thy prayers and thy soul will be lost together. The
labour of the lips and the travail of the heart must go together.

The Egyptians of all fruits made choice of the peach to consecrate to
their goddess, and for no other cause, but that the fruit thereof is like

» Plutarch.

256 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VL 6.

to one's heart, and the leaf to one's tongue. These very heathens in
the worship of their gods, thought it necessary that men's hearts and
tongues should go together. Ah, Christians ! when in your closet duties
your hearts and your tongues go together, then you make that sweet
and delightful melody that is most taking and pleasing to the King of
kings. The very soul of prayer lies in the pouring out of the soul
before God, 1 Sam. i. 15. Ps. xlii. 4, ' When I remember these things I
pour out my soul in me.' So the Israelites poured out their souls like
water before the Lord. So the church : ' The desire of our soul is to
thy name, and to 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,' Isa. xxvi. 8, 9. So Lament, iii. 41, ' Let us lift up our heart
with our hands unto God in the heavens.' So Heb. x. 22, 'Let us draw
near with a true heart,' &c. So Rom. i, 9, ' For God is my witness, whom
I serve in the spirit.' 1 Cor. xiv. 15, * I will pray with the spirit, and
sing with the spirit.' Philip, iii. 3, ' We are the circumcision which wor-
ship God in the spirit.' Under the law the inward parts were only to
be offered to God in sacrifice ; the skin belonged to the priests. Whence
we may easily gather, that truth in the inward parts, is that which is
most pleasing in a sacrifice. When the Athenians would know of the
oracle the cause of their often unprosperous success in battle against
the Lacedaemonians, seeing they offered the choicest things they could
get, in sacrifice to the gods, which their enemies did not, the oracle gave
them this answer, that ' the gods were better pleased with their inward
supplication without ambition, than with all their outward pomp in
costly sacrifices.' Ah, sirs ! the reason why so many are so unsuccessful
in their closet-duties and services is because there is no more of their
hearts in them. No man can make sure work or happy work in prayer
but he that makes heart-work on it. When a man's heart is in his
prayers, then great and sweet will be his returns from heaven. That
is no prayer in which the heart of the person bears no part. When the
soul is separated from the body the man is dead ; and so when the heart
is separated from the lip in prayer, the prayer is dead.

The Jews at this day write upon the walls of their synagogues these
■words, Tophillah belo cavannah ceguph belo neshamah ; that is, a
prayer without the heart, or without the intention of the affection, is
like a body without a souL

In the law of Moses the priest was commanded to wash the inwards
and the feet of the sacrifices in water ; and this was done, saith Philo,
' not without a mystery, to teach us to keep our hearts and affections
clean when we draw nigh to God.' In all your closet-duties God looks
first and most to your hearts : ' My son, give me thy heart,' Prov. xxiii.
26. It is not a piece, it is not a comer of the heart, that will satisfy
the Maker of the heart ; the heart is a treasure, a bed of spices, a royal
throne wherein he delights. God looks not at the elegancy of your
prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your
prayers, to see how Jong they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your
prayers, to see how many they are ; nor yet at the music of your prayers,
nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your
prayers ; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There
is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded, or rewarded

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 257

by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true
mother would not have the child divided. As God loves a broken and
a contrite heart, so he loathes a divided heart, Ps. li. 17, James, i. 8.
God neither loves halting nor halving; he will be served truly and
totally. The royal law is, ' Thou shalt love and serve the Lord thy
God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.' Among the heathens,
when the beasts were out up for sacrifice, the first thing the priest looked
upon was the heart, and if the heart was naught, the sacrifice was re-
jected. Verily, God rejects all those services and sacrifices, wherein the
heart is not, as you may see by comparing the Scriptures in the margin
together.' Prayer without the heart is but as sounding brass or a
tinkling cymbal. Prayer is only lovely and weighty, as the heart is in
it, and no otherwise. It is not the lifting up of the voice, nor the wring-
ing of the hands, nor the beating of the breasts, nor an affected tone,
nor studied motions, nor seraphical expressions, but the stirrings of the
heart, that God looks at in prayer. God hears no more than the heart
gpeaks. If the heart be dumb, God will certainly be deaf. No prayer
takes with God, but that which is the travail of the heart.

The same day Julius Caesar came to the imperial dignity, sitting in
his golden chair, he offered a beast in sacrifice to the gods; but when
the beast was opened, it was without a heart, which the soothsayers
looked upon as an ill omen. It is a sad omen, that thou wilt rather pro-
voke the Lord than prevail with him, who art habitually heartless in thy
closet duties. Of the heart, God seemeth to say to us, as Joseph did to
his brethren, concerning Benjamin, 'Ye shall not see my face without it.'
It was the speech of blessed Bradford, that 'he would never leave a
duty, till he had brought his heart into the frame of the duty; he
would not leave confession of sin, till his heart was broken for sin ; he
would not leave petitioning for grace, till his heart was quickened and
enlivened in a hopeful expectation of more grace; he would not leave
gratulation, till his heart was enlarged with the sense of the mercies he
enjoyed, and quickened in the return of praise.'

(G.) My sixth advice and counsel is this, B^ fervent, he warm, he
importunate vnth God in all your closet duties and performances.
James v. ] 6, ' The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much;' o-r, as the Greek hath it [iv^yovfuvrj], 'The working prayer;'
that is, such working prayer as sets the whole man on work, as sets all
the faculties of the soul, and all the graces in the soul, at work. The
word signifies such a working as notes the liveliest activity that can be.
Certainly, all those usual phrases of crying, wrestling, and striving -with
God, which are scattered up and down in Scripture, do strongly argue
that holy importunity and sacred violence that the saints of old have
expressed in their addresses to God.* Fervency feathers the wings of
prayer, and makes them fly the swifter to heaven. An arrow, if it be
drawn up but a little way, flies not far; but if it be drawn up to the
head, it will fly far, and pierce deeply: so fervent prayer flies as high as

» Prov. xxi. 27 ; Tsa i. 11, 12; Chap xxix. 18 ; Mat. xv, 7-9; Ezek. xxxiii. 30-82 ;
Zech. vii. 4-6 ; 2 Cliion. xxv. 1,2; Ps, Ixxviii, 30, 37,

« Ps Iv. 1 ; Ps. Ixi. 1 ; I's. Ixiv. 1 ; Ps. Ixxxviii. 1, 13; Ps. cxix. 1G4 ; Jonah ii. 1, 2 ;
Joel ii: y.i ; Ps, cxix. 145, 147 ; Pa, cxix. 20.

VOL. II. R

258 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.1

heaven, and will certainly bring down blessings from thence.* Cold prayers
bespeak a denial, but fervent prayers offer a sacred violence both to heaven
and eartli. Look, as in a painted fire there is no heat ; so in a cold prayer
there is no heat, no warmth, no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing.
Cold prayers are like arrows without heads, as swords witliout edges, as
birds without wings: they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up toheaven.
Such prayers as have no heavenly fire in them, do always freeze before
they reach as high as heaven. Put fervent prayer is very prevalent
with God : JLcts xii. 5, ' Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer
was made without ceasing.' The Greek word i>iTsvrii signifies instant
prayer, earnest prayer, stretched out prayer; prayer stretched out upon
the tenters, as it were. These gracious souls did in prayer strain and
stretch themselves, as men do that are ruiming in a race; they prayed
with all the strength of their souls, and with all the fervency of their
spirits; and accordingly they carried the day with God, as you may see
in the following verses. So Acts xxvi. 7, ' Unto which promise, our
twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night,' or rather as the
Greek hath it, Iv hnveitf,, ' in a stretched out manner, serving God day
and night.' These twelve tribes, or the godly Jews of the twelve tribes
of Israel, stretched out their hearts, their affections, their graces, to the
utmost in prayer. In all your private retirements, do as the twelve
tribes did. Rom. xii. 11, ' Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' The
Greek word ^iovrsg, signifies seething hot. God loves to see his people
zealous and warm in his service. Without fervency of spirit, no service
finds acceptance in heaven. God is a pure act, and he loves that his
people should be lively and active in his service ; ver. 1 2, ' Continuing
instant in prayer ;' cr^ocxa^rs^oDvrts, ' continuing with all your might in
prayer.' It is a metaphor from hunting dogs, that will never give over
the game till they have got it. Rom. xv. 30, ' That ye strive together
with me, in your prayers to God for me ;' e\)mywitsa<sdai, strive mightily,
strive as champions strive, even to an agony, as the word imports. It
is a military word, and notes such fervent wrestling or striving, as is
for life and death. CoL iv. 12, ' Always labouring fervently for you in
prayer.' The Greek word a/ww^o/isvog, that is here used, signifies to
strive or wrestle, as those do that strive for mastery; it notes the
vehemency and fervour of Epaphras his prayers for the Colossians.
Look, as the wrestlers do bend, and writhe, and stretch, and strain every
joint of their bodies, that they may be victorious; so Epaphras did
bend, and writhe, and stretch, and strain every joint of his soul, — if I may
so speak, — that he might be victorious with God upon the Colossians'
account. So, when Jacob was with God alone, ah how earnest and fer-
vent was he in his wrestlings with God, Gen. xxxii. 24-27, Hosea xii.
4, 5. He wrestles and weeps, and weeps and wrestles ; he tugs hard
with God, he holds his hold, and he will not let God go, till as a prince
he had prevailed with him. Fervent prayer is the soul's contention,
the soul struggling with God ; it is a sweating work, it is the sweat and
blood of the soul, it is a laying out to the uttermost all the strength
and powers of the soul. He that would gain victory over God in
private prayer, must strain every string of his heart ; he must, in
beseeching God, besiege him, and so get the better of him; be must
' ^t timide rogat, docet rugare, saith the philosopher,

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 239

be like importunate beggars, that will not be put off with frowns, or
silence, or sad answei-s. Those that would be masters of their requests,
must, like the importunate widow, press God so far as to put him to
an holy blush, as I may say with reverence: they must with an holy
impudence, as Basil speaks, make God ashamed to look them in. the
face, if he should deny the importunity of their souls.

Had Abraham had a little more of this impudence, saith one,^ when
he made suit for Sodom, it might have done well. Abraham brought
down the price to ten righteous, and there his modesty stayed him ; had
he gone lower, God only knows what might have been done, for 'God
went not away, saith the text, 'till he had left communing with
Abraham,' that is, till Abraham had no more to say to God. Abraham
left over asking, before God left over granting; he left over praying,
before God left over bating; and so Sodom was lost.

Oh the heavenly fire, the holy fervency that was in Daniel's closet
prayer 1 ' O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do, defer
not for thine own sake,' Dan. ix. 19. Look, as there be two kinds of
antidotes against poison, viz., hot and cold, so there are two kinds of anti-
dotes against all the troubles of this life, viz., fervent prayers and holy
patience : the one hot, the other cold ; the one quickening, and the
other quenching, and holy Daniel made use of them both. Fervency
to prayer, is as the fire was to the spices in the censer, or as wings to
the bird, or as oil to the wheels; and this Daniel found by experience.
God looks not for any James with horny knees, through assiduity of
prayer; nor for any Bartholomew with a century of prayers for the
morning, and as many for the evening; but for fervency of spirit in
prayer, which alone carries all with God. Feeble prayers, like weak
pangs, go over, and never brings a mercy to the birth. Cold prayers
are still-born children, in whom the Father of spirits can take no
pleasure. Look, as a painted man is no man, and as painted fire is no
fire; so a cold prayer is no prayer. Such prayers never win upon the
heart of God that do not first warm our own hearts. As a body with-
out a soul, much wood without a fire, a bullet in a gun without powder;
so are all prayers without fervency of spirit.

Luther terms prayer homharda Christianorum, the gun or cannon
of Christians, or the Christian's gun-shot.

The hottest springs send forth their waters by ebullitions. Cold
prayers make a smoke, a smother in the eyes of God. Lazy prayers
never procure noble answers ; lazy beggars may starve for all their
begging, Isa. i. 15, and Ixv. 5.

Such as have a male in their flock, and offer to the Lord a female ;
such as offer to the Lord the torn, and the lame, and the sick ; such as
turn off God with their cold, lazy, sleepy, and formal devotions, are
condemned, cast, and cursed by God, Mai. i. 13, 14. David compares
his prayers to incense, and no incense was offered without fire, Ps. cxli.
2 ; it was that that made the smoke of it to ascend. It is only fervent
prayer that hits the mark, and that pierces the walls of heaven, though,
like those of Gaza, Isa. xlv. 2, made of brass and iron. While the child
only whimpers and whines in the cradle, the mother lets it alone ; but

» Doi:. Don. fol. p. 622, Gen. xviii. 22, 23. [Query— Dr Donne? Of. Sermon on
Qeuesis xviii. 25. — G.

Ji60 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VL 6.

when once it sets up its note, and cries outright, then she runs and
takes it up. So it is with a Christian : Fs. xxxiv. 6, ' This poor man
cried.' Tliere is his fervency, he cried; but it was silently and secretly,
in the presence of King Achish, as Moses did at the Red Sea. and as
Nehemiah did in the presence of the king of Persia. ' And the Lord
heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles ;' here is his pre-
valency. So Latimer plied the throne of grace with great fervency,
crying out, ' Once again, Lord, once again restore the gospel to Eng-
land,' and God heard him.*

Hudson the martyr, deserted at the stake, went from under his chain,
and having prayed fervently, he was comforted immediately, and suf-
fered valiantly.^

I have road of one Giles of Bruxels, a Dutch martyr, who was so fer-
vent in his prayer, kneeling by himself in some secret place of the
prison where he was, that he seemed to forget himself; and being called
to his meat, he neither heard nor saw who stood by him, till he was
lifted up by the arms, and then he would speak gently to them, as one
awaked out of a trance.^

So Gregory Nazianzen, speaking of his sister Gorgonia, saith, that,
in the vehemency of her prayer, she came to a religious impudency
with God, so as to threaten heaven, and tell God that she would never
depart from his altar till she had her petition granted.*

Let us make it our business to follow these noble examples, as ever
we would so prince it in prayer as to prevail with God. An importu-
nate soul in prayer is like the poor beggar, that prays and knocks, that
prays and waits, that prays and works, that knocks and knits,^ that
begs and patches, and will not stir from the door till he hath an alms.
Well, friends, remember this, God respects no more lukewarm prayers
than he doth lukewarm persons, and they are such that he hath threat-
ened to spue out of his mouth. Those prayers that are but lip-labour
are lost labour; and therefore, in all your closet prajers, look to the fer-
vency of your spirits.

(7.) My seventh advice and counsel is this. Be constant, as ivell as
fervent, in closet-prayer. Look that you hold on and hold out, and
that you persevere to the end in private prayer: 1 The.s. v. 17, * Pray
without cea.sing.' A man must always pray habitually, though not
actually ; he must have his heart in a praying disposition in all estates
and conditions. Though closet-prayer may have an intermission, yet
it must never have a cessation : Luke xviii. 1, 'And he spake a parable
unto them, to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint,'
or, as the Greek hath it, eKxaKiT^, not to shrink back, as sluggards in
work, or cowards in war. Closet-prayer is a fire like that on the altar,
that was never to go out, day nor night: 1 Thes. iii. 10, 'Night and
day praying exceedingly/ Paul speaks like a man made up all of
prayer, like a man that minded nothing so much as prayer : so Eph.
vi. 18, ' Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit,
and watching thereunto with all perseverance.' Calvin makes this
difference between 'praying always' in the beginning of this verse, and
'praying with perseverance' in the end of this verse: 'By praying always,'

• Clarke, as before. Foxe, tub nomine. — G. * Ibid — G. ^ Ibid. — G.

* Puuliu. Epist. lib. i. Epist. 4. ^ Hee Glostary lor other uses of this wurd. — G.

Hat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 261

saith he, ' he exhorts its to pray in prosperity as well as in adversity,
and not to quit the d\ity of prayer in a prosperous estate, because we
are not driven to it by outward pressing necessities and miseries; and
by praying with perseverance, he admonisheth us that we be not weary
of tlie work, but continue instant and constant in its performance,
though we liave not presently what we pray for.' So that ' praying
always' is opposed to a neglect of the duty in its proper times and
seasons, and 'praying with perseverance' is opposed to a fainting in
our spirits, in respect of this or that particular suit or request that we
put up to God, When God turns a deaf ear to our prayers, we must
not fret nor faint, we must not be dismayed nor discouraged, but we
must hold up and hold on in the duty of prayer with invincible pa-
tience, courage, and constancy, as the church did : Lament, iii. 8, 44,
65-57, compared ; Col. iv. 2, ' Continue in prayer, and watch in the
same with thanksgiving.' We must be constant and instant in closet
prayer ; we must wait upon it, and lay all aside for it. He that is only
in his closet by fits and starts, will neither glorify God nor advantage
his own soul. If we do not make a trade of closet-prayer, we shall never
make any yearnings of closet-prayer. Look, as they that get money
by their iron mills do keep a continual fire in their iron mills, so they
that will get any soul-good by closet duties, they must keep close and
constant to closet duties. The hypocrite is only constant in incon-
stancy ; he is only in his closet by fits and starts. Now and then, when
he is m a good mood, you shall find him step into his closet, but he
never holds it : Job xxvii. 10, ' Will he always call upon God,' or, as the
Hebrew hath it, ' Will he in every time call upon God ?' When they
are under the smarting rod, or when they are upon the tormenting rack,
or when they are under grievous wants, or when they are struck with
panic-fears, &c., then you shall have them run to their closets, as Joab
ran to the horns of the altar, when he was in danger of death ; but they
never persevere, they never hold out to the end ; and therefore in the
end they lose both their closet prayers and their souls together, Isa.
xxvi. 16, Ps. Ixxviii. 34, Zech. vii. 5.

It was a most profane and blasphemous speech of that atheistical
wretch,* that told God ' that he was no common beggar, and that he
never troubled him before with prayer, and if he would but hear him
that time, he would never trouble him again.'

Closet-prayer is a hard work ; and a man must tug hard at it, and
stick close to it, as Jacob did, if ever he intends to make any internal
or eternal advantages by it, Gen. xxxii. Daniel chose rather to run the
hazard of his life, than to give over praying in his chamber, chap. vi. It
is not he that begins in the spirit and ends in the flesh. Gal. iii. 3 ; it is
not he that puts his hand to the plough and looks back, Luke ix. 62 ;
but he that perseveres to the end in prayer, that shall be saved and.
crowned. Mat. xxiv. 13. It is he that perseveres in well doing that shall
eat of the hidden manna, and that shall have the white stone, ' and in the
stone a new name written, which no man knows saving him that receiveth
it,' Rev. ii. 17. Those precious, praying, mourning souls in that Ezekiel
ix. 4, 6, that were marked to be preserved in Jerusalem, were distin-
guished, say some of the learned, by the character ^, tau, which is the
» Query ' after ' ?— G., or * earnings of ?'— £d. ' Heil. Mic p. 376. [As before.— G.]

262 THE PKIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

last of all the Hebrew letters, to teach them that thoy must hold out
and hold on to the end in well doing.' It is constancy in closet-duty
that crowns the Christian and commends the duty.

But would God have his people to cast off their callings, and to cast
off all care of their relations, and shut themselves up in their closets,
and there spend their whole time in secret prayer ? Oh, no ! Every
duty must have its time and place; and as one frienil must not shut
out another, so one duty must not shut out another, Eccles. iii. 1. The
duties of my particular calling as I am a man must not shut out the
duties of my general calling as I am a Christian, nor tlie duties of my
general calling as I am a Christian must not shut out the duties of my
particular calling as I am a man. But that you may be fully satisfied
in this case, you must remember that a man may be said to pray always,

[1.] First, When his heart is always in a praying frame. Look, as
a man may be truly said to give always whose heart is always in a giving
frame, and to suffer always whose heart is always in a sulFering frame
— * For thy sake are we killed all the day long,' Ps. xliv. 22 — and to siu
always whose heart is always in a sinning frame, 2 Peter ii. 14, Jer. ix. 3,
so a man may be as truly said to pray always whose heart is always in
a praying frame.

[2.] Secondly, A man prays always when he takes hold on every JU
season and opportunity for the pouHng out of his soul before the
Lord in his closet. To pray always is sv vavTi xai^^, to pray in] every
opportunity ; but of this before.

It is observed by some of Proteus, that he was wont to give certain
oracles, but it was hard to make him speak and deliver them, but he
would turn himself into several shapes and forms ; yet if they would
hold our, and press him hard without fear, into whatsoever form or
shape he appeared, they were sure to have satisfactory oracles.^ So if
we cont'nue constant in our closet-wrestlings with God, if we hold on in
private { ra} er though God should appear to us in the form or shape of
a judge, an enemy, a stranger, we shall certainly speed at last: 'O woman,
great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt; and her daughter
was made whole from that very hour,' Mat. xv. 28.

The philosopher being asked in his old age why he did not give over
his practice and take his ease, answered, * When a man is to run a race
of forty furlongs, would you have him sit down at the nine-and-thirtieth,
and so lose the prize, the crown for which he ran V^ sirs ! if you hold
not out to the end in closet-prayer, you will certainly lose the heavenly
prize, the crown of life, the crown of righteousness, the crown of glory.
To continue in giving glory to God in this way of duty, is as necessary
and requisite as to begin to give glory to God in this way of duty ; for
though the beginning be more than half, yet the end is more than all;
ftnis coronat opus. The God of all perfections looks that our uUimum
vitoi should be his optimum glorice, that our last works should be our
best works ; and that we should persevere in closet-prayer to the end,
Rev. ii. 10.

(8.) Aly eighth advice and counsel is this, In all your closet-prayers,

• J. [S ] Mennch Coin, in Ezek. cap. ix. 4. [Comment : S. S. 1719, 2 vols, folio.— G.]

• H. liner, Odi/ iv. 410 and 456, &c Ovid, Art. Am. i. 761, &c.— G.

• Non progrtdi est regredi.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 263

thirst and long after communion with Qod. In all your private re-^
tirements, take up in nothing below fellowship with Grod, in nothing,
below a sweet and spiritual enjoyment of God, Cant. iii. 1-3, Ps.
Ixxiii. 28. Ps; xxviL 4<, 'One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will
I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of
iny life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.'
The temple of the Lord, without communion with the Lord of the
temple, will not satisfy David's soul : Ps. xlii. 1, 2, 'As the hart panteth
after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear
before God ?'

The hart, as Aristotle and others observe, is of all creatures moat hot
and dry of itself ; but especially when it is chased and hunted, then it
is extreme thirsty. The female is here meant, as the Greek article,
^ iXapoc, doth manifest. Now, in the females the passions of thirst are
more strong, as the naturalists observe. By this David discovers what
a vehement and inflamed thirst there was in his soul after communion
with God ; and as nothing could satisfy the hunted hart but the water
brooks, so nothing could satisfy his soul but the enjoyments of God :
Ps. xliii. 4t, 'Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceed-
ing j,oy.' The altar of God is here put for the worship of God. Now,
it is not barely the worship of God, but communion with God in his
worship, that was David's exceeding, joy : Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, 'O God, thou
art my God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh
longeth for thee in a d^y and thirsty land, wherein no water is ; to see
thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.'
Pavid's soul did not thirst after a crown, a kingdom, or any worldly
greatness or glory, but after a choice and sweet enjoyment of God in his
wilderness estate. Never did any woman with child long more after
this or thaty than Da^vid's soul did long to enjoy sensible communion
with God in the midst of all his sorrows and sufferings :: Ps. Ixxxiv. 2,
'My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.' By the ' courts of the
Lord; we are to understand the ordinances. Now, these without com-
munion with God would never have satisfied David's soul.

I commend that speech of Bernard, Nunquam abs te, absque te recede,
* I never come to thee, but by thee y I never come from thee, without
thee.''

Whenever you go into your closets, press hard after real and sensible
communion with God, that so you may come out of your closets with
9ome shines of God upon your spirits, as Moses came down from the
mount with his face shining, Exod. xxxiv. 29-35. Oh do not take up
in your closet prayers, or tears, or joys, or enlargements ; but labour
and long to enjoy that inward and close fellowship with God in your
closets, as may leave such a choice and sweet savour of God, both upon
your hearts and lives, as others may be forced to say. Surely these have
peen with Jesus, Acts iv. 13. It is sad when Christians return from
their closets to their shops, their trades, their families, their commerce,
^c, without the least visible rays of divine glory upon them.

P §ir8 ! closet-prayer will be found to be but a dry, s;ipless, lifeless,
^ Bernard, JKpist. 116.

264 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

heartless, comfortless thing, if you do not enjoy communion with God
in it. Cornmuniou with God is the very life, soul, and crown of all your
closet duties ; and therefore press after it as for life. When you go into
your closets, let every thing go that may hinder your fruition of Christ,
and let everything be embraced, that makes way for your enjoyment of
Christ. Oh let closet-prayer be a golden bridge, a wherry, a -chariot to
convey your souls over to God, and to bring you into a more intimate
communion with God. Let no closet duty satisfy you or content you,
wherein you have not convei"sed with God, as a child converseth with his
father, or as a wife converseth with her husband, or as a friend con-
verseth with his friend, even face to face. Nothing speaks out more
unsoundness, falseness, and baseness of heart than this, when men make
duty the end of duty ; prayei* the end of prayer ; than when men can
begin a duty, and go on in a duty, and close up a duty, and bless and
stroke themselves after a duty, and yet never enjoy the least communion
with God in the duty.

Qued. But how shaU a man know when he hath a realoommunion
with God in a duty or no?

This is a very noble and necessary question, and accordingly it calls
for a clear and satisfactory answer ; and therefore thus :

Sol. [1.] First, A man may have communion with God in sorrow
and tears, when he hath not communion with God in joy, delight, Ps.
11. 17. A man may have communion with God in a heart-humbling, a
heart-melting, and a heart-abasing way, when he hath not communion
with God in a hearfc-reviving, a heart-cheering, and a heart-comforting
way. It is a very great mistake among many tender-spirited Christians,
to think that they have no communion with God in their closets, except
they meet with God embracing and kissing, Cant. ii. 4-6, cheering and
comforting up their souls. When they find God raising the springs of
joy and comfort in their souls ; when they find God a-speaking peace
unto them ; when they find the singular sensible presence of God cheer-
ing, refreshing, and enlarging of them in their closets, oh then they are
willing to grant that they have had sweet communion with God in their
closets. But if God meets with them in their closets, and only breaks
their hearts for sin, and from sin, if he meets with them and only makes
his power and his presence manifest, in debasing and casting down of
their souls, upon the sight and sense of their strong corruptions and
many imperfections, how unwilling are they to believe that they have
had any communion with God ! Well, friends, remember this once for all,
viz., that a Christian may have as real communion with God in a heart-
humbling way, as he can have in a heart-comforting way. A Christian
may have as choice communion with God when his eyes are full of tears,
as he can have when his heart is full of joy, John xx. 11-19. Some-
times God meets with a poor Christian in his closet, and exceedingly
bieiks him and humbles him, and at other times he meets with the
same Christian in his closet, and mightily cheers him, and comforts him ;
sometimes God meets with a poor soul in his closet, and there he sweetly
quiets him and stills him, and at other times he meets with the same
soul in his closet, and then he greatly revives him and quickens him.
God doth not always come upon the soul one way, he doth not always
come in at one and the same door, John iii. 8. We sometimes look for

Mat. VT. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 265

a friend to come in at the fore-door, and then he comes in at the back-
door ; and at other times, when we look for him at the hack-door, then
he comes in at the fore-door ; and just so it is with God's coming into
his people's souls. Sometimes they go into their closets, and look that
God will come in at the fore-door of joy and comfort, and then God
comes in at the back-door of sorrow and grief ; and at other times, when
they look that God should come in at the back-door of humiliation,
breaking, and melting their hearts, then God comes in at the fore-door
of joy and consolation, cheering and rejoicing their souls. But,

[2.] Secondly, I answer, That aU Christians do not enjoy a like com-
munion with God in their closets. Some enjoy much communion with
God in their closets, and others enjoy but little communion with God
in their closets. Moses had a more clear, glorious, and constant com-
munion with God in his days, than any others had in those times
wherein he lived, Exod. xxxiii. 11 ; Deut. v. 4 ; Num. xii. 7, 8.
God spake to none ' face to face,' as he did to Moses. And Abraham,
Gen. xviii., in his time, had a more close, friendly, and intimate com-
munion with God, than holy Lot, or any others had in that day. And
though all the disciples, Judas excepted, had sweet communion with
Christ in the days of his flesh, yet Peter, James, and John had a more
clear, choice, and full communion with him than the rest had. Mat. xvii.
1-4. Among all the disciples John had most bosom-communion with
Christ, he was the greatest favourite in Christ's court, he leaned on
Christ's bosom, he could say anything to Christ, and he could know any-
thing of Christ, and he could have anything of Christ, John xiii. 23, xx.
2, and xxi. 20. Now that all Christians do not enjoy communion with
God alike in their closets, may be thus made evident ; —

First, All Chnstians do not prepare alike to enjoy closet-communion
with God ; and therefore all Christians do not enjoy communion with
God alike in their closets, Eccles. v. 1 ; Ps. x. 17. Commonly he that
prepares and fits himself most for closet-communion with God, he is the
man that enjoys most closet-communion with God, 2 Chron. xxx. 17-20.

Secondly, All Gho^stians do not alike prize communion with God
in their closets. Some prize communion with God in their closets be-
fore all and above all other things; as that noble marquis said, 'Cursed
be he that prefers all the world to one hour's communion with God.'*
They look upon it as that pearl of price, for the enjoyment of which
they are ready to sell all and part v.'ith all ; others prize it at a lower
rate, and so enjoy less of it than those that seta higher price and value
upon it. Job xxiii. 12 ; I's. cxix. 127 ; Mat. xiii. 45, 46.

Thirdly, AU Christians do not alike press after com/munion with
God in their closets. Some press after communion with God in their
closets, as a condeinne<l man presses after a pardon, or as a close
prisoner presses after enlargement, or as as a poor beggar presses after
an alms, Ps. Ixxiii. 8, Isa. xxvi. 8, 9. Now, you know these press on with
the greatest earnestness, the greatest fervency, and the greatest impor-
tunity imaginable. But others pre.ss after communion with God in their
closets more coldly, more carelessly, more slightly, more lazily : 'I have put
off my coat, how shall I put it on ? I have washed my feet, how shall I
defile them ?' Cant. v. 3. Now, they that press hardest after communion
» Galeacius Carracciolus. Cf. Sibbes, vol. i. pp. 289, 290.— G.

266 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN, [MAT. VI. 6.

with God in their closets, they are usually blessed with the highest de-
grees of closet-commuuion with God.

Fourthly, All Christians dont alike improve their communion
with God in their closets ; and thei'efore all Christians don't enjoy com-
munion with God alike in their closets. Some Christians do make a
more wise, a more humble, a more holy, a more faithful, a more fruit-
ful, and a more constant improvement of their closet-communion with
God than others do; and therefore they are blessed with higher degrees
of communion with God than others are. Some Christians do more
improve their closet-communion with God against the world, the flesh,
and the devil, than others do ; and therefore no wonder if they do enjoy
more communion with God in their closets than others do.

Fifthly, All Christians do not alike need communion tvith God in
their closets ; and therefore all Christians have not a like communion
with God in their closets. All Christians have not a like place in the
mystical body of Christ, 1 Cor. xii. 14, seq. ; some rule, and others are
ruled. Now, every man stands in more or less need of communion
with God, according to the place that he bears in the body of Christ.
Again, all Christians have not alike burdens to bear, nor alike difficulties
to encounter with, nor alike dangers to escape, nor alike temptations to
wrestle with, nor alike passions and corruptions to mortify, nor alike
mercies and experiences to improve, &c. ; and therefore all Christians
don't need alike communion with God in their closets. Now, com-
monly God lets himself out more or less in ways of communion,
according as the various necessities and conditions of his people doth
require.

^Sixthly and lastly, All Christians do not alike meet with outward
interruptions, nor inward intei^uptions ; and therefore all Christians
have not alike communion with God in their closets. Some Christians
meet with a world of outward and inward interruptions more than
others do ; some Christians' outward callings, relations, conditions, and
stations, &c., do afford more plentiful matter and occasions, to interrupt
them in their closet-communion with God, than other Christians'
callings, relations, conditions, and stations do, &c. Besides, Satan is
more busy with some Christians than he is with other Christians ; and
corruptions work more strongly and violently in some Christians than
they do in other Christians, &c.; and let me add this to all the rest, that
the very natural tempers of some Christians are more averse to closet-
duties than the natural tempers of other Christians are; and therefore
all Christians have not alike communion with God in their closets, but
some have more and some have less, according as God in his infinite
wisdom sees best.

Now, let no Christian say, that he hath no communion with God in
closet-prayer, because he hath not such a full, such a choice, such a
sweet, such a sensible, and such a constant communion with God in
closet-prayer, as such and such "saints have had, or as such and such
saints now have ; for all saints do not alike enjoy communion with God
in their closets : some have more, some have less ; some have a higher
degree, others a lower ; some are rapt up in the third heaven, when
others are but rapt up in the clouds. What man is there so childish
and babyish as to argue thus, that he hath no wisdom, because he hath

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 267

not the wisdom of Solomon ; or, that he hath no strength, because he
hath not the strength of Samson ; or, that he hath no life, because he
hath not the swiftness of Ahimaaz ; or, that he hath no estate, because
he hath not the riches of Dives ? And yet so childish and babyish many
weak Christians are, as to argue thus : viz., that they have no com-
munion with God in their closets, because they have not such high,
such comfortable, and such constant communion with God in their
closets, as such and such saints have had, or as such and such saints
now have ; whereas they should seriously consider, that though some
saints have a great communion with God, yet other saints have but a
small communion with God ; and though some Christians have a strong
communion with God, yet other Christians have but a weak communion
with God ; and though some of the people of God have a very close and
near communion with God, yet others of the people of God have but a
more remote communion with God; and though some of God's servants
have a daily, constant, and uninterrupted communion with God, yet
others of his servants have but a more transient and inconstant com-
munion with God. But,

[3.] Thirdly, I answer, When a man acts grace in closet-duties, then
certainly he hath communion ivith God in closet-duties, 2 Tim. i. 17,
1 Tim. ii. 8. When a man in closet duties acts faith on God, or faith
on the promises, or faith on the blood of Christ ; or when a man in
private duties acts repentance for sin, or love to Jesus Christ, or sets
up God as the object of his fear, or as the object of his joy, &c., then he
hath communion with God, then he hath fellowship with the Father,
and with the Son, 1 John L 3. An unregenerate man may act gifts
and parts in a duty, but he cannot act grace in a duty ; for no man can
act grace in a duty, but he that hath grace in his soul ; and hence it
comes to pass that unsanctified persons under the highest activity of
their arts, parts, and gifts in religious duties, enjoy no communion with
God at all; witness the scribes and pharisees, Demas, Judas, Simon
Magus, &c., Isa. i. 11-13. As ever you would have an evidence of your
communion with God in closet duties, carefully look to the activity of
your graces, carefully stir up the grace of God which is in you, 2 Tim.
i. 6. But,

[4.] Fourthly, I answer, When a man hath communion with God
in his closet, then he gives God the glory of all his actings and activi-
ties, Ps. cxv. 1. Communion with God always helps a man to set the
crown of praise and honour upon the head of God. Wi tness that gracit»us
and grateful doxology of David and his people, in that 1 Chron. xxix. 13,
* Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorit)Us name.'
Men that enjoy no communion with God in religious duties, are still
a-sacrificing unto their own net, and a-burnmg incense unto their own
drag, Hab. 116; they are still ablessing themselves, and a-stroking of
themselves, and applauding themselves ; they think the garland of
praise, the crown of honour, becomes no head but their own, Luke xviL
11, 12. But now, men that enjoy communion with God in religious
duties, they will uncrown themselves to crown God, they will uncrown
their duties to crown the God of their duties, they will uncrown their
arts, parts, gifts, and enlargements, to set the crown of praise upon the
head of God alone. Acts iil 11-13, 16 ; B^v. iv. 10, 11 ; chap. v. 11,

268 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

12. Thou thinkest that thou hast communion with God in closet-duties,
yea, thou sayest that thou hast communion with God in closet duties ;
but on whose head dost thou put the garland of praise ? Ps. cxlviii. 13.
If on (iod's head, thou hast communion with God ; if on thine own
head, thou hast no communion with God. As all the rivers run into
the sea, and all the lines meet in the centre, so, when all our closet-
duties terminate and centre in the advance of God's glory, then have we
communion with God in them.

Constantine did use to write the name of Christ over his door. When
a man hath communion with Christ in a duty, then he will write the
name of Christ, the honour of Christ, upon his diity. Some say that
the name of Jesus was engraven upon the heart of Ignatius; sure I am,
when a man hath communion with God in a duty, then you shall find
the honour and glory of Jesus engraven upon that duty. But,

[5.] Fifthly, I answer. When the performance of closet-duties leaves
the soul in a better frame, then a man hath communion with God in
them. When a man comes off from closet-duties in a more holy frame,
or in a more humble frame, or in a more spiritual frame, or in a more
watchful frame, or in a more heavenly frame, or in a more broken frame,
or in a more quickened and enlivened frame, &c., then certainly he
hath had communion with God in those duties. When a man comes
out of his closet, and finds the frame of his heart to be more strongly
set against sin than ever, and to be more highly resolved to walk with
God than ever, and to be more eminently crucified to the world then
ever, and to be more divinely fixed against temptations than ever, then
without all perad venture he hath had communion with God in his
closet

[6.] Sixthly, 1 answer. When closet-duties fit a man for those other
duties that lie Tiext his hand, then doubtless he hath had com-munion
with God in them. When private duties fit a man for public duties,
or when private duties fit a man for the duties of his place, calling, and
condition, wherein God hath set him, then certainly he hath had fellow-
ship with God in them, Eccles. ix. 10. When a man in closet duties
finds more spiritual strength and power to perform the duties that are
next incumbent upon him, then assuredly he hath met with God; when
private prayer fits me more for family prayer, or public prayer, then I
may safely conclude that God hath drawn near to my soul in private
prayer ; or when one closet duty fits me for another closet duty, as
when praying fits me for reading, or reading for praying ; or when the
more external duties in my closet, viz., reading or praying, fits me for
those more spiritual and internal duties, viz., self-examination, holy
meditation, soul-humiliation, &c., then I may rest satisfied that there
hath been some choice intercourse between God and my soul. When
the more I pray in my closet, the more fit I am to pray in my closet ;
and the more I read in my closet, the more fit I am to read in my
closet ; and the more I meditate in my closet, the more fit I am to
meditate in my closet ; and the more I search and examine my heart
in my closet, the more fit I am to search and examine my heart in my
closet ; and the more I humble and abase my soul in my closet, the
more fit I am to humble and abase my soul in my closet : then 1 may
be confident that I have had communion with God in my closet.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 269

[7.] Seventhly, I answer, That all private communion with God ia
very soul-humbling and soul-abasing. Abraham was a man that had
much private communion with God, and a man that was very vile and
low in his own eyes : Gen. xviii. 27, * And Abraham answered and said.
Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am
but dust and ashes.' In respect of my original, saith Abraham, ' I am
but base dust and ashes ;' and in respect of my deserts, I deserve to be
burnt to ashes. There are none so humble as they that have nearest
communion with God, Gen. xxviii. 10-18. Jacob was a man that had
much private communion with God, and a man that was very little in
his own eyes : Gen. xxii. 10, *I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy ser-
vant ;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'I am less than all thy mercies.'
When Jacob had to deal with Laban, he pleads his merit ; but when
he hath to do with God, he debaseth himself below the least of his mer-
cies. Gen. xxxi. 38— il. Moses was a man that had much private com-
munion with God, as I have formerly evidenced, and a man that was
the meekest and humblest person in all the world : Num. xii. 3, ' Now
the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the
face of the earth.'

Josephus, writing of Moses, saith, if he may be believed, * that he
was so free from passions, that he knew no such thing in his own soul;
he only knew passions by their names, and saw them in others, but felt
them not in himself.' And so, when the glory of God appeared to him,
he falls upon his face. Num. xvi. 22, in token of humility and self-
abasing. David was a man that had much private communion with
God, as is granted on all hands; and how greatly doth he debase himself
and vilify himself! 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, 'The king of Israel is ccme out to
seek a flea ;' and what more weak and contemptible than a flea ? So
chap. xxiv. J 4, ' After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom
dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea?' As if David had said,
' It is not worth the while, the labour ; it is below the dignity and
honour of the king of Israel to take such pains and to pursue so
violently after such a poor nothing as I am, who hath no more strength
nor power to bite or hurt than a dead dog or a poor flea hath.' So Ps.
xxii. 6, ' But I am a worm, and no man.'^ Now, what is more weak,
what less regarded, what more despicable, what more trampled under
foot than a poor worm ? The Hebrew word tolagnath, that is here
rendered worm, signifies a very little worm, such as breed in scarlet,
which are so little that a man can scarcely see them, or perceive them.
Thus you see that holy David debaseth himself below a worm, yea, be-
low the least of worms. No man sets so low a value upon himself as
he doth who hath most private communion with God. The four-and-
twenty elders cast down their crowns at the feet of Jesus Christ, Rev.
iv. 10, 11. Their crowns note all their inward and outward dignities,
excellencies, and glories ; and the casting down of their crowns notes
their great humility and self-debasement. When Christians, in their
closets and out of their closets, can cast down their crowns, their duties,
their services, their graces, their enlargements, their enjoyments, &c., at
the feet of Jesus Christ, and sit down debasing and lessening of them-

' As Nazianzen said of Alhanasius, lie was Li^h in woilb, and humble in heart.

270 THE PRIVT KEY OP HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

selves, then certainly they have had a very near and sweet communion
with God.>

Chrysostom hath a remarkable saying of humility : ' Suppose,' saith
he, ' that a man were defiled with all manner of sin and enormity, yet
humble, and another man enriched with gifts, graces, and duties, yet
proud, the humble sinner were in a safer condition than this proud
saint'

When a man can come ofiF from closet-duties, and say, as Ignatius
once said of himself, Non sum dignus did minimva, I am not worthy to
be called the least, then certainly he hath had fellowship with God in
them. All the communion that the creature hath with God in his clo-
set is very soul-humbling and soul-abasing. In all a man's communion
with God, some beams, some rays of Ajie glory and majesty of God, will
shine forth upon his soul. Now all divine manifestations are very
humbling and abasing, as you may clearly see in those two great in-
stances of Job and Isaiah : Job xlii. 5, 6 ' I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee : Wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' Isaiah vi. 1, 5, ' In the year that
king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Woe is m.e ! for
I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts.* What sweet communion had Elijah with God in
the \o^ cave I

There was a gentlewoman, of no ordinary quality or breeding, who,
being much troubled in mind, and sadly deserted by God, could not be
drawn by her husband, or any other Christian friends, either to hear or
read anything that might work for her spiritual advantage ; at last her
husband, by much importunity, prevailed so far with her, that she was
willing he should read one chapter in the Bible to her ; so he read that
Isaiah 57th, and when he came to the loth verse, ' For thus saith the
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart
of the contrite ones.' Oh, says she, is it so, that God dwells with a con-
trite and humble spirit ? Then I am sure he dwells with me, for my heart
is broken into a thousand pieces. Oh happy text and happy time, that
ever I should hear such comfort ! and she was thereupon recovered. The
more communion any man hath with God, the more humble and broken
his heart will be.

Holy Bradford was a man that had much private communion with
God, and he would many times subscribe himself in his letters, * John'
the hypocrite, and a very painted sepulchre.'^ Agur was one of the
wisest and holiest men on the earth in his days, and he condemned
himself for being more brutish than any man, and not having the
understanding of a man, Prov. xxx. 2. How sweet is the smell of the
lowly violet, that hides his head, above all the gaudy tulips that be in

* Austin being once asked what was tlie first grace, answered, humility ; what the
second, humility ; what the third, humility. [See Index, under IlumiUty, for other
references to this. — G.]

• Foxe his Acts and Mon. [^Sub nomme.—Ot.']

Mat. YI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 271

your garden. The lowly Christian is the most amiable and the most
lovely Christian. When a man can come out of his closet, and cry out
with Augustine, ' I hate that which I am, and love and desire that which
I am not. O wretched man that I am, in whom the cross of Christ
hath not yet eaten out the poisonous and the bitter taste of the first
tree.' Or, as another saith, ' Lord, I see, and yet am blind ; I will, and
yet rebel ; I liate, and yet I love ; I follow, and yet I fall; I press for-
ward, yet I faint ; I wrestle, yet I halt ;' then he may be confident that
he hath had communion with God in his closet. He that comes off
from closet-duties in a self-debasing way, and in laying of himself low
at the foot of God, he certainly hath had communion with God ; but
when men come out of their closets with their hearts swelled and lifted
up, as the hearts of the pharisees were, Luke xviii. 11, 12, it is evident
that they have had no communion with God. God hath not been near
to their souls, who say, stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am
holier than thou, Isa. Ixv. 5. But,

[8.] Eighthly, and lastly, When a man finds such a secret virtue
and povjer running through his closet-duties, as wounds and weakens
his beloved corruption, as breaks the strength and the power of his
special sin, as sets his heart itnore fully, resolutely, and constantly
agaivst his darling lust, as stirs up a greater rage, and a more bitter
hatred, and a m,ore fierce indignation against the toad in the bosom,
then certainly he hath had communion with God in his closet-duties.
Consult these scriptures: Isa. ii. 20, 'In that day a man shall cast his
idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they have made each one
for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.' In the day wherein
God should take these poor hearts into communion with himself, their
hearts should be filled with such rage and indignation against their
most delectable and desirable idols, that they should take not only
those made of trees and stones, but even their most precious and costly
idols, those that were made of silver and gold, and cast them to the
moles and to the bats, to note their horrible hatred and indignation
against them. Idolatry was the darling-sin of the Jews ; their hearts
were so exceedingly affected and delighted with their idols, that they
did not care what they spent upon them : Isa. xlvi. 6, ' They lavish gold
out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith,
and he maketh it a god : they fall down, yea, they worship.' The word
here used for lavish, in the Hebrew, signifies properly to waste, or
spend riotously ; they set so light by their treasure, that they cared not
what they spent upon their idols. God gave them gold and silver as
pledges of his favour and bounty, and they lavish it out upon their idols,
as if God had hired them to be wicked. Oh, but when God should
come and take these poor wretches into a close and near communion
with himself, then you shall find their wrath and rage to rise against
their idols, as you may see in that Isa. xxx. 19-21. Their communion
with God is more than hinted ; but mark, ver. 22, ' Ye shall defile also
the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy
molten images of gold ; thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth ;
thou shalt say unto it. Get thee hence.' None defile, deface, detest, and
disgrace their idols like those that are taken into communion with God.
Fellowship with God will make a man cast away, as a menstruous cloth,

272 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

those very idols, in which he hath most delighted, and with which he
hath been most pleased and enamoured. Idols were Ephraim's bosom-
sin, Hosea iv. 17, ' Ephraim is joined,' or glued, as the Hebrew hath it,
' to idols; let him alone.' Oh ! but when you find Ephraim taken into
close communion with God, as you do in that Hosea xiv. 4-7, then you
shall find another spirit upon him : ver. 8, ' Ephraim shall say, what have
I to do any more with idols? I have had too much to do with them
already, I will never have to do with them any more. Oh ! how doth
my soul detest and abhor them, and rise up against them. Oh ! how do

1 now more loathe and abominate them, than ever I have formerly
loved them, or delighted in them. After the return of the Jews out of
Babylon, they so hated and abhorred idols, that in the time of the
Romans they chose rather to die, than suffer the eagle, which was the
imperial arms, to be set up in their temple.

Though closet-duties are weak in themselves, yet when a man hath
communion with God in them, then they prove exceeding powerful to
the casting down of strongholds, and vain imaginations, and every high
thing and thought, that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,

2 Cor. X. 4, 5. When a man comes out of his closet with a heart more
fully and stedfastly set against every known sin, but especially against
his bosom-sin, his darling-sin, his Delilah that he played and sported
himself most with, and that he hath hugged with pleasure and delight
in his bosom, then certainly he hath had private communion with God.

After Moses had enjoyed forty days' private communion with God in
the mount, how did his heart rise, and his anger wax hot against the
molten calf that his people had made ! Exod. xxxii. 1&, 20, 'And it
came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the
calf and the dancing ; and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the
tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount : and he
took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground
it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children
of Israel drink of it.' Moses had never more intimate fellowship
with God than now, and he never discovered so much holy zeal, anger,
and indignation against sin as now. When a man comes off from the
mount of closet-duties with a greater hatred, anger, wrath, and indig-
nation against bosom-sins, darling- sins, complexion-sins, that were once
as dear to him as right hands or right eyes, or as Delilah was to Samson,
or Herodias to Herod, or Isaac to Abraham, or Joseph to Jacob, then
certainly he hath had communion with God in those duties. When a
man finds his beloved sins, his Delilahs, which, like the prince of devils,
command all other sins, to fall before his closet-duties, as Dagon fell
before the ark, or as Goliath fell before David, then assuredly he hath
had fellowship with God in them. Pliny writes of some families that
had privy marks on their bodies, peculiar to those of that line.' Cer-
tainly, there are no families, no persons, but have some sin or sins, some
privy marks on their souls, that may in a peculiar way be called theirs.
Now when in private duties they find the bent of their hearts, and the
purposes, resolutions, and inclinations of their souls more raised, in-
flamed, and set against these, they may safely and comfortably conclude,
that they have had communion with God in them. O sirs ! there is no
* Viz., The Tibareni and Mossyni, Nat. Hist. lib. vi. c 4.— G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 273

no bosom-sin so sweet or profitable, that is worth burning in hell for,
or worth shutting out of heaven for ; and therefore, in all your private
duties and services, labour after that communion with God in them,
that may break the neck and heart of your most bosom-sins. When
Darius fled before Alexander, that he might run the faster out of danger,
he threw away his massy crown from his head. As ever you would be
safe from eternal danger, throw away your golden and your silver idols,
throw away your bosom-sins, your darling lusts.

And thus I have done with the answers to that noble and necessary
question, that was last proposed.

(9.) My ninth advice and counsel is this. In all your closet-duties
look that your ends be right, look that the gloi^ of God he your ultimate
end, the mark, the white, that you have in your eye. There is a great
truth in that old saying. Quod non axitibus, sed finihus pensantur
ojfficia, that duties are esteemed, not by their acts, but by their ends.*
Look, as the shining sun puts out the light of the fire, so the glory of
God must consume all other ends. There may be malum ojms in
bona materia, as in Jehu's zeal. Two things make a good Christian,
good actions and good aims. And though a good aim doth not make
a bad action good, as in Uzzah, yet a bad aim makes a good action bad,
as in Jehu, whose justice was approved, but his policy punished. God
writes a nothing upon all those services, wherein men's ends are not
right : Jer. xxxii. 23, ' They obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy
law, they have done nothing of all that thou hast commanded them to
do.' So Dan. ix. 13, 'AH this evil is come upon us, yet made we not
our prayer before the Lord our God.' The Jews were very much in
religious duties and services; witness Isa. i. 11-15; Isa Iviii. 1-3;
Zech. viL 5, 6. I might produce a hundred more witnesses to confirm
it, were it necessary ; but because they did not aim at the glory of God
in what they did, therefore the Lord writes a nothing upon all their
duties and services. It was Ephraim's folly, that he brought forth fruit
unto himself, Hos. x. 1. And it was the Pharisees' hypocrisy, that in all
their duties and services they looked at the praise of men. Mat. vi.
1 -5, ' Verily,' saith Christ, ' you have your reward.' A poor, a pitiful
reward indeed ! Such men shall be sure to fall short of divine accept-
ance, and of a glorious recompence, that are not able to look above the
praises of men. Woe to that man that, with Augustus, is ambitious to
go off the stage of duty with a plaudit} Peter was not himself when
he denied his Lord, and cursed himself to get credit amongst a cureed
crew. As ever you would ask and have, speak and speed, seek and find,
look that the glory of the Lord be engraven upon all your closet-duties.
He shall be sure to speed best, whose heart is set most upon glorifying
of God in all his secret retirements. When God crowns us, he doth but
crown his own gifts in us ; and when we give God the glory of all we do,
we do but give him the glory that is due unto his name ; for it is he, and
he alone, that works all our works in us and for us. All closet-duties
are good or bad, as the mark is at which the soul aims. He that makes

OhrutuB opera nostra, non tarn aetibua quam finibus penaat. — Zanchius.
' See more of this in my Treatise on Holiness, p. 157 to p. 168. [That is, his ' Crowa
and Gloi^y of Christianity.' See it in Vol. IV.— G.]

VOL. II. S

274 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

God the object of closet-prayer, but not the end of closet-prayer, doth
but lose his prayer, and take pains to undo himself. God will be
Alexander or Nemo ; he will be all in all, or he will be nothing at all.
Such prayers never reach the ear of God, nor delight the heart of God,
nor shall ever be lodged in the bosom of God, that are not directed to
the glory of God. The end must be as noble as the means, or else a
man may be undone after all his doings. A man's most glorious actions
will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself,
and not the glory of God, the end of those actions.

(10.) My tenth advice and counsel is this. Be sure that you offer all
your closet-prayers in Christ's name, and in his alone ; John xiv. 13,
14, ' And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it.' John xv. 16, 'That whatsoever ye shall ask of the
Father in my name, he may give it you.' John xvi. 23, 24, 26, ' Verily,
verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall avsk the Father in my name,
he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name :
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulL At that day ye
shall ask in my name: and I say' unto you, that I will pray the Father
for you.' sirs ! this is your privilege as well as your comfort, that
you never deal with God but by a mediator. When you appear before
God, Jesus Christ appears with you, and he appears for you ; when
you do invocare, then he doth adrocare ; when you put up your peti-
tions, then he doth make intercession for you. Christ gives you a
commission to put his name upon all your requests ; and whatsoever
prayer comes up with this name upon it, he will procure it an answer.
In the state of innocency, man might worship God without a mediator ;
but since sin hath made so wide a breach between God and man, God
will accept of no worship from man, but what is offered up by the hand
of a mediator. Now this mediator is Christ alone ; 1 Tim. ii. 5, ' For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus.' One mediator, not of redemption only, as the papists
grant, but of intercession also, which they den}'.

The papists make saints and angels co-mediators with Christ ; but in
this, as in other things, they fight against clear Scripture hght. The
apostle plainly tells us, that the office of intercession pertaineth unto
Christ, as part of his mediation, Heb. vii, 25 : and it is certain, that we
need no other master of requests in heaven, but the man Christ Jesus ;
who being so near to the Father, and so dear to the Father, and so
much in with the Father, can doubtless carry any thing with the
Father, that makes for his glory and our good. This was typified in
the law. The high-priest alone did enter into the sanctuary, and carry
the names of the children of Israel before the Lord, whilst the people
stood all without ; this pointed out Christ's mediation, Exod. xxviii. 2.9.
In that Lev. xvi. 13, 14, you read of two things : first, of the cloud
of incense that covered the mercy seat ; secondly, of the blood of the
bullock, that was sprinkled,before^the mercy-seat. Now that blood typi-
fied Christ's satisfaction, and the cloud of incense his intercession.

Some of the learned think, that Christ intercedes only by virtue of
his merits; others, that it is done only with his mouth. I conjecture

» Qu. • say not ' ?— Ed.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 275

it may be done both ways, the rather because Christ hath a tongue, as
also a whole body, but glorified, in heaven ; and is it likely, that that
mouth which pleaded so much for us on earth, should be altogether
silent for us in heaven ?

There is no coming to the Father, but by the Son, John xiv. 6.
Christ is the true Jacob's ladder, by which we must ascend to heaven.
Joseph, you know, commanded his brethren, that as ever they looked
for any good from him, or to see his face with joy, that they should be
sure to bring their brother Benjamin along with them. O sirs ! as ever
you would be prevalent with God, as ever you would have sweet, choice,
and comfortable returns from heaven to all your closet-prayers, be sure
that you bring your elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the arms
of your faith, be sure that you treat and trade with God only in the
name of the Lord Jesus.

It is a notable speech that Luther hath upon the 130th Psalm,
* Often and willingly,' saith he, ' do I inculcate this, that you should
shut your eyes, and your ears, and say, you know no God out of Christ,
none but he that was in the lap of Mary, and sucked her breasts,'
Dulce nomen Christi. He means none out of him. When you go to
closet-prayer, look that you pray not in your own names, but in the
name of Christ; and that you believe and hope not in your own names,
but in the name of Christ; and that you look not to speed in your own
names, but in the name of Christ: Col. iii. 17, 'And whatsoever ye
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.' Whatsoever
we do, we are to do it by the authority of Christ, and through the
assistance of Christ, and in the name of Christ, and for the sake and
glory of Christ. Christ's name is so precious and powerful with the
Father, that it will carry any suit, obtain any request at his hands.
Jesus, in the China tongue, signifies the rising sun. When a man
writes the name of Jesus upon his closet-prayers, then he shall be sure
to speed. Though God will not give a man a drop, a sip, a crumb, a
crust, for his own sake, yet for Jesus' sake he will give the best, the
choicest, and the greatest blessings that heaven affords; that name is
still mighty and powerful, prevalent and precious before the Lord.
The prayers that were offered up with the incense upon the altar were
pleasing, Rev. viii. 3; and came up with acceptance, ver. 4. Joseph's
brethren were kindly used for Benjamin's sake. sirs ! all our duties
and services are accepted of the Father, not for their own sakes, nor for
our sakes, but for Christ's sake. There are no prayers that are either
heard, owned, accepted, regarded, or rewarded, but such as Christ puts
his hand to. If Christ doth not mingle his blood with our sacrifices,
our services, they will be lost, and never ascend as incense before the
Lord. No coin is current that hath not Caesar's stamp upon it; nor
no prayers go current in heaven, that have not the stamp of Christ
upon them. There is nothing more pleasing to our heavenly Father,
than to use the mediation of his Son. Such shall be sure to find most
favour, and to speed best in the court of heaven, who still present
themselves before the Father with Christ in their arms. But,

(11.) My eleventh and last advice and counsel is this, When you
come out of your closets, narrowly watch what becomes of your pri-
vate prayers. Look at what door, in what way, and by what hand the

276 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

Lord shall please to give you an answer to the secret desires of your
souls in a corner. It hath been the custom of the people of God, to
look after their prayers, to see what success they have had, to observe
what entertainment they have found in heaven : Ps. v. 3, * My voice
shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord ; in the morning will I direct
my prayer unto thee, and will look up.' In the words you may observe
two things : first, David's posture in prayer ; secondly, his practice
after prayer. First, His posture in prayer, * I will direct my prayer
unto thee.' Secondly, His practice after prayer, ' And I will look up.'
The prophet, in these words, makes use of two military words. First,
he would not only pray, but marshal up his prayers, he would put
them in battle-array; so much the Hebrew word gnarach imports.
Secondly, when he had done this, then he would be as a spy upon his
watch-tower, to see whether he prevailed, whether he got the day or
no ; and so much the Hebrew word tsaphah imports. When David
had set his prayers, his petitions, in rank and file, in good array, then
he was resolved he would look abroad, he would look about him, to see
at what door God would send in an answer of prayer. He is either a
fool or a madman, he is either very weak or very wicked, that prays
and prays, but never looks after his prayers ; that shoots many an arrow
towards heaven, but never minds where his arrows alight : Ps. Ixxxv.
8, ' I will hear what God the Lord will speak ; for he will speak peace
imto his people, and to his saints.' If David would have God to hearken
to his prayers, he must then hearken to what God will speak ; and
upon this point it seems he was fully resolved. The prophet's prayer
you have in the seven first verses of this psalm, and his gracious reso-
lution you have in the eighth verse, ' I will hear what God the Lord
will speak.' As if be had said, ' Certainly it will not be long before
the Lord will give me a gracious answer, a seasonable and a suitable
return to my present prayers :' Ps. cxxx. 1, 2, 5, 6, ' Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice, let thine ears be
attentive to the voice of my supplications. I wait for the Lord, my
soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the
Lord, more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they
that watch for the morning.' Those that watch abroad in dangerous
times and tedious weather look frequently after peep of day. How
doth the weary sentinel, that is wet with the rain of heaven or with the
dew of the night, wait and watch, look and long, for the morning light.
Now this was the frame and temper of David's spirit when he came off
from praying ; he falls a- waiting for a gracious answer. Shall the hus-
bandman wait for the precious fruits of the earth, and shall the mer-
chantman wait for the return of his ships, and shall the wife wait for
the return of her husband, that is gone a long journey? James v. 7, 8,
and shall not a Christian wait for the return of his prayers ? Noah
patiently waited for the return of the dove to the ark with an olive-
branch in his mouth, so must you patiently wait for the return of your
prayers. When children shoot their arrows, they never mind where
they fall ; but when prudent archers shoot their arrows up into the
air, they stand and watch where they fall. You must deal by your
prayers as prudent archers do by their arrows : Hab. ii. 1, ' I will stand
upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 277

he will say unto me.' The prophet, in the former chapter, having been
very earnest in his expostulations, and very fervent in his supplications,
he gets now upon his watch-tower, to see what becomes of his prayers.
He stands as a sentinel, and watches as vigilantly and as carefully as
a spy, a scout, earnestly longing to hear and see the event, the issue,
and success of his prayers. That Christian that in prayer hath one eye
upon a divine precept, and another upon a gracious promise, that Chris-
tian will be sure to look after his prayers. He that prays and waits,
and Avaits and prays, shall be sure to speed ; he shall never fail of rich
returns, Ps. xl. 1-4. He tliat can want as well as wait, and he that
can be contented that God is glorified, though he be not gratified; he
that dares not antedate God's promises, but patiently wait for the
accomplishment of them, he may be confident that he shall have
seasonable and suitable answers to all those pmyers that he hath
posted away to heaven. Though God seldom comes at our time, yet
he never fails to come at his own time : ' He that shall come, will come,
and will not tarry,' Heb. x. 37. The mercies of God are not styled
the swift, but the ' sure mercies of David.' He that makes as much
conscience to look after his prayers as to pray, he shall shortly clap
his hands for joy, and cry out with that blessed martyr, ' He is come,
Austin, he is come, he is come.'* Certainly there is little worth in that
man's heart, or in that man's prayers, who keeps up a trade of prayer,
but never looks what becomes of his prayers. When you are in your
closets, marshal your prayers ; see that every prayer keeps his place
and ground ; and when you come out of your closets, then look up for
an answer ; only take heed that you be not too hasty and hot with God.
Though mercy in the pi-omise be yours, yet the time of giving it out
is the Lord's ; and therefore you must wait as well as pray.

And thus much by way of counsel and advice, for the better carrying
on of closet prayer.

I have now but one thing more to do before I shut up this discourse,
and that is, to lay down some means, rules, or directions that may be
of use to help you on in a faithful and conscientious discharge of this
great duty, viz. closet-prayer. And therefore thus,

(1.) First, As ever you would give up yourselves to private prayer.
Take heed of an idle and slothful spirit. If Adam, in the state of
innocency, must work and dress the garden, and if, after his fall, when
he was monarch of all the world, he must yet labour, why should any
be idle or slothful ? Idleness is a sin against the law of creation. God
creating man to labour, the idle person violates this law of creation ; for
by his idleness he casts off the authority of his Creator, who made him
for labour. Idleness is a contradiction to the principles of our creation.*
Man in innocency should have been freed from weariness, but not from
employment; he was to dress the garden by divine appointment : 'And
the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to
dress it, and to keep it,' Gen. ii. 15. All weariness in labour, and all
vexing, tiring, and tormenting labour, came in by the fall : ' In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,' Gen. iii. 19. The bread of idle-
ness is neither sweet nor sure : ' An idle person shall suffer hunger,'

' Mr Glover [Foxe] Acts and Mon. [tub nomine; also Clarke, as before.— G.]
* August, de Gen. ad lit., lib. viii. cap. 8.

278 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

saith Solomon, Pro v. xix. 15. An idle life and an holy heart are far
enough asunder. By doing nothing, saith the heathen man, men learn
to do evil things. It is easy slipping out of an idle life into an evil
and wicked life ; yea, an idle life is of itself evil, for man was made to
be active, not to be idle. The Cyclops thought man's happiness did
consist in nihil agendo, in doing nothing ; but no excellent thing can
be the child of idleness. Idleness is a mother-sin, a breeding-sin ; it
is pulvinar diaboli, the devil's cushion, on which he sits, and the devil's
anvil, on which he frames very great and very many sins, Eph. iv. 28,
2 Thes. iii. 10, 12. Look, as toads and serpents breed most in standing
waters, so sin thrives most in idle persons. Idleness is that which pro-
vokes the Lord to forsake men's bodies, and the devil to possess their souls.

No man hath less means to preserve his body, and more temptations
to infect his soul, than an idle person. Oh shake off sloth ! The
sluggish Christian will be sleeping, or idling, or trifling, when he should
be in his closet a-praying. Sloth is the green-sickness of the soul ;
get it cured, or it will be your eternal bane. Of all devils, it is the
idle devil that keeps men most out of their closets. There is nothing
that gives the devil so much advantage against us as idleness. It was
good counsel that Jerome gave to his friend, Facito aliquid operis, ut
te semper diabolus inveniat oceupatum, that when the devil comes
with a temptation, you may answer him you are not at leisure.^

It was the speech of Mr Greenham, sometimes^ a famous and painful
preacher of this nation, that when the devil tempted a poor soul, she
came to him for advice how she might resist the temptation, and he
gave her this answer : ' Never be idle, but be always well employed,
for in my own experience I have found it. When the devil came to
tempt me, I told him that I was not at leisure to hearken to his temp-
tations, and by this means I resisted all his assaults.' Idleness is the
hour of temptation, and an idle person is the devil's tennis-ball, tossed
by him at his pleasure.

' He that labours,' said the old hermit, ' is tempted but by one devil,
but he that is idle is assaulted by all.' Cupid complained that he could
never fasten upon the Muses, because he could never find them idle.
The fowler bends his bow and spreads his net for birds when they are
set, not when they are upon the wing. So Satan shoots his most
fiery darts at men, when they are most idle and slothful. And this the
Sodomites found by woful experience, Ezek. xvi. 49, when God rained
hell out of heaven upon them, both for their idleness, and for those other
sins of theirs, which their idleness did expose them to.

It was said of Rome, that during the time of their wars with Carthage
and other enemies in Africa, they knew not what vice meant ; but no
sooner had they got the conquest, but through idleness they came to
ruin. Idleness is a sin, not only against the law of grace, but also against
the light of nature. You cannot look any way but every creature checks
and upbraids your idleness and sloth ; if you look up to the heavens, there
you shall find all their glorious lights constant in their motions, ' The
sun rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race,' Ps, xix. 5, civ. 23 ; the
winds blow, the waters run, the earth brings forth her pleasant and de-

* Jerome, Ep. 4.

> Some time. Greenham 'a Works form a rich folio (1601). He died 1691. — G.

Mat. YL 6] the privy key of heaven. 279

lightful fruits, all the fish in the sea, fowls in the air, and beasts in the
fields and on the mountains, have their motions and operations, all which
call aloud upon man not to be idle, but active. Solomon sends the
sluggard to the ant to learn industry, Prov. vi. 6. The ant is a very
little creature, but exceeding laborious. Nature hath put an instinct
into her to be very busy and active all the summer ; she is early and
late at it, and will not lose an hour unless the weather hinder. And
the prophet Jeremiah sends the Jews to school to learn to wait, and ob-
serve of the stork, the turtle, the crane, and the swallow, Jer. viii. 7.
And our Saviour sends us to the sparrows and lilies, to learn attendance
upon providence, Mat. vi. 26, 28. And let me send you to the busy bee,
to learn activity and industry ; though the bee be little in bulk, yet it is
great in service ; she flies far, examines the fields, hedges, trees, orchards,
gardens, and loads herself with honey and wax, and then returns to her
hive. Now how should the activity of these creatures put the idle person
to a blush. sirs ! man is the most noble creature, into whom God hath
put principles of the greatest activity, as capable of the greatest and
highest enjoyments ; and therefore idleness is a forgetting man's dignity,
and a forsaking of that rank that God hath set him in, and a debasing
of himself below the least and meanest creatures, who constantly in their
order obedientially serve the law of their creation. Nay, if you look up
to the blessed angels above you, you shall still find them active and
serviceable ; ' are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation V Heb. i. 14. And if you look
down to the angels of darkness below you, oh how laborious and in-
dustrious are they to destroy and damn your precious and immortal
souls ! 1 Peter v. 8.

For a close, remember that idleness is so great an evil, that it hath
been condemned and severely punished by the very worst of men.
Among the Egyptians, idleness was a capital crime. Among the Lucans,^
he that lent money to an idle person was to lose it. By Solon's law,
idle persons were to suffer death ; and Seneca had rather be sick than
idle. The Lacedasmonians called men to an account for their idle hours.
Among the Corinthians, idle persons were delivered to the Camifex.
Antoninus Pius, being emperor, caused the roofs and coverings of all such
houses to be taken away, as were known to receive in idle people, affirm-
ing that nothing was more uncomely, or absurd to be suffered, than
such idle caterpillars and slow- worms to have their food and nourishment
from that commonwealth, in the maintenance of which there was no
supply from their industry and labour. All which should steel us and
arm us against sloth and idleness. I have the longer insisted on this,
because there is not a greater hindrance to closet prayer than sloth and
idleness. Slothful and idle persons commonly lie so long a-bed, and
spend so much precious time between the comb and the glass, and in
eating, drinking sporting, and trifling, &c., that they can find no time
for private prayer. Certainly such as had rather go sleeping to hell,
than sweating to heaven, will never care much for closet-prayer. And
therefore shun sloth and idleness, as you would shun a lion in the way,
or poison .in your meat, or coals in your bosom, or else you will never
6nd time to wait upon God in your closets.

* Qu. ' Lucanians' ? — G.

280 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

(2.) Secondly, Take heed of spending too much of your precious time
ahout circumstantials, about the little things of religion, as ' minty
anise, and cummin,' Mat. xxiii. 23, or in searching into the circum-
stances of worship, or in standing stoutly for this or that cere-
Tuony, and in the mean while neglect the studying of the covenant
of grace, or ahout inquiring what fruit that was that Adam ate in
paradise, or in inquiring after the authors of such and such hooks,
whose names God in his infinite wisdom hath concealed, or in inquir-
ing what God did hefore the world was made. When one asked Austin
that question, he answered, ' that he was preparing hell for such busy
questionists as he was.' It was a saying of Luther, ' From a vain-
glorious doctor, from a contentious pastor, and from unprofitable ques-
tions, the good Lord deliver his church.' It is one of Satan's great
designs to hinder men in the great and weighty duties of religion, by
busying them most about the lowest and least matters of religion.
Satan is never better pleased, than when he sees Christians puzzled and
perplexed about those things in religion that are of no great moment
or importance, Col. ii. 21. Such as negotiate and trade in religion more
for a good name than a good life, for a good report than a good con-
science, for to humour others than to honour God, &c., such will take
no pleasure in closet-duties. Such as are more busied about ceremonies
than substances, about the form of godliness than the power, 2 Tim. iii.
5, such will never make it their business to be much with God in their
closets, as is evident in the Scribes and Pharisees, Mat. vi. 1-6. Such
as are more taken up with the outward dress and garb of religion, than
they are with the spirit, power, and life of religion : such will never affect
to drive a secret trade heavenwards, Luke xi. 34-40. There cannot be
a surer nor a greater character of an hypocrite, than to make a great
deal of stir about little things in religion, and in the mean while neglect
the great and main things in religion. Such as these have all along in
the Scripture discovered a strangeness, and a perfect carelessness as to
closet duties. I never knew any man hot and zealous about circum-
stantials, about the little things of religion, that was ever famous for
closet prayer. But,

(3.) Thirdly, Take heed of curiosity, and of spending too much of
your precious time in searching into tJwse dark, abstruse, mysterious,
cmd hidden truths and things of God and religion, that lie most
remote from the understanding of the best and wisest of men.
Curioaity is the spiritual adultery of the soul. Curiosity is a spiritual
drunkenness ; for look, as the drunkard is never satisfied unless he see
the bottom of the cup, be it never so deep, so those that are troubled
with the itch of curiosity, will say they can never be satisfied till they
come to the bottom of the most deep and profound things of God ; they
love to pry into God's secrets, and to scan the mysteries of religion, by
their weak, shallow reason, and to be wise above what is written.
Curious searchers into the deep mysterious things of God will make all
God's depths to be shallows, rather than they will be thought not able
to fathom them by the short line of their own reason. Oh that men
would once learn to be contentedly ignorant, where God would not
have them knowing! Oh that men were once so humble, as to account
it no disparagement to them, to acknowledge some depths in God, and

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 281

in the blessed Scripture, which their shallow reason cannot fathom !
They are only a company of fools in folio, that affect to know more
than God woidd have them. Did not Adam's tree of knowledge make
him and his posterity mere fools ? He that goes to school to his own
reason, hath a fool for his schoolmaster. The ready way to grow stark
blmd is to be still prying and gazing upon the body of the sun : so
the ready way to spiritual blindness is to be still prying into the most
secret and hidden things of God, Deut. xxix. 29. Are there not many
who, by prying long into the secrets of nature, are become arch-enemies
to the grace of God ? Rom. ix. 20. Oh that we were wise to admire
those deep mysteries which we cannot understand, and to adore those
depths and counsels which we cannot reach, Rom. xi. 33. Oh let us
check our curiosity in the things of God, and sit down satisfied and
contented to resolve many of God's actions into some hidden causes
which He secret in the abyss of his eternal knowledge and infallible will.
Christ, when he was on earth, very frequently, severely, and sharply
condemned curious inquirers, as is evident by the scriptures in the
margin ;' and the great reason why our Saviour did so frequently
check this humour of curiosity, was because the great indulgers of it
were too frequent neglecters of the more great, necessary, and important
points of religion- Curiosity is one of Satan's most dangerous engines,
by which he keeps many souls out of their closets, yea, out of heaven.
When many a poor soul begins in good earnest to look towards heaven,
and to apply himself to closet duties, then Satan begins to bestir him-
self, and to labour with all his might, so to busy the poor soul with vain
inquiries, and curious speculations, and unprofitable curiosities, that
the soul hath no time for closet prayer. Ah ! how well might it have
been with many a man, had he but spent one quarter of that time in
closet prayer, that he hath spent in curious inquiries after things that
have not been fundamental to his happiness.

The heathenish priests affected curiosity, they had their mythologies,
and strange canting expressions of their imaginary inaccessible deities,
to amaze and amuse their blind superstitious followers, and thereby to
hold up their popish and apish idola>feries in greater veneration. Oh
that there were none of this heathenish spirit among many in these
days, who have their faces toward heaven ! Ah • how many are there
that busy themselves more in searching after the reasons of the irre-
coverableness of man's fall, than they do to recover themselves out of
their fallen estate ! Ah, how many are there [that busy themselves
more about the apostasy of the angels, than they do about securing
their interest in Christ ! And what a deal of precious time have some
spent in discovering the natures, distinctions, properties, and orders of
angels.2 ,

That high-soaring, counterfeit Dionysius describes the hierachy of
angels as exactly as if he had dwelt among them. He saith there are
nine orders of them, which he grounds upon nine words, which are
found partly in the Old Testament, and partly in the New; as seraphims,

' John xxi. 22, Acts i. 6. T.

* Peter Martyr saith, that to inqiiire of the angels accurately and SHbtilly, is maffit ad
euriositatem nostram, quam ad talutem ; and he wisheth that the Bchoolinen in their knotty,
thorny, and unprofitable discourses had observed this.

282 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

cherubims, thrones, powers, hosts, dominions, principalities, archangels,
and angels ; and at large he describes their several natures, distinctions,
and properties, as that the first three orders are for immediate attend-
ance on the Almighty, and the next three orders for the general govern-
ment of the creatures, and the last three orders for the particular good
of God's elect ; that the archangel surpasses the beauty of angelaten
times, principalities surpass the archangels twenty times, and that
powers surpass the principalities forty times, &c. How he came by
this learning is not known, and yet this hierarchy in these nine several
orders hath passed for current through many ages of the church.

The Platonics were the first that divided the angels into three orders,
as, some above heaven, called superccelestes ; others in heaven, called
ccelestes ; and others under heaven, called suhcaelestes, and accordingly
they assign them several offices. As,

First, They above heaven, I mean this visible heaven, continually
stand before God, as they say, praising, and lauding, and magnifying
of his name.

Secondly, They in heaven are there seated to move, and rule, and
govern the stars.

Thirdly, They under heaven are, some to rule kingdoms, others pro-
vinces, others cities, others particular men.

Several Christian writers, that have written on the hierarchy of
angels, follow these opinions. Now, if we should take these surmises .
for real truths, then it will follow, that the highest angels do not
minister to the saints, but only and immediately to God himself, which
is expressly contrary to several scriptures, as you may see by them in
the margin among others.^ When I was upon the ministration of the
blessed angels, I did then prove in several exercises, as some of you may
remember, * that all the angels in heaven were commanded and
commissionated by God to be serviceable and useful to the heirs of
salvation. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? ' The devil knows he is no
loser, and the curious soul but a very little gainer, if he can but per-
suade him to spend most of hig precious time in studying and poring
upon the most dark, mysterious, and hidden things of God. He that
affects to read the Revelation of John more than his plain epistles, or
Daniel's prophecies more than David's Psalms, and is more busy about
reconciling difficult scriptures than he is about mortifyipg of unruly
lusts, or that is set more upon vain speculations than upon things that
make mostfor edification, he is notthe man that is cut outfor closet-prayer.
Such as affect sublime notions, obscure expressions, and are men of
abstracted conceits, are but a company of wise fools, that will never
take any delight to be with God i^ a corner. Had many men spent
but half that time in secret prayei', that they have spent in seeking
after the philosopher's stone, how happy might they have been ! Oh
how holy, how happy, how heavenly, how humble, how wise, how
knowing, might many men have been, had they spent but half that
time in closet prayer, that they have spent in searching after those
things that are hard to be understood ! 2 Peter iii. 16. But, .

(4.) Fourthly, Take heed of engaging yourselves in a crowd of
^ Jude 9 ; Luke i, 19, 26 ; Zech. iv. 10 ; Rev. v. 6 ; Heb. i. 14.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 283

worldly businesses. Many have so much to do on earth that they have
no time to look up to heaven. As much earth puts out the fire, so much
worldly business puts out the fire of heavenly affections. Look, as the
earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Num. xxii. 32 ; so
much worldly business swallows up so much precious time, that many
men have no leisure to be with God in their closets. This business is
to be done, and that business cannot be omitted, and the other neces-
sary occasion must be attended, so that I have no leisure to step out of
my shop into my closet, saith the earthly-minded man, Philip, iii. 19.
Thus a crowd of worldly businesses crowds closet-prayer quite out of
doors. Many drive so great a trade in their shops, that their private
trade to heaven is quite laid by. There is nothing that hath kept men
more from Christ and closet-prayer, than the shop, the exchange, the
farm, and the oxen, &c., Luke xiv. 16-22. The stars which have least
circuit are nearest the pole ; and men that are least perplexed with
worldly businesses are commonly nearest to God, to Christ, to heaven,
and so the fitter for closet-prayer. It is sad when men grasp so much
business, that they can have no leisure for communion with God in a
corner. The noise is such in a mill, as hinders all private intercourse
between man and man ; and so a multitude of worldly businesses make
such a noise, as that it hinders all private intercourse between God and the
soul. If a man of much business should now and then slide into his closet,
yet his head and his heart will be so filled and distracted with the thoughts
of his employments, that God shall have little of him but his bodily
presence, or, at most, but bodily exercise, which profits little, 1 Tim.
iv. 8. If Christ blamed Martha, Luke x. 40-42, for the multitude of
her domestical employments, though they were undertaken for the im-
mediate service and entertainment of himself, because they hindered
her in her soul-concernments, oh how will he one day blame all those
who, by running themselves into a crowd of worldly businesses, do cut
themselves off from all opportunities of pouring out their souls before
him in secret. But,

(5.) Fifthly, Take heed of secret sins. There is no greater hindrance
to secret prayer in all the world than secret sins ; and therefore stand
upon your watch, and arm yourselves with all your might against them.
There is an antipathy betwixt secret sinning and secret praying, partly
from guilt, which makes the soul shy of coming under God's secret
eye ; and partly from those fears, doubts, disputes, and disorders, that
secret sins raise in the heart. Light is not more opposite to dark-
ness, Christ to Belial, nor heaven to hell, than secret prayer is to secret
sins ; and therefore, whatever you do, look that you keep clear of secret
sins. To that purpose consider these four things :

[1.] First, T/uit God is privy to our most secret sins.^ His eye is
as much upon secret sins, as it is upon open sins : Ps. xc. 8, * Thou hast
set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy counte-
nance.' God hath an eye upon our inmost evils, he seeth all that is
done in the dark : Jer. xxiii. 24, ' Can any hide himself in secret places
that I shall not see him ? saith the Lord : do not I fill heaven and
earth ? saith the Lord.' Prov. xv, 3, * The eyes of the Lord are in every

^ Ps. cxxxix. 1-4 ; Jer. xiii. 27, and xxix. 23 ; Ps. xxxix. 1 ; 1 Kings xx. 39 ; Job
X. 12.

SS^ THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

place, beholding the evil and the good.' To say that God doth not see
the most secret sins of the children of men, is not only derogatory to
his omniscience, but also to his mercy ; for how can God pardon those
sins, which he doth not see to be sins ? There is no cloud, nor curtain,
nor moment of darkness, that can stand betwixt the eyes of God and
the ways of men : Pro v. v. 21, ' The ways of men are before the eyes of
the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.' In this scripture Solomon
mainly speaks of the ways of the adulterer, which usually are plotted
with the most cunning secresy ; yet God'seeth all those ways. Look,
as no boldness can exempt the adulterer from the justice of God, so no
secresy can hide him from the eye of God. Though men labour to
hide their ways from others, and from themselves, yet it is but labour
in vain to endeavour to hide them from God. Men that labour to
hide God from themselves, can never hide themselves from God.

I have read that Paphnutius converted Thais and Ephron, two famous
strumpets, from un cleanness, only with this argument, ' That God seeth
all things in the dark, when the doors are fast, the windows shut, and
the curtains drawn.'' Heb. iv. 13, ' Neither is there any creature that
is not manifest in his sight : but all things are naked and opened (ana-
tomised) even to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.' It is an
allusion to the priests under the law, who, when they killed a beast, all
things that were within the beast were laid open and naked before the
priest, that he might see what was sound and what was corrupted.
Though evil be done out of the eye of all the world, yet it is naked and
manifest in his sight with whom we have to do.

Those sins which lie closest and are most secretly lurking in the
heart, are as obvious and odious to God as those that are most fairly
written upon a man's forehead. God is '^ravoip&aX/iog, all eye ; so that
he sees all, the most secret turnings and windings of our hearts. Our
most secret sins are as plainly seen by him, as any thing can be by
us at noonday : Ps. cxxxix. 11, 12, ' If I say. Surely the darkness shall
cover me ; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness
hideth not from thee ; but the night shineth as the day : the darkness
and the light are both alike to thee.' It is not the thickest clouds that
can bar out his observance, whose eyes fill heaven and earth. What is
the curtain, or the darkest night, or the double lock, oi- the secret cham-
ber, to him who clearly observes all things in a perfect nakedness. God
hath an eye upon the most inward intentions of the heart, and the mbst
subtle motions of the spirit. Those philosophers were out, that held
the eye and ear of God descended no lower than the heavens. Certainly
there is not a creature, not a thought, not a thing, but lies open to the
all-seeing eye of God. The Lord knows our secret sinnings as exactly
as our visible sinnings : Ps. xliv. 21, ' He knoweth the secrets of our
hearts.' Would not a malefactor speak truly at the bar, did he know,
did he believe that the judge had windows that did look into his
breast?

Athenodorus, a heathen, could say, that all men ought to be careful
in the actions of their life, because God was everywhere, and beheld all
that was done.

Zeno, a wise heathen, aflfirmed that God beheld even the thoughts.
^ See Index foi other refereuces to this. — G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 285

It was an excellent saying of Ambrose, 'If thou canst not hide thyself
from the sun, which is God's minister of light, how impossible will it be
to hide thyself from him, whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter
than the sun.'^ Though a sinner may baffle his conscience, yet he can-
not baffle the eye of God's omnisciency. Oh ! that poor souls would
remember, that as they are never out of the reach of God's hand, so
they are never from under the view of his eye. God is totus oeulus,
all eye. Jer. xvi. 17, ' For mine eyes are upon all their ways ; they are
not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.' Job
xxxiv. 21, 22, ' For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all
his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the
workers of iniquity may hide themselves.' Jer. xxxii. 1 9, ' For thine
eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one
according to his ways, and the fruit of his doings.' You know what
Ahasuerus, that great monarch, said concerning Haman, when coming
in he found him cast upon the queen's bed, on which she sat, ' What,'
saith he, ' will he force the queen before me in the house V Esth. vii. 8.
There was the killing emphasis in the words before me; 'will he force
the queen before me t what, will he dare to commit such villany, and
I stand and look on ? O sirs ! to sin in the sight of God, to do wickedly
under the eye of God, is a thing that he looks upon as the greatest affront,
and as the highest indignity that can possibly be done unto him. What,
saith he, wilt thou be drunk before me ? Wilt thou swear and blaspheme
before me ? Wilt thou be wanton and unclean before me ? Wilt thou be
unjust and unrighteous undermine eye? Wilt thou profane mySabbaths,
and pollute my ordinances before my face 1 Wilt thou despise and per-
secute my servants in my presence ? &c. This, then, is the killing
aggravation of all sin, that it is doue before the face of God, that it is
committed in the royal presence of the King of kings ; whereas the
very consideration of God's omnipresence should bravely arm us against
sin and Satan ; the consideration of his aU-seeing eye should make us
shun all occasions of sin, and make us shy of all appearances of sin. Shall
the eye of the master keep the scholar from blotting his copy ? Shall
the eye of the judge keep the malefactor from picking and stealing ?
Shall the eye of the master keep the servant from idling and trifling ?
Shall the eye of the father keep the child from wandering and gad-
ding ? Shall the eye of the husband keep the wife from extravagancies
and indecencies ? Shall the sharp eye of wise Cato, or the quick eye of a
near neighbour, or the severe eye of a bosom-friend, keep thee from many
enormities and vanities ? And shall not the strict, the pure, the jea-
lous eye of an all-seeing God, keep thee from sinning in the secret cham-
ber, when all curtains are drawn, doors bolted, and every one in the
house a-bed or abroad but thee and thy Delilah ? Oh ! what dreadful
atheism is bound up in that man's heart, who is more afraid of the eye
of his father, his pastor, his child, his servant, than he is of the eye,
the presence of the eternal God ? Oh ! that all whom this concerns,
would take such serious notice of it, as to judge themselves severely for
it, as to mourn bitterly over it, as to strive mightily in prayer with God
both for the pardon of it, and for power against it.

The apostle sadly complains of some in his time who wallowed in
* Ambrose, Offie. lib. i- cap. xiv.

286 THE PRIVT KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

secret sins. Eph. v. 12, * For it is a shame even to speak of those things
which are done of them in secret' He speaks of such as lived in secret
fornications and uncleanness. There were many that had put on
a form of godliness, who yet did allow themselves in the secret act-
ings of abominable wickedness and filthiness, as if there were no God
to behold them, nor conscience to accuse them, nor judgment-day to
arraign them, nor justice to condemn them, nor hell to torment them.
Oh ! how infinitely odious must they be in the eyes of a holy God, who
can highly court and compliment him in public, and yet are so bold as
to provoke him to his face in private. These are like those whores, who
pretend a great deal of affection and respect to their husbands abroad,
and yet at home will play the harlots before their husbands' eyes.

Such as perform religious duties only to cloak and colour over their
secret filthinesses, their secret wickednesses ; such as pretend to pay their
vows, and yet wait for the twilight. Pro v. vii. 13-15, Job xxiv. 15 ; such
as commit wickedness in a comer, and yet with the harlot wipe their
mouths, and say. What have we done ? such shall at last find the
chambers, the stones out of the wall, the beam out of the timber, the
seats they sit on, and the beds they lie on, to witness against all their
wanton dalliances, and lascivious carriages in secret, Hab, ii. 11. Heb.
xiii. 4, * Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.' He will sen-
tence them himself ; and why ? but because such sinners carry it so
closely and craftily, that oftentimes none but God can find them out.
Magistrates often neglect the punishing of such sinners, when their
secret wickedness is made known ; and therefore God himself will sit in
judgment upon them. Though they may escape the eyes of men, yet
they shall never escape the judgment of God. Heart iniquities fall not
under any human sentence. Usually whoremongers and adulterers are
marvellous close, and secret and'subtle to conceal their abominable filthi-
ness ; therefore the harlot is said to be subtle of heart, Prov. vii. 10.
The Hebrew by Rabbi Solomon^ is translated w-itm^o corrfe, and having
her heart fenced ; * For,' saith he, * as a city is environed with fortifica-
tions, so her heart is fortified round about with subtilty.' Or else it may
be rendered occlusa corde, ' fast shut up in the heart, even as close as
a besieged city,' that is, ' most secret in the subtilty of her heart, how
open soever she be in the boldness of her outward carriage.' So the
prophet Agur reckoneth the way of a man ^nth a maid, and the way of
an adulterous woman, among those things which neither himself nor
any other man was possibly able to discover and find out, and compares
it to the way of three things, which no wit nor industry of man is able
to descry ; but yet God seeth all, and will bring them to the bar for all,
Prov. XXX. 19, 20. But,

[2.] Secondly, Consider that secret sins shall be revealed.^ The
most hidden works of darkness shall be openly manifested; for though
the actings of sin be in the dark, yet the judgings of sin shall be in the
light ; Luke viii. 1 7, ' For nothing is secret that shall not be made

• Eab. Sol. in hunc vers.

* In my treatise called ' Apples of Gold,' &c., I have proved by many arguments that
the sins of the saints shall not be brought into the judgment of discussion and discovery
in the great day, pp. 155 to 172, and therefore understand this second particular of such
who live and die in their secret sins without repentance and faith in the blood of Christ.

Apples of Gold,' as contained in Vol. I. — G.]

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 287

manifest; neither an3rthing hid, that shall not be known, and come
abroad.* The slanders of the Jews concerning the magical arts of
Christ and his apostles, the horrible lies of the pagans concerning the
incestuous copulations of the Christians, and their drinking man's
blood, were in time discovered what they were : Eccles. xii. 14, ' God
shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether
it be good or whether it be evil.' Mark, he doth not say some work,
but evet^ work ; and not only works, but secrets ; and not only secrets,
but every secret ; and not only secret good things but evil too ; whether
good works or ill works, whether secret or open, all must be brought
to judgment. The books of God's omniscience, and man's conscience,
shall then be opened, and then secret sins shall be as legible in thy
forehead, as if they were written with the most glittering sun-beams
upon a wall of crystal. All men's secret sins are printed in heaven,
and God will at last read them aloud in the ears of all the world :
1 Cor. iv. 5, ' Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who
both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make
manifest the counsels of the heart.' Look, as there are a world of flies
and motes in the air, which we never see till the sun shines ; so there
are many thousand thousands of proud thoughts, and unclean thoughts,
and worldly thoughts, and malicious thoughts, and envious thoughts,
and bloody thoughts, &c., which the world sees not, knows not; but in
the great day, when the counsels of all hearts shall be manifest, then
all shall out, then all shall appear, both to the upper and the lower
world. In the great day all masks, vizards, and hoods shall be pulled
off, and then all shall out; all that ever thou hast done in the secret
chamber, in the dark corner, shall be made known to men and angels,
yea, to the whole court of heaven, and to all the world beside. Rom. ii.
16, 'In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ.' In this great day, God will judge not only our words but our
works, not only our open works, but also our secret works and way.s.
When Jehoiakim was dead, there was found the characters, supereti-
tious marks, and prints of his sorcery upon his body, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 8 ;
which shews how deeply idolatry was rooted in his heart, seeing he
bare the marks in his flesh during his life. He being a king bore it
out bravely, and kept all close ; but when he was dead, then all came
out, then the marks of his abominable idolatry appeared upon his
body. Though sinners, though the greatest of sinners, may hide and
keep close their horrid abominations for a time, yet there will come a
time when all shall out, when all their secret marks and secret abomi-
nations shall be obvious to all the world.

But sinners may be ready to object and say, ' Let us but alone in our
secret sins till that day, and then we shall do well enough.' And there-
fore in the,

[3.] Third place, consider. That God many times doth, even in this
life, discover and make known to the world men's secret sins, Isa.
xli. 21-23.

God loves to act suitable to his own names. Now, to be a revealer
of secrets, is one of his names, Dan. ii. 47; and accordingly, even in
thi^ world, he often brings to light the most hidden things of darkness.
Of all the glorious attributes of God, there is none that suffers so deeply

288 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

by secret sins, as the attribute of his omniscience ; and therefore in this
world God often stands up to vindicate the honour of that attribute,
by unmasking of sinners, and by bringing to the light all those secret
paths and ways of wickedness, wherein they have long walked undis-
covered. It was for the honour of this blessed attribute of God, that
the secret-plotted sin of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 1-12, was so
openly discovered; 'And great fear came upon all the church, and
upon as many as heard these things.' Joseph's brethren for a long
time hid their malice, their craft, their cruelty, their envy, their
treachery, in selling their brother into Egypt ; but at last by amazing
and amusing* providences, all was brought to light. Gen. xlii. 21, 22 ;
Chap. 1. 15-22. Conscience, that for a time may seem to be asleep,
yet will in time awake, and make the sinner know, that he is as faith-
ful in recording, as he is fearful in accusing; and this Joseph's brethren
found by sad experience. So Gehazi, he sins secretly, he lies fearfully,
and after all he defends it stoutly; but at last all comes out, and instead
of being clothed richly, he and his posterity was clothed with a
leprosy for ever; and instead of two changes of garments, God hangs
them up in chains, as a monument of his wrath to all generations,
2 Kings V. 20, seq. So Achan secretly and sacrilegiously steals a goodly
Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge
of gold of fifty shekels' weight, and hides them in the earth in the
midst of his tent, and by reason of this, Israel flies before their enemies;
but at last Achan is taken, and all comes out, and his golden wedge
proved a wedge to cleave him, and his Babylonish garment a garment
to shroud him. Joshua makes a bonfire of all that he had secretly
and sinfully stolen, and burns him, and his children, and all that he
had, in it. Oh how openly, how severely doth God sometimes punish
men for their most secret iniquity ! The same you may see in that
great instance of David ; 2 Sam. xii. 9-1 2, ' Wherefore hast thou
despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight ? thou
hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword' (this was done in a secret
letter), ' and hast taken his wife to be thy wife. Now, therefore, the
sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised
me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine
own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them to
thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun.
For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and
before the sun.' 2 Sam. xvi. 22. David was very studious and very
industrious to hide his sin, and to save his credit; but tlie covering
made of Uriah's blood was too short, and too narrow to hide his folly
with Bathsheba, and therefore when he had done all he could, his
sin was tossed like a ball, from man to man, through court, city, and
country.

I have read of one Parthenius, an homicide, treasurer to Theodobert
king of France, who, having traitorously slain an especial friend of his
called Ausonius, with his wife Papianillae, when no man suspected or
accused him thereof, he detected and accused himself after this strange

' See Glossary for other examples of this peculiar use of 'amuse:' common to con-
temporary literature. — G.

Mat. VI. 6.] the pbivy key of heaven. 289

manner : as he slept in his bed, suddenly he roared out most pitifully,
crying for help, or else he perished ; and being demanded what he ailed,
he, half asleep, answered, ' That his friend Ausonius and his wife, whom
he had slain long ago, summoned him to judgment before God.' Upon
which confession he was apprehended ; and, after due examination,
stoned to death.' Thus the terrors and. horrors of his own conscience
discovers that secret wickedness which none could prove against him.

I have read^ how that Mahomet the great Turk had with great rewards
procured two Turks to undertake to kill Scanderbeg. These traitors
came to Scanderbeg, making such a shx)w of the detestation both of
Mahomet's tyrannical government and vain superstition, that they were
both by Scanderbeg and others reputed to be indeed the men they de-
sired to be accounted ; and so after they had learned the principles of
the Christian religion, they were both, by their own desire, baptized.
Soon after, by a providence, it so fell out that these two traitors fell at
variance betwixt themselves, by which means the plot came to be dis-
covered ; and after due examination and confession of the fact, they
were presently condemned and executed.

Conscience is God's spy in the bosom.^ Conscience, as a scribe, a
register, sits in the closet of your hearts, with pen in hand, and makes
a diurnal of all your secret ways and secret crimes, which are above the
cognizance of men. Conscience sets down the time when, the place
where, the manner how, and the persons with whom such and such
secret wickednesses have been committed ; and that so clear and evi-
dent, that, go where you will, and do what you can, the characters of
them shall never be cancelled or razed out till God appear in judgment.
Let a man sin in the closest retirement that human policy can contrive,
let him take all the ways he can to hide his sins, to cloak and cover his
sin, as Adam did, yet conscience will so play the judge, that it will bring
in the evidence, produce the law, urge the penalty, and pass the sen-
tence of condemnation upon him. There is many a man, who makes a
fair profession, and who hath a great name in the world, who yet is
auTOTiarax^iTog, self-condemned, for those secret sins which are not obvious
to the eyes of man, nor punishable by the hands of men ; yea, many
times in this life God raiseth such a hell of horror and terror in many
men's consciences, by reason of their secret sins, that they can have no
rest nor quiet, neither at bed nor at board, neither lying down nor rising
up. Fain would they conceal their sins, unwilling they are that the
world should know how vile they have been in secret ; but conscience
being upon the rack, and still a-gnawing, accusing, and condemning of
them, they can hold no longer. Now all must out ; and now those sins
that were most secret and concealed, come to be published upon the
house-top.

Some that have been under anguish of conscience, others that have
been smitten with a frenzy, and many in their very sleep, have been

* Beard's ' Theatre of God's Judgments :' Wanley, as before, lib. ii. cap, x. — G.

« [Knolles'] Turk. Hist. fol. 400.

3 Conscience, saith Philo, is the little consistory of the soul. Conscience is mille testeg,
a thousand witnesses, for or against a man. Conscience is a court of record, and whatso-
ever it sees it writes down ; and conscience is always as quick in writing as the sinner
can be in sinning. The very heathen could say that conscience was a god to every man.
VOL. II. T

290 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.

often the blazers and proclaimers of their own secret filthiness and
wickedness. In those cases God hath made many a secret sinner ciy
out with the leper, ' Unclean, unclean,* Lev. xiii. 45 ; and with Judas,
before all present, ' I have sinned, I have sinned,' Mat. xxvii. 4. Many
times in this life God doth very strangely and wonderfully discover
those secret works of darkness in which persons have lived long un-
discovered.

A Pythagorean bought a pair of shoes upon trust ; the shoemaker
dies, he is glad, thinks them gained ; but a while after his conscience
flies upon him, and becomes a continual chider and tormentor of him.
He hereupon repairs to the house of the dead, casts in his money with
these words, * There, take thy due ; thou livest to me, though dead to
all besides.' But,

[4.] Fourthly^ Consider that secret sins are in some respects more
dangerous than open sins. Many a man bleeds to death inwardly,
and no man perceives it. The more inward and secret the disease is,
the more the man is in danger to lose his life. There are no fevers so
dangerous as those that prey upon the spirits and inward parts ; so there
are no sins so dangerous and pernicious to the souls of men as those
that are most inward and secret. Secret sins often reign in the souls of
men most powerfully when least apparently.

First, Consider that he that sins secretly deprives himself of those
helps an/l remedies which, by a divine blessing, might arm him
against sin, yea, make him victorious over sin; to wit, the prayers,
counsels, reproofs, examples, and encouragements of friends, relations,
&c. A man's house may be on fire, but whilst it is all inward, help
comes not in ; but when the fire flames out, when it catcheth the out-
side of the house, then help runs in, then help on all hands is ready.
He that sins in secret debars himself of all public remedy, and takes great
pains to damn his soul in a comer, and to go to hell in the dark. But,

Secondly, Secret sins will make way for public sins. He that makes
no conscience of sinning in the secret chamber, will ere long, with Ab-
salom, be ready to spread a tent upon the top of the house, and to go
in to his concubines in the sight of all Israel, 2 Sam. xii. 11. Such as
have made no conscience of stealing a few pins or pence or a few shil-
lings in private, have in time come to be so bold as to take a purse on
the road at high noon. The cockatrice must be crushed in the egg,
else it will soon become a serpent. The very thought of sin, if not*
thought on, will break forth into action, action into custom, custom into
habit, and then both body and soul are irrecoverably lost to all eternity.

If Satan can but wound our heel, as the poets feign of Achilles, he
will make a hard shift but he will send death from the heel to the heart.
If this subtle serpent can but wriggle in his tail by an ill thought, he
will soon get in his head by a worse action. Hence it is that Christ
calls hatred murder, and a wanton eye adultery. Secret hatred often
issues in open murder, and secret wanton glances of the eye do often
issue in visible adultery. If Amnon be sick with the sinful conceptions
of incestuous lust, how will his soul be in pain and travail till he hath
brought forth ! And how many are there that in secret have taken
now and then but one cup more than enough, who now may be seen at

» Qu. 'but'?— Ed.

Mat. YI 6.] the privy key of heaven. 291

high noon reeling against every post. Look, as secret diseases in the
body, if not cured, will in time openly break forth, so secret sins in the
soul, if not pardoned and purged, will in time be openly revealed.
Govetousness was Judas his secret sin ; and no sooner doth an occasion
or a temptation present itself, but he is very ready and forward to
betray and sell his Lord and Master for thirty pieces of silver before all
the world : ' Lust having conceived, brings forth sin,' James i. 15 ; and
that thus, first, sin hath its conception, and that is delight ; and then
its formation, and that is design ; and then its birth, and that is action ;
and then its growth, and that is custom ; and then its end, and that is
damnation. But,

Thirdly, Secret sinning puts far Tnore respect and fear upon men
than upon God. Thou wilt be unjust in secret, and wanton in secret,
and unclean in secret, and treacherous in secret, &c., and why, but be-
cause thou art afraid that such or such men should know it, or that
such and such friends should know it, or that such and such relations
should know it ? Ah! poor wretch, art thou afraid of the eye of a man,
of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, which shall be made as
grass ? Isa. li. 12, and yet not tremble under his eye, ' whose eyes are
as a flame of fire, sharp and terrible, such as pierce into the inward
parts V Rev. i. 14, Heb. iv. 13. Ah ! how full of atheism is that man's
heart, that tacitly saith, ' If my sins be but hid from the eyes of the
world, I do not care though the Lord knows them, though the Lord
strictly observes them, though the Lord sets a mark, a memorandum
upon them.' What is this, O man, but to brave it out with God, and
to tempt him, and provoke him to his very face, * who is light, and in
whom there is no darkness at all'? 1 John i. 5, 6. Ah ! sinner, sinner,
can man damn thee 1 can man disinherit thee ? can man fill thy con-
science with horrors and terrors ? can man make thy life a very hell ?
can man bar the gates of glory against thee ? can man speak thee into
the grave by a word of his mouth ? and after all, can man cast thee
into endless, easeless, and remediless torments ? Oh no ! Can God do
all this ? Oh yes ! Why, then, doth not thy heart stand more in awe
of the eye of the great God, than it doth of the eye of a poor, weak,
mortal man? '

I have insisted the longer on this particular, because there is not
any one thing in all the world that doth more hinder secret communion
with God and secret prayer, than secret sins. And oh that you would
all make it your great business to watch against secret sins, and to pray
against secret sins, and to mourn over secret sins, and deeply to judge
and condemn yourselves for secret sins, and carefully and conscien-
tiously to shun and avoid all occasions and provocations that may be as
fuel to secret sins.

Certainly there are no men or women that are so sincere and serious
in closet-prayer, or that are so frequent, so fervent, so constant in closet-
prayer, or that are so delightful, so resolute, so undaunted, or so un-
wearied in closet- prayer, as those that keep themselves most clear and
free from secret sins.

For a close, remember this, — that though secret sins are in some
respects more dangerous than other sins are, yet in three respects they
are not so bad nor so dangerous as other sins are.

292 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. fM^T. VI. 6.

First, In that they do not so scandalise religion as open sins do.

Secondly, In that they do not shame, grieve, and wound the hearts
of the saints as open sins do.

Thirdly, In that they are not so infectious to others, nor such pro-
vocations to others to sin against the Lord as open sins are.

And thus you may see what those things are that you must carefully
take heed of, as ever you would addict yourselves to closet-prayer.

And as you must take heed of these five things, so there are several
other things that you must carefully and conscientiously apply your-
selves to, as ever you would be found faithful and constant in this great
duty, viz. closet'prayer.

Now they are these :

[1.] First, Lament greatly and mourn bitterly over the neglect of
this choice duty. He that doth not make conscience of mourning over
the neglect of this duty, will never make conscience of performing this
duty. Oh that your heads were waters, and your eyes a fountain of
tears, that you might weep day and night for the great neglect of closet-
prayer, Jer. ix. 1. He that mourns most for the neglect of this duty,
will be found most in the practice of this duty. He that makes most
conscience to accuse, arraign, and condemn himself for neglecting closet-
prayer, he will make most conscience of giving himself up to closet-
prayer. It is said of Adam that he turned his face towards the garden
of Eden, and from his heart bitterly lamented his great fall. Oh that
you would turn your faces towards your closets, and bitterly lament
your rare going into them. But,

[2.] Secondly, Hahituaie yourselves, accustom yourselves, to closet-
prayer. Make private prayer your constant trade. Frequency begets
familiarity, and familiarity confidence. We can go freely and boldly
into that friend's house whom we often visit. What we are habituated
to we do with ease and delight. A man that is habituated or accus-
tomed to write, to read, to ride, to run, or to play on this or that musical
instrument, &c,, he doth it all with delight and ease ; and so a man that
doth habituate himself to closet-prayer, he will manage it with delight
and ease. But,

[3.] Thirdly, Keep a diaiv/ of all your closet-experiences, Deut. viL
18, 19 ; Ps. Ixvi. 12. Oh carefully record and book down all your closet
mercies ! oh be often in reading over your closet experiences, and be
often in meditating and in pondering upon your closet experiences !
There is no way like this, to inflame your love to closet-prayer, and to
engage your hearts in this secret trade of private prayer.

Oh remember that at such a time you went into your closets with
hard hearts, and dry eyes ; but before you came out of your closets, ah
how sweetly, how evangelically, how powerfully were you melted, and
humbled before the Lord ! Ps. vi. 6, xxxix, 12, Ivi. 8. Oh remember
how that at another time you went into your closets clouded and be-
nighted, but came out of your closets with as glorious a shine of God
upon your souls, as Moses had upon his face, when he came down from
the mount from communing with God ! Exod, xxxiv. 28, 29. Oh re-
member how often you have gone into your closets with cold, frozen
spirits, but before you came out of your closets what a fire hath God kin-
died in your souls, what a spirit of burning have you found in your hearts !

Mat. VL 6.] the privy key of heaven. 293

jjuke xxiv. 31, 32, Isa. iv. 4. Oh remember how often you have gone
into your closets straitened and shut up, but before you have come out,
how have your souls been like the chariots of Aminadab ! Cant. vi. 12,
Oh remember what power God hath given you against corruptions in
your closets, and what strength God hath given you against temptations
in your closets ! Oh remember the sweet discoveries of divine love
that you have had when in your closets ! Oh remember the secret visits,
the secret kisses, the secret embraces, the secret whispers, the secret love-
tokens that Christ hath given you in your closets ! Oh seriously ponder
upon these things, and then closet duties will be sweet unto you !

It was a sweet saying of Bernard, ' O saint, knowest thou not that
thy husband Christ is bashful, and will not be familiar in company ;
retire thyself by meditation into thy closet, or into the fields, and there
thou shalt have Christ's embraces," Cant. viii. 11, 12. Meditatio nutrix
orationis, meditation is the nurse of prayer.* Oh the more any man
meditates upon his closet-experiences, the more he shall find his heart
engaged to closet duties ; the more you ponder upon closet experiences,
the sweeter will closet-experiences be to your souls ; and the sweeter
closet-experiences are to your souls, the more your souls will delight
to be with God in your closets.

Pliny tells u& of one Messala Corvinus, whose memory was so bad,
that he forgot his own name.' And I am afraid that many of your
memories are so bad, that you forget your closet-mercies, your closet-
experiences.

I have read of such a pestilential disease once at Athens, as took away
the memories of those that were infected with it, so that they forgot
their own names. Oh that I had not cause to fear that some pestilen-
tial disease or other, hath so taken away the memories of many, that
they have quite forgot their closet-experiences. Well, friends, remember
this, though stony hearts are bad, yet iron memories are good ; and oh
that you would all labour after iron memories, that so you may remem-
ber and ponder upon your closet-experiences. I have read of the
heathens, how they made use of white and black stones, for these two
ends : first, they gave them to persons at their ari'aignment before the
judges ; if they were condemned to death, they gave him a black stone,
but if absolved and set free, a white stone. To which custom the Holy
Ghost seems to allude in that Rev. ii. 17, 'To him that overcometh will
I give a white stone.' A second use of those stones was this, that by
them they might keep an account of all the good days or evil days they
had met withal in their lives. Hence Giacopo Senzaro having been
long in love, and much crossed about his match, he filled a pot full of
black stones, putting only one white stone among them, and being asked
the. reason, answered, ' There will come one white day,' meaning his
marriage day, ' which will make amends for all my black days.'

Ah, friends ! how often hath God given you the white stone in your
closets ! Certainly you have had more white stones than black stones :
your closet mercies and experiences have been more than your public
crosses and miseries. sirs ! did you but reckon your good days ac-
cording to the white stones you have had in your closets, it would make
yoii more in love with closet-prayer than ever. But,

' Serm. on Cantic— G. ' Gerson. ' Lib. vii. cap. 24. {sub memoriSL — G.]

294 THE PRIVr KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

[4.] Foitrthly, Be sure that you do mot spend so much of your pre-
cious time in public duties and ordinances, as that you can spare
none for private duties, for secret services. Though Pharaoh's kine ate
up one another, yet our duties must not eat up one another, Gen. xli. 4.
Public duties must not eat up family duties, nor family duties must not
eat up public duties, nor neither of them must not eat up closet duties.
The wisdom of a Christian doth most eminently sparkle and shine, in
giving every duty its proper time and place ; I was going to say, that
either he Avas no Christian, or at least no excellent Christian, that is all
eye to read, or all ear to hear, or all tongue to speak, or all knee to bow,
to kneel, to pray, Eccles. viii. 5, Ah ! how many are there that spend
so much time in hearing of this man and that, and in running up and
down from meeting to meeting, that they have no time to meet with
God in their closets. O sirs ! your duties are never so amiable and
lovely, they are never so orient and beautiful, as when they are season-
ably and orderly performed.

Oh how wise are the men of this world, so to order all their civil affairs,
that no one business shall interfere with another. They set apart for
each business a convenient proportion of time ; they allot an hour for
one business, two for another, three for another, &c. Oh that we were
as wise for our souls, as wise for eternity, as they are for this world. Oh
that our hearts would so consult with our heads, that we may never want
a convenient time to seek God in a corner ! That devil that loves to set
one man against another, and one nation against another, and one
Christian against another, that devil loves to set one ordinance against
another, and one duty against another. Hence it is that on the one
hand he works some to cry up public prayers, in opposition to secret
prayer ; and on the other hand he works others to cry up private duties
m opposition to all public duties ; whereas all Christians stand obliged
by God, so to manage one sort of duties, as not to shut out another sort
of duties. Every Christian must find time and room for every duty in-
cumbent upon him. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Love Christ with a more inflamed love. Oh strengthen
your love to Christ, and your love to closet-duties. Lovers love much
to be alone, to be in a corner together. Cant. vii. 10-12. Certainly the
more any man loves the Lord Jesus, the more he will delight to be with
Christ in a corner. There was a great deal of love between Jonathan and
David, — 1 Sam. xviii. xix. and xx. compared, — and according to their love,
so was their private converse, their secret communion one with another ;
they were always best when in the field together, or when in a corner
together, or when behind the door together, or when locked up together ;
and just so would it be with you, did you but love the Lord Jesus Christ
with a more raised and a more inflamed love ; you would be always
best when you were most with Christ in a corner.

Divine love is like a rod of myrtle, which, as Pliny reports, makes
the traveller that carries it in his hand so lively and cheerful, that he
never faints or grows weary.^ Ah ! friends, did you but love the Lord
Jesus with a more strong, with a more raised love, you would never
faint in closet-duties, nor you would never grow weary of closet-duties.
Look, as the Israelites removed their tents from Mithcah to Hashmonah,
> l^at. Hist., lib. zt. cap. 35, 36, et teq.—Q.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 295

from sweetness to swfftness, — as the words import, Num. xxxiii. 29, — so
the sweetness of divine love will make a man move swiftly on in a way
of closet-duties. Divine love will make all closet-duties more easy to
the soul, and more pleasant and delightful to the soul ; and therefore
do all you can to strengthen your love to Christ, and your love to
closet-work.

It was observed among the primitive Christians, that they were so
full of love one to another, that they could be acquainted one with
another as well in half an hour as in half a year. O sirsl if your hearts
were but more full of love to Christ, and closet-duties, you would quickly
be better acquainted with them, you would quickly know what secret
communion with Christ behind the door means. But,

[6.] Sixthly, Be highly, thoroughly, and fixedly resolved, in the
strength of Christ, to keep close to closet-duties, in the face of all diffi-
culties and discouragements that you may meet withal, Ps. xliv. 17-
20. A man of no resolution, or of weak resolution, will be won with a
nut, and lost with an apple. Satan, and the world, and carnal relations,
and your own hearts, will cast in many things to discourage you, and
take you off from closet prayer ; but be ye nobly and firmly resolved to
keep close to your closets, let the world, the flesh, and the devil, do and
say what they can. Daniel was a man of an invincible resolution ;
rather than he would omit praying in his chamber, he would be cast
into the den of lions. Of all the duties of religion, Satan is the most
deadly enemy to this of secret prayer ; partly because secret prayer
spoils him in his most secret designs, plots, and contrivances against the
soul, and partly because secret prayer is so musical and delightful to
God, and partly because secret prayer is of such rare use and advantage
to the soul, and partly because it lays not the soul so open to pride,
vain glory, and worldly applause, as prayer in the synagogue doth ;
and therefore he had rather that a man should pray a thousand times
in the synagogues, or in the comer of the streets, or behind a pillar,
than that he should pray once in his closet ; and therefore you had need
to steel your hearts with holy courage and resolution, that whatever
suggestions, temptations, oppositions, or objections you may encounter
with, that yet you will keep close to closet prayer.

There is not any better bulwark in the day of battle, than an heroic
resolution of heart before the day of battle. Sanctified resolutions do
exceedingly weaken and discourage Satan in his assaults, they do
greatly daunt and dishearten him in all his undertakings against the
soul. That man will never long be quiet in his closet, who is not sted-
fastly resolved to seek the Lord in a corner, though all the powers of
darkness should make head against him. O sirs ! divine fortitude, holy
resolutions, will make you like a wall of brass, that no arrows can
pierce ; they will make you like armour of proof, that no shot can hurt ;
they will make you like that angel that rolled away the stone from be-
fore the door of the sepulchre. Mat. xxviiL 2 ; they will either enable
you to remove the greatest mountains of oppositions that lie between
you and closet-prayer, or else they will enable you to step over them.

Luther was a man of great resolution, and a man that spent much
time in closet-prayer. And such another was Nehemiah, who met with
60 much opposition, that had he not been steeled by a strong and

296 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

obstinate resolution, he could never have rebuilded the temple, but
would have sunk in the midst of his works. Now, he was a man for
private prayer, as I have shewn in the beginning of this treatise. Who
more resolute than David? and who more for secret prayer than David?
The same I might say of Paul, Basil, and many others, who have been
famous in their generations.

O sirs ! sanctified resolutions for closet prayer, will chain you faster
to closet prayer, than ever Ulysses his resolutions did chain him to the
mast of the ship. It was a noble resolution that kept Ruth close to her
mother, when her sister Orpah only compliments her, kisses her, and
takes her leave of her, Ruth i. 10-20. Be but nobly resolved for
closet-prayer, and then you will keep close to it, when others only court
it, and take their leave of it.

In the Salentine country, there is mention made of a lake, that is
still brimful : if you put in never so much, it never runs over ; if you draw
out never so much, it is still full.* The resolution of every Christian
for closet-prayer, should be like this lake, still brimful. Tide life tide
death, come honour or reproach, come loss or gain, come liberty or
bonds, come what can come, the true-bred Christian must be fully and
constantly resolved to keep close to his closet. But,

[7.] Seventhly, Labour for a greater effusion of the Holy Sjnrit; for
the greater measure any man hath of the Spirit of God, the more that
man will delight to be with God in secret : Zech. xii. 10, ' And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and supplications ;' vers. 12-14, 'And the land shall
mourn, every family apart ; the family of the house of David apart, and
their wives apart ; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their
wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart ;
the family of the house of Shimei apart, and their wives apart ; all the
families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.' Joel ii.
28, 29, Isa. xliv. 3 ; mark, in the last of the last days, when men shall
be generally under a greater effusion of the Holy Spirit than ever, then
they shall be more given up to secret prayer than ever. There will
never be such praying apart, and such mourning apart, as there will be
when the Lord shall pour out most richly, gloriously, abundantly, of
his Spirit upon his poor people. Now, every one shall pour out his
tears and his soul before God in a corner, to shew the soundness of
their sorrow, and to shew their sincerity by their secresy ; for ille dolet
vere, qui sine teste dolet, he grieves with a witness, that grieves without
a witness.

Certainly, the more any man is now under the blessed pouring out
of the Spirit of Christ, the more that man gives himself up to secret
communion with Christ. Every man is more or less with Christ in his
closet, as he is more or less under the anointings of the Spirit of Christ.
The more any man hath of the Spirit of Christ, the more he loves
Christ, and the more any man loves Christ, the more he delights to be
with Christ alone. Lovers love to be alone. The more any man hath
of the Spirit of Christ, the more his heart will be set to please Christ.
Now, nothing pleaseth Christ more than the secret prayers of his people :
Cant. ii. 14, * O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret
* Plin. Hiat,, lib. ii. cap. 103 [Rather 106, the lake of the Salentini, near Manduria. — G.]

Mat. 71. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 297

places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ;
for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.' And therefore
such a one will be much in secret prayer. The more any man hath of
the Spirit of Christ, the more his heart will be set upon glorifying and
exalting Christ. Now, nothing glorifies Christ more, nor exalts him
more, than secret prayer ; and therefore the more any man hath of
the Spirit of Christ, the more that man will be found in secret prayer.

There are many persons who say, they would be more in their closets
than they are, but that they meet with many hindrances, many occa-
sions, many diversions, many temptations, many oppositions, many
difficulties, many discouragements, which prevent them. Ah, friends !
had you a greater measure of the Holy Spirit upon you, none of these
things should ever be able to hinder your secret trade heaven-ward.
Had you a more rich anointing of the Spirit upon you, you would never
plead, there is a lion in the way, a lion in the streets, Prov. xxvi. 13;
but were there a thousand lions between you and your closets, you
would either step over them, or make your way through them, that so
you might enjoy communion with Christ in your closets. But,

[S.] Eighthly and lastly, As ever you would keep close to private
prayer. Be frequent in the serious consideration of eternity. Oh see
eternity standing at the end of every closet-prayer, and this will make
you pray to purpose in your closets.

O sirs ! every work you do, is a step to a blessed or to a cursed
eternity. Every motion, every action in this life, is a step toward
eternity. As every step that a traveller takes brings him forward to
his journey's end, so every step that a man takes in the secret ways
of righteousness and holiness, such as closet duties are, they bring him
nearer to his journey's end, they bring him nearer to a blessed eternity.
Look, as every step the sinner takes in a way of wickedness, brings
him nearer to hell ; so every step that a saint takes in a way of holi-
ness, brings him nearer to heaven. Look, as every step that a wicked
man takes in the ways of unrighteousness brings him nearer to a cursed
eternity, so every step that a godly man takes in a way of righteous-
ness, brings him nearer to a blessed eternity.

Zeuxis, the famous painter, was so exceeding careful and cautious in
drawing all his lines, that he would let no piece of his go abroad into
the world to be seen of men, till he had turned it over and over, and
viewed it on this side and that side, again and again, to see if he could
spy any fault in it ; and being asked the reason why he was so curious,
and so long in drawing his lines, answered, ^temitati jnngo, I paint
Tor eternity.' O sirs ! we all pray for eternity, we fast for eternity, we
read for eternity, we hear for eternity, we wait for eternity, we weep for
eternity; and therefore oh how curiously, how exactly, how wisely, how
faithfully, how carefully, how diligently, how unweariedly, should we be
in all our closet duties and services ; seeing that all we do is in order
to eternity i Friends ! you must all ere long be eternally blessed, or
eternally cursed; eternally happy, or eternally miserable; eternally
saved, or eternally damned ; eternally accepted, or eternally rejected.
And therefore what infinite cause have you frequently to shut to your
closet-doors, and to plead mightily with God in a corner, for the lives
' See Index, sub nomine, for other references to this. — G.

298 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MAT. VI. 6.

of your poor, precious, and immortal souls, that tbey may be eternally
saved in the great day of our Lord Jesus. O sirs ! when any hin-
drances to closet-prayer present themselves to you, seriously remember
eternity, and that will remove them.

It is related of one Pachomius, that whensoever he felt any unlawful
desires to arise in his mind, he was wont to drive them away with the
remembrance of eternity.*

The same author relates a story out of Benedictus Rhexanus* of
an ungodly fellow, who on a certain night could not sleep, who, upon
the serious consideration of death and eternity, and the damned lying
in hell, could not be at rest, but eternity did still run in his mind ; fain
would he have shaken off the thoughts thereof, as gnawing worms ;
therefore he followed sports, and pastimes, and merry-meetings, and
sought out companions like himself, and sat oftentimes so long at his
cups, that he laid bis conscience asleep, and so seemed to take some
rest; but when he was awakened, his conscience flew in his face, and
would still be a-suggesting sad thoughts of eternity to him. Of all
things in the world he could not bear it, to be kept awake in the
night ; but so it happened that being sick, he was kept awake one
night, and could not sleep at all, whereupon these thoughts rise in him:
* What, is it so tedious then to be kept from sleep one night, and to lie
a few hours in the dark ? Oh what is it then to be kept in torments
and everlasting darkness ! I am here in my own house upon a soft bed
in the dark, kept from sleep but one night; but to lie in flames and
endless misery, how dreadful must that needs be !' These and such
like meditations were the happy means of this young man's con-
version.

I have read a notable story of one Theodoras,^ a Christian young
man in Egypt, who, when there was a great deal of feasting, mirth, and
music in his father's house, withdrew himself from all the company,
and being got alone, he thus thought with himself, * Here is content
and delight enough for the flesh, I may have what I desire, but how
long will this last ? this will not hold out long; then falling down
upon his knees before the Lord in secret, he said, Lord, my heart is
open unto thee, I indeed know not what to ask, but only this : Lord, let
me not die eternally ; O Lord, thou knowest I love thee, let me live
eternally to praise thee.'

If there be any way or means on earth to bring us upon our knees
before God in secret, it is the serious and solemn thoughts of eternity.
Oh that the fear of eternity might fall upon all your souls ! Oh that you
would all seriously consider, that after a short time is expired, you must'
all enter upon an eternal estate ! Oh consider that eternity is an infi-
nite, endless, bottomless gulf, which no line can fathom, no time can
reach, no age can extend to, no tongue can express. It is a dura-
tion always present, a being always in being; it is unum perpetuum
hodie, one perpetual day, which shall never see light.* O sirs ! this is,
and must be for a lamentation, viz., that eternity is a thing that most
men never think of, or else very slenderly ; a snatch and away, as dogs
are said to lap and away at the river Nilus. But as ever you would

* Drex[eliu8] de eternit. consid. 8. * Ibid con. 6.

' Clarke, as before, pp. 52, 62.— G. * Qu. ' night ' ?— Ed.

Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 299

have your hearts chained to your closets and to closet duties, as the
men of Tyrus chained their god Apollo to a post, that they might
be sure of him; then seriously and frequently ponder upon eternity,
and with those forty valiant martyrs, be still a ciying out w aidiorrjg,
u aidioTrig, O eternity, eternity !' ^

Mr Wood,2 after some holy discourse, fell a-musing, and cried out
before all present, for near half a quarter of an hour together, ' For ever,
for ever, for ever,' Austin's prayer was, ' Hack me, hew me, burn me
here, but spare me hereafter, spare me hereafter.' Certainly, if Chris-
tians would but spare one quarter of an hour every day in the solemn
thoughts of eternity, it would make them more in love with closet-
prayer than ever, yea, it would make them more fearful of omitting
closet-prayer than ever, and more careful and conscientious in the dis-
charge of all closet-duties than ever.

And thus, according to my weak measure, I have given out all that
at present the Lord hath graciously given in to my poor soul, concern-
ing this most necessary, most glorious, and most useful point of points,
viz., closet-prayer. I shall, by assisting grace, follow this poor piece
with my prayers, that it may be so blessed from on high, as that it
may work mightily to the internal and eternal welfare, both of reader,
hearer, and writer.

I Basil, martyr, 40.

• Probably the Mr "Wood whose funeral sermon was the first form of ' Apples of Gold.'
See Vol. I., in loc—O.

T6.

Mj-

HEAVEN ON EARTH.

NOTE.

* Heaven on Earth,' originally published in 1654, passed into a ''second edition, cor-
rected and enlarged,' in 1667. It is from the latter, collated with the former, our text is
taken. The title-page will be found below.* Another bears the date of 1864 ; and ever
since this hats been one of the most prized of Brooks's hooka. The quaint ' Licence' by
Caryl, for publication, is subjoined.f

♦HEAVEN

EARTH.
OR

A Serious Discourse touching a

well-grounded

Assurance

Of Men's Everlasting Soppiness and
Blessedness.

Discovering the Nature of Assurance, the possibi-
lity of Attaining it, the Causes, Springs, and
Degrees of it ; with the Resolution
of severall weighty Questions.

By Thomas Brooks, Preacher of the
Gospel at Margarets Fishstreet-Hill.

The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged.

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in
love, and unto all Riches of the full Assurance of under-
standing, Col. 2. 2.

Qui fidei subb sensum in corde habet, hie scit Christum
Jesum in se esse. Ambros. 2 ad Corinth c. 13. 5.

LONDON; Printed by M S. for John Hancock,

and are to be sold at the first shop in Popes-

head Alley, in Cornhill. 1667.

t The greatest thing that we can desire — next to the glory of God — is our own salva-
tion ; and the sweetest thing we can desire, is the assurance of our salvation. In this
life we cannot get higher, than to be assured of that which in the next life is to be
enjoyed. All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth ; some saints enjoy
a heaven while they are here on earth. That saints might enjoy two heavens, is the
project of this book. That this project may be published, and by a blessing from th©
third heaven prospered, the book is licensed by Joseph Caeyl.'

The ninth of the first month, commonly called March, 1653.

* The Tenerable and learned expositor of the book of Job. He died 1678. — G.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

To the Right Honourable the Generals of the Fleets of the Common-
wealth of England, and to those gallant worthies, my touch ho-
noured friends, who with the noble generals have deeply jeoparded
their lives unto many deaths upon the seas, out of love to their
country's good, and out of respect to the interest of Christ, and the
faithful people of this commonwealth, such honour and happiness
as is promised to all that love and honour the Lord Jeaus.

REaiowNED Sirs,

The better anything is, the more communicative it will be ; for
honuTTh est sui communicativum. There are two sorts of goods ; there
are bona throni, and there are bona scabelli: goods of the throne, as
God, Christ, grace, assurance, &c. ; and goods of the footstool, as honour,
riches, &c.* A. man may have enough of the goods of the footstool to
sink him, but he can never have enough to satisfy him.^ Man's happi-
ness and blessedness, his felicity and glory, lies in his possessing the
goods of the throne, which that you may, I humbly desire you seriously
to view over the ensuing treatise.

It was an excellent saying of Lewis of Bavyer [Bavaria ?] emperor of
Germany, HujusTnodi comparandce 8unt opes, quce cum naufragio
simul enatent ; Such goods are worth getting and owning, as will not
sink nor wash away, if a shipwreck happen, but will wade and swim
out with us. Such are the goods that are here presented in this follow-
ing discourse. In all storms, tempests, and shipwrecks, they will abide
with the soul, they will walk and lie down with the soul, yea, they will
go to the grave, to heaven, with the soul : they will in the greatest
storms be an ark to the souL

I have observed in some terrible storms that I have been in, that the
mariners* and the passengers' want of assurance, and of those other
pearls of price that in this treatise are presented to public view, hath
caused their countenance to change, their hearts to melt ; it hath made
them to ' stagger and reel to and fro like drunken men, like men at
their wits* ends,' vide Ps. Ixxvi 6 ; whereas others that have had assu-

' Cf. ' Precions Remedies,' VoL I. page 1. The saying is from Angustine. — Q.
• Nihil bonum sine sutnmo bono, Aug[ustine], Nothing is good, without the chiefest
good Omne bonum in tummo bono, All good is in the chiefest good.

304 HEAVEN ON EARTH.

ranee, and their pardon in their bosoms, &c., have bore up bravely, and
slept quietly, and walked cheerfully, and practically have said, as Alex-
ander once did, when he was in a great danger, ' Now,' saith he, ' here
is a danger fit for the spirit of Alexander to encounter withal.' So they
now, here are storms and dangers fit for assured, pardoned soids to en-
counter withal, &c.^

Gentlemen, This following discourse I do not present to you as a
thing that needs your protection, for Veritas stat in aperto campo,
truth stands in the open fields, and it will make the lovers of it to stand,
triumph, and overcome. Magna est Veritas et prevalehit,gresit is truth,
and shall prevail. But, upon these following grounds, I render it
to you :

First, You have honoured the Almighty, by helping him against the
high and mighty ; and he hath honoured you, by owning of you, by
standing by you, by acting for you, and by making of you prosperous
and victorious over a near enemy, a powerful enemy, an enraged enemy,
a resolved enemy, a subtle enemy, a prepared enemy, a lofty enemy ;
and therefore I cannot but desire to honour you by dedicating the fol-
lowing treatise to the service of your souls, 1 Sam. ii. 30.^

Secondly, Because you are my friends, and that cordial love and
friendship which I have found from you hath stamped in my affections
a very high valuation of you.

The ancients painted friendship a fair young man bare-headed, in
a poor garment, at the bottom whereof was written life and death, in
the upper part summer and winter ; his bosom was open, so that his
heart might be seen, whereupon was written longe, prope, a friend at
hand and afar off. Verily, your undeserved love and respects have
made me willing to open my bosom to you in this epistle, and in the
following treatise, as to friends that T love and honour.^

When one came to Alexander, and desired him that he might see his
treasure, he bid one of his servants take him, and shew him, not a^yu^iou
ToOXavTu, his money, but rovg ^IXcug, his friends. It seems he put a higher
value upon them than he did upon all the wealth which he had. Faith-
ful friends are an invaluable treasure, and the rarity of them doth much
enhance the price of them.*

Thirdly, Because of its exceeding usefulness and suitableness to
your conditions.

I have been some years at sea, and through grace I can say, that I
would not exchange my sea-experiences for England's riches. I am not
altogether ignorant of the troubles, trials, temptations, dangers, and
deaths that do attend you.* And therefore I have been the more
stirred in my spirit to present the following discourse to you, wherein

> A philosopher could say, in danger of shipwreck in a light starry night, ' Surely I
ehall not perish, there are so many eyes of Providence over me.' — [Plato in the famous
verses. — G ] But these had neither so much faith nor courage ; these men of might had
lost their hands and hearts.

* As it was said of Csesar. that while he restored the statue of Pompey he estahlisbed
his own ; so while men honour God, they preserve their own.

^ Magnet amoris, amor, Love is the loadstone of love ; and therefore he said right, Si vit
amari, ama. If thou wilt love, thou shalt be loved.

* Socrates preferred the king's countenance above his coin.

^ Ps. cvii. 24. It is between Christian and Christian, as between two lute strings that
are tuned one to another ; no sooner one is struck, but the other trembles.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 305

is discovered the nature of assurance, the possibility of attaining assur-
ance, the causes, springs, degrees, excellencies, and properties of assur-
ance ; also the special seasons and times of God's giving assurance,
with the resolutions of several weighty questions touching assurance.
Further, in this treatise, as in a glass, you may see these ten special
things clearly and fully opened and manifested.

1. What knowledge that is that accompanies salvation.

2. What faith that is that accompanies salvation.

; 3. What repentance that is that accompanies salvation.

4. What obedience that is that accompanies salvation.

5. What love that is that accompanies salvation.

6. What prayer that is that accompanies salvation.

7. What perseverance that is that accompanies salvation.

8. What hope that is that accompanies salvation.

9. The difference between true assurance, and that which is coun-
terfeit.

10. The wide difference there is between the witness of the Spirit,
and the hissing of the old serpent.

Gentlemen and Friends, You have your lives in your hands, there is
but a short step between you and eternity.^ I would fain have you all
happy for ever ; to that purpose, I humbly beseech you, spare so much
time, from your many great and weighty occasions, as to read this trea-
tise, that in all humility I lay at your feet, and follow this counsel that
in all love and faithfulness I shall now give unto you. For my design in
all is your happiness here, and your blessedness hereafter.

First, Get and keep communion with God. Your strength to stand,
and your strength to withstand all assaults, is from your communion
with God. Communion with God is that that will make you stand fast,
and triumph over all enemies, difficulties, dangers, and deaths.^

While Samson kept his communion with God, no enemy could stand
before him, he goes on conquering and to conquer, he lays heaps upon
heaps ; but when he has fallen in his communion with God, he falls
presently, easily, and sadly before his enemies.

So long as David kept up his communion with God, no enemies
could stand before him ; but when he was fallen in his communion with
God, he flies before the son of his bowels.

Job keeps up his communion with God, and conquers Satan upon the
dunghill. Adam loses his communion with God, and falls before Satan
in paradise. Communion is the result of union. Communion is a re-
ciprocal exchange between Christ and a gracious soul. Communion is
Jacob's ladder, where you have Christ sweetly descending down into
the soul, and the soul by divine influences sweetly ascending up to

' Say, with that famous painter Zeiixis, ^ternitati pingo, I paint for eternity, I provide
for eternity. Eternity is that uniim perpetuum hodie, that one perpetual to-day. [Index :
Zeuxis. — G.]

* Commuuion with God will make a man as courageous and bold as a lion, yea, as a
young lion that is in his hot blood, and fearless of any creature, Prov. xxviii. 1, "TiDSD.
Now the proverb is, Tuticfres cervi duce leone, quam leoncs duce cervo, It is more likely that
harts will get victory with a lion to their leader, than lions with a leading hart. Joshua,
captain of the Lord's battles, must be of a lion-like courage, and what will make them so,
but communion with God? It was the saying of the old Earl of Essex, that he was
never afraid to fight but when he was conscious of some sin with which he had provoked
God and lost communion with God.

VOL. IL TJ

306 HEAVEN ON EARTH.

Christ. Communion with God is a shield upon land, and an anchor at
sea ; it is a sword to defend you, and a staff to support you ; it is balm
to heal you, and a cordial to strengthen you. High communion with
Christ will yield you two heavens, a heaven upon earth, and a heaven
after death. He enjoys nothing that wants communion with God ; he
wants nothing that enjoys communion with God ; therefore above all
gettings get communion with Christ, and above all keepings keep com-
munion with Christ. All other losses are not comparable to the loss of
communion with Christ. He that hath lost his communion, hath lost
his comfort, his strength, his all, and it will not be long before the Phi-
listines take him, and put out his eyes, and bind him with fetters of
brass, and make him grind in a prison, as they did Samson, Judges xvi.
20, 21.

Secondly, Make a speedy and a thorough improvement of all op-
portunities of grace and m,ercy} Sleep not in harvest-time, trifle not
away your market-hours, your golden seasons ; you have much work to
do in a short time ; you have a God to honour, a Christ to rest on, a
race to run, a crown to win, a hell to escape, a heaven to obtain.* You
have weak graces to strengthen, strong corruptions to weaken ; you
have many temptations to withstand, and afflictions to bear ; you have
many mercies to improve, and many services to perform, &c. There-
fore take hold on all opportunities and advantages, whereby you may
be strengthened and bettered in your noble part. Take heed of crying
Cras, eras, To-morrow, to-morrow, when God saith : ' To-day, if you will
hear my voice, harden not your hearts,' Heb. iii. 7, 8.^ Manna must be
gathered in the morning, and the orient pearl is generated of the morn-
ing dew. It is a very sad thing for a man to begin to die before he
begins to live. He that neglects a golden opportunity, doth but create
to himself a great deal of misery, as Saul, and many others, have found
by sad experience. He that would to the purpose do a good action,
must not neglect his season.

The men of Issachar were famous in David's account for wisdom,
because they acted seasonably and opportunely, 1 Chron. xii. 32. God
will repute and write that man a wise man, who knows and observes
his seasons of doing. Such there have been, who by giving a glass of
water opportunely, have obtained a kingdom, as you may see in the
story of Thaumastus and king Agrippa.

Time, saith one, were a good commodity in hell, and the traific of it
most gainful, where for one day a man would give ten thousand worlds
if he had them {Bernard)}

One passing through the streets of Rome, and seeing many of the
women playing and delighting themselves with monkeys and baboons,
and such like things, asked * whether they had no children to play and
delight themselves with X So when men trifle away their precious
time, and golden opportunities, playing and toying with this vanity and

' Bonus servatus facit bonum bene factum,

* Petrarch telleth of one who, being invited to dinner next flay, answered, Effo d multis
annit crattinum non habtii, I have not had a morrow for this many years.

* A man, saith Luther, lives forty years before he knows himself a fool, and by that
time he sees his folly his life is ended, &c.

* It was the commendations of the blessed Hooper, that he was spare of diet, sparer of
words, and sparest of time.

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 307

that, we may ask whether these men have no God, no Christ, no Scrip-
ture, no promises, no blessed experiences, no hopes of heaven's glories to
delight and entertain themselves with? Certainly, we should not
reckon any time into the account of our lives, but that which we care-
fully pass, and well spend, seeing the heathen could say, Diu fuit, n(y)i
diu vixit. He was long, he did not live long {Damascene).

I have read of one Barlaam, who, being asked how old he was, an-
swered, Five-and-forty years old ; to whom Josaphah replied, * Thou
seemest to be seventy.' ' Truth,' saith he, ' if you reckon ever since I
was born ; but I count not those years that were spent in vanity.*^

Most men spend the greatest part of their time about things that are
by the by, that are of little or no value ; as Domitian, the Roman em-
peror, spent his time in stabbing of flies, and Artaxerxes spent his time
in making hafts for knives, and Solyman the great Turk spent his time
in making of notches of horn for bows, and Archimedes spent his time
in drawing lines on the ground when that famous city Syracuse was
taken, and Myrmecides spent more time to make a bee than some men
do to build a house.*

Sirs, I beseech you remember that it was Cato, a heathen, that said
' that account must be given not only of our labour, but also of our
leisure.'^ And in affirming this, he affirms no more than what the Scrip-
ture speaks. But oh what a sad account, then, have some to make !
Well, as Cleopatra said to Mark Antony, ' It is not for you to be fish-
ing for gudgeons, but for towns, forts, and castles ;' so say I, Right
honourable and beloved, it is not for you to spend your time about
poor, low, contemptible things, but about those high and noble things
that make most for the interest of Christ and the good of your country.*

It was Titus, a pagan emperor, that uttered this memorable and
praiseworthy apophthegm, Amici, diem perdidi, My friends, I have
lost a day, when he had spent it in company, without doing good.

The Egyptians drew the picture of time with three heads, to repre-
sent the three differences. The first of a greedy wolf, gaping for time
past, because it hath ravenously devoured even the memory of so many
things past recalling ; the second of a crowned lion, roaring for time
present, because it hath the principality of all action, for which it calls
aloud. The third of a deceitful dog, fawning for time to come, because
it feeds fond men with many flattering hopes, to their own undoing.

I have read of a man who upon his dying bed would have given a
world for time, he still crying out day and night, ' Call time again, call
time again.' So a great lady" of this land on her death-bed cried out,
* Time, time, a world of wealth for an inch of time.'*

One Hermanns, a great courtier in the kingdom of Bohemia, being
at point of death, did most lamentably cry out ' that he had spent more
time in the palace than in the temple, and that he had added to the

' Blessed Bradford the martyr counted that hour lost wherein he did not some good
with his tongue, pen, or purse. * See references before : Index.— G.

' Chile, one of the seven sages, being asked what was the hardest thing in the world
to be done, answered, To use and employ a man's time well.

* Alexander the Great gave him a check and not a reward, that boasted that he could
thi-ow pease at a great distance upon the point of a needle. Ah ! how will God at last
check those that spend their precious time, as it were, with throwing pease upon the
point of a needle ! * Queen Elizabeth. — G.

oOS HEAVEN ON EARTH.

riotousness and vices of the court, which he should have sought to have
reformed,' and so died, to the horror of those that were about him.^

I have been the longer upon this, because I have been a sad spec-
tator of men's misspending their time and trifling away golden oppor-
tunities, at sea as well as at land ; and though I thus speak (knowing
that this treatise will come into other hands beside your own), yet ' I
hope better things of you,' to whom I dedicate it, ' even such as do
accompany salvation,' Heb. vi. 9.

Thirdly, Take no truths upon trust, but all npon trial : 1 John iv. 1,
' Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be
of God ; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.'*
This age is very full of impostors ; therefore try the spirits, as lapidaries
do their stones, or as goldsmiths do their metals. A Bristol-stone may
look as well as an Indian diamond, and many things glister besides gold.

It was the glorious commendations of the Bereans, ' that they searched
the Scriptures daily/ whether those things that Paul and Silas had
delivered ' were so ;' and this act of theirs made them ' more noble than
those of Thessalonica,' Acts xvii. 10, 11.' Christian nobility is the best
and truest, where God himself is the top of the kin, and rehgion the
root ; in regard whereof all other things are but shadows and shapes of
nobleness. ■

A father that had three sons was desirous to try their discretions,
which he did by giving to each of them an apple that had some part
of it rotten. The first eats up his, rotten and all ; the second throws
all his away, because some part of it was rotten ; the third picks out
the rotten, and eats that which was good. The third was the wisest.
Some in these days swallow down everything, rotten and sound together ;
others throw away all truth, because everything that is presented to
them is not truth ; but surely they are the wisest that know how to
choose the good and refuse the evil, Isa. vii. 15.

You must not, with Pythagoras's scholars, magnify the i'pse diodt
of the greatest clerks, especially in those things that are of eternal con-
cernment to your souls. You will try, and tell, and weigh gold after
your fathers ; deal so by the truth you hear, and let no man bind you
to believe, with Anaxagoras, that snow is black. ' Truth,' saith Basil,
' is hard to be taken by hunting, and must be found out by a narrow
observing of her footsteps on every side.' Many are like those in
Clemens, that thought truth to be cruelty.*

Fourthly, Be exemplary to those among tvhom you walk, and over
whom you command. Bonus dux, bonus comes, a good leader makes
a good follower. Precepta docent, exennpla movent, precepts may in-
struct, but examples do persuade. Verily, gentlemen, your examples
will have a very great influence upon those that are under you. It is
natural to inferiors to mind more what their superiors do than what

' Lamacus, a commander, said to his offending soldiers, Non licet in hello hia peccare.
No man must offend twice in war. So Qod sometimes will not suffer men again and
again to neglect the day of grace.

* 'ioKifiiaXiri. Satan may more easily disturb the truth than subvert it. — Avg\ustiru'].
' tvyitie-rt^ai. Better-bom and bred, of a more noble disposition. They were more

noble, not by civil descent, but by spiritual advancement.

* Amictia Socrates, amicus Plato, amicior Veritas : Socrates is my friend, and Plato is mj
friend, but, above all, truth is my friend. [A saying of Cicero. — G.J

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 309

they say ; therefore you had need be angelical in your walkings and
actings. You are lights upon a hill, you are sea-marks, and therefore
every eye will be upon you.* Those that can find no ears to hear what
you say, will find many eyes to see what you do. Scripture and expe-
rience do abundantly evidence that good men's examples have done a
world of good in the world, and verily the evil examples of great men
especially are very dangerous.

Charles the Fifth was wont to say, that as the eclipse of the sun is a
token of great commotions, so the errors and evils of great men bring
with them great perturbations and evils to the places and persons
where they live. Oh therefore, be exemplary both in lip and life, in
word and work, that others ' seeing your good works, may glorify your
Father which is in heaven,' Mat. v. 16. Oh look that your lives
be as a commentary upon Christ's life. Tdce lingua, loquere vita;
talk not of a good life, but let thy life speak, said the philosopher.'*

Alexander willed that the Grecians and the Barbarians should no
longer be distinguished by their garments, but by their manners ; so
should Christians be distinguished from all others, by their lives and
by their examples ; 2 Sam. xxiii. S, 'The God of Israel said, the Rock
of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling
in the fear of the Lord.' An excellent lord is always better than an
excellent law. Let your laws be never so good, if the law-makers are
bad, all will come to nothing. The people's eyes are much upon that
Scripture, ' Have any of the rulers believed on him V John vii. 48, &c.
Abraham was an example of righteousness in Chaldea, Lot was just in
Sodom, Daniel was an example of holiness in Babylon, Job was an
example of uprightness in the land of Uz, which was a land of much
profaneness and superstition, Nehemiah was an example of zeal in
Damascus, and Moses was an example of meekness among the mutter-
ing and murmuring Israelites. Above- all examples, Christ was ex-
emplary in all piety and sanctity, in all righteousness and holiness, in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And why then should
not you be exemplary among those poor creatures, those black angels,
— I had almost said, — among whom you walk ? ^

It was the saying of Trajanus, a Spaniard, the first stranger that
reigned among the Italians, qualis rex, talis grex, subjects prove good,
by a good king's example. So do soldiers, so do sailors, by the good
examples of their superior commanders. Such commanders as are
examples of righteousness and holiness to others, are certainly high in
worth, and humble in heart ; they are the glory of Christ, and the
honour of religion.

Fifthly, As you are in public places, so lay out yourselves impar-
tially for the common good of all that have interest in you, or
dependence upon you. So did Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Nehemiah,

• The complaint of Seneca is ancient, that commonly men live not ad rationem, but eid
aimilitudinem. — Seneca de vila beata. [Sea-marks = %A^ houses. Another Shakesperian
word : Coriolanus, V. 3 ; Othello, V. 2.— G.]

* Plutarch saith of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the worthy acts of
his ancestors, but not so at imitating them. You may easily apply it,

? It was a good law that the Ephesians made, that men should propound to them-
selves the best patterns, and ever bear in mind some eminent man. The Arabians, if
their king be sick or lame, they all feigu themselves so.

SIO HEAVEN ON EARTH.

Ezra, Daniel, but above all, Christ himself. You are more for the
people's sake, than the people are for yours.' Magistrates are rulers
over the persons of the people, but they are servants to the good of the
people ; as it is the duty of all to serve them, so it is their office to
serve all It is no paradox to affirm, that rulers are the greatest ser-
vants. The ancients were wont to place their statues of their princes
by their fountains, intimating that they were, or at least should be,
fountains of the public good.

The counsellor saith, ' That a man in public place should give his
will to God, his love to his master, his heart to his country, his secrets
to his friends, his time to business.' It is a base and unworthy spirit,
for a man to make himself the centre of all his actions. The very
heathen man could say, ' A man's country, and his friends, and others,
challenge a great part of him.' The sun, that is the prince of lights,
doth impartially serve all, the peasant as well as the prince, the poor
as well as the rich, the weak as well as the strong ; you must be like
the sun.^ The Sun of righteousness was of a brave public spirit : he
healed others, but was hurt himself ; he filled others, but was hungry
himself; he laid out himself, and he laid down himself for a public
good- * That pilot dies nobly,' saith Seneca, ' who perisheth in the
storm with the helm in his hand.' It is really your praise among the
saints, that you have ventured killing, burning, drowning, and all to
save the ship of the common-wealth from sinking.

Sirs ! Be not weary of public work. It is honour enough that God
will make any use of you to carry on his design in the world. He is
a faithful pay-master ; heaven at last will make amends for all. ' You
shall reap, if you faint not,' Gal. vi. 9. I do verily believe, God will
make use of you to do greater things on the sea, than yet have been
done. The Lord hath now begun to set a foot upon the sea ; let his
<inemies tremble. God will not suffer his glory to be buried in the
deeps. He is shaking the nations, and will not leave shaking them,
till He that is the desire of all nations come. The Lord hath said,
' That he will overturn, overturn, overturn, until he comes, whose right
it is to wear the crown, and the diadem, and he will give it him,' Ezek.
xxi. 25-27. Till then, there will be little else, but plucking up and break-
ing down, Jer. xlv. 4. Therefore be courageous, and follow the Lamb
wheresoever he goes. You need fear no enemies, that have Christ the
conqueror on your sides.

Sixthly, and lastly. Make it more and more your chiefest woi^k to
"make plentiful proimions for the eternal ivelfare of your sovls.
Your souls are more worth than ten thousand worlds. .All is well, if
thy soul be well ; if that be safe, all is safe ; if that be lost, all is lost,
God, Christ, and glory is lost, if the soul be lost^

Worthy sirs. Though others play the courtiers with their souls, yet
do not you. The courtier doth all things late: he rises late, and dines
late, and sups late, and repents late.

' I have read of one that had rather beautify Italy, than his own h ouse. There is
very little of this spirit abroad in the world.

* So doth the sea feed and refresh the smallest fish, as well as the greatest leviathan ;
the trees do shade and shelter from heat the least bird, as well as the greatest beast.

' O anima Dei inaignita imagine, despontata fidei, donata tpirilu, &c., Bernard.
divine soul, invested with the image of Qod, espoused to him by faith I

EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 311

Sirs ! Is it madness to feast the slave, and starve the wife ? and is
it not greater madness to feast the body and starve the soul? to
make liberal provision for the body, and none for the soul ? Do not
they deserve double damnation, that prefer their bodies above their
souls ? Methinks our souls should be like to a ship, which is made
little and narrow downwards, but more wide and broad upwards.
Before all, and above all, look to your souls, watch your souls, make
provision for your souls. When this is done, all is done; till this is
done, there is nothing done that will yield a man comfort in life, joy
in death, and boldness before a judgment-seat.^

Callenuceus tells us of a nobleman of Naples, that was wont pro-
fanely to say, ' He had two souls in his body, one for God, and another
for whosoever would buy it.^ Verily, they will make but a bad bargain
of it, that, to gain the world, shall sell their souls.

Dear sirs, I had much more to say, but I am afraid that I have
already kept you too long from sucking of the honeycomb, from
drinking at the fountain. I have held you too long in the porch ; and
therefore I shall only crave, that you will bear with my plainness,
and overlook my weakness ; remembering that other addresses would
savour more of flattery than of sincerity, more of policy than of piety,
and would be both unlovely in me, and displeasing to you.^

Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and
yours with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and make you yet
more and more instrumental for his glory, and this nation's good, that
your names may be for ever precious among his people, that they may
bear you still upon their hearts before the Lord; which Ls, and shall be,
the earnest and constant prayer of him who is,

Right honourable and worthy Sirs,

Yours in all Christian observance,

Thomas Brooks.

1 One of the chiefest mirrors to behold God in, is a reasonable soul, which finds itself
out, saith one.

* Had I a purse suitable to my heart, not a poor godly soldier or sailor in England,
who carries his life in one hand, but should have one of these books in the other, &c.

EPISTLE TO THE SAINTS.

To all saints that hold to Christ the head, and that walk according to
the laws of the new creature, grace, merc}'^, and peace be multi-
plied from God the Father, though our Lord Jesus Clirist.

Beloved in ouk Dearest Lord,

You are those worthies * of whom this world is not worthy,' Heb. xi.
38. You are the princes 'that prevail with God,' Gen. xxxii. 28. You
are those 'excellent ones' in whom is all Christ's delight, Ps. xvi. 3.
You are his glory. You are his picked, culled, prime instruments
which he will make use of to carry on his best and greatest work against
his worst and greatest enemies in these latter days. You are 'a seal'
upon Christ's heart, you are ' engraven on the palms of his hand ;' your
names are written upon his breasts, as the names of the children of
Israel were upon Aaron's breastplate ; you are the ' epistle of Christ;'
you are the ' anointed' of Christ ; you have ' the spirit of discerning ;'
you have 'the mind of Christ.'' You have the greatest advantages
and the choicest privileges to enable you to try truth, to taste truth, to
apply truth, to defend truth, to strengthen truth, to uphold truth, and
to improve truth.^ And therefore to whom should I dedicate this fol-
lowing discourse, but to yourselves ? You have the next place to Christ
in my heart; your good, your gain, your glory, your edification, your
satisfaction, your confirmation, your consolation, j^our salvation, hath
put me upon casting in my little, little mite into your treasure.

Beloved, you know that in the time of the law, God did as kindly
accept of goats' hair and badgers' skins, of turtle-doves and young
pigeons — they being the best things that some of his children had then
to offer — as he did accept of gold, jewels, silk, and purple from others.

1 hope you will shew out the same God-like disposition towards me, in
a kind accepting of what is offered in this treatise to your wise and
serious consideration. I could wish it better for your sakes, yet such as

' Isa. iv. 6 ; Rev. xvii. 14, and xix. 8, 14 ; Cant. viii. 6 ; Isa. xlix. 16 ; Exod. xxviii. 29 ;

2 Cor. ii. 3 ; 1 John ii. 27; 1 Cor. i. 10, 12, 15, 16.

* You will not, with Pythagoras his scholars, magnify the ip^e dixit of the greatest
clerks; neither will you helieve with Anaxagoras, that snow is black: nor yet will you
say, as Antipater, king of Macedonia did, when one presented him with a book treating
of happiness, iu irxa>-aX,", I have no leisure ; neither will you judge like those that like
nothing but the Minervas of their own brains.

EPISTLE TO THE SAINTS. 313

it is I do in all love and humility present you with, desiring the Lord
to make it an internal and eternal advantage to you.

I shall briefly acquaint you with the reasons that have moved poor
me, unworthy I, — who am the least of all saints, who am not worthy to be
reckoned among the saints, — to present this following discourse to public
view ; and they are these that follow :

First, To answer the desires, and gratify the earnest and pious re-
quests of several precious souls, who long to have these things printed
upon their hearts, by the hand of the Spirit, that are printed in this book.
God speaks aloud through the serious and affectionate desires of the
saints ; and this hath made me willing to echo to their desires. If
great men's desires are to be looked upon as commands, why should
good men's desires be looked upon with a squint eye ? Seneca, a hea-
then, could say that ipse aspectus boni viri deledat, the very looks of
a good man delight one. How much more then should the desires of a
good man overcome one ?'

Secondly, The good acceptance, the fair quarter that my labours of
the like nature have found among those that fear the Lord, especially
that treatise called ' Precious Remedies ajjainst Satan's Devices,'^ hath
encouraged me to present this to public view, not doubting but that
the Lord will bless it to the good of many, as I know he hath done the
former. Wliich that he may, I shall not cease to pray, that my weak
service may be accepted of the saints, and that their ' love may abound
yet more and more in knowledge and in all sense,' Philip, i. 9-11.' That
they may approve things that are excellent ; that they may be sincere,
and without offence till the day of Christ ; being filled with the fruits
of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of
God. ^

Thirdly, It is exceeding useful to the saints at all times, but especially
in changing times, in times wherein every one calls out, ' Watchman, what
of the night? watchman, what of the night? and the watchman answereth.
The morning Cometh, and also the night,' Isa. xxi. 11, 12. Ah! Christians,
the Lord is a-shaking heaven and earth ; he is a-staining the pride of all
glory ; he is a-staining his garments with the blood of his enemies ;* he
is renting and tearing, he is burning and breaking, he is pulling up and
throwing down, Jer. xlv. 4, 5. Now in the midst of all these concussions
and revolutions, thrice happy are those souls that have gained a well-
grounded assurance of celestial things, Heb. x. 34, Such souls will not
faint, sink, nor shrink in an hour of temptation. Such souls will keep
their garments pure and white, and will follow the Lamb wheresoever he
goes, Kev. iii. 4, and xiv. 4. Assurance is a believer's ark, where he sits,
Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst of all distractions and destruc-
tions, combustions and confusions. They are doubly miserable that have
neither heaven nor earth, temporals, nor eternals, made sure to them in
changing times, Ps. xxiii. 3, 4, Rev. vi. 12.

The fourth ground of my presenting this treatise to public view, is,

1 The philosopher could say, that desires are properly v^ii ra kiayxavra., to what is
necessary.

* Them that are extant are sold by the same man that sells this, at the first shop
in Pope's-head Alley, next to Cornhill. [See Vol. I. — G.]

' aifHru, sense.

* Joel iii. 16 ; Hag. ii. 6 ; Isa. xxiii. 9 ; Isa. Ixiii. 2, 8.

314 HEAVEN ON EARTH.

that little well-grounded assurance that is to be found among most
Christians.^ Most Christians living between fears and hopes, and hang-
ing, as it were, between heaven and hell, sometimes they hope that
their state is good, at other times they fear that their state is bad : now
they hope that all is well, and that it shall go well with them for ever ;
anon they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such or such a
corruption, or by the prevalency of such or such a temptation ; and so
they are like a ship in a storm, tossed here and there, &c. Now that
these weak souls may be strengthened, that these unstable souls may
be established, that these disconsolate souls may be comforted, &c., I
have presented this tract to the world, not doubting but that if the Lord
shall draw out their spirits to a serious perusal of it, they shall find,
through the blessing of Jehovah, that it will contribute very much to
their attaining of a full assurance of their everlasting happiness and
blessedness, as also to the keeping and maintaining of that full and
blessed assurance ; which that it may, I shall follow it with my prayers.

Fifthly, I have published this following discourse, remembering that
my life is but a vanishing vapour, James iv. 14, and that the time of
my sojourn in this world will be but short, Ps. xxxix. 12. Man's life is
so short, that Austin doubteth whether to call it a dying life, or a living
death. Man's life is but the shadow of smoke, the dream of a shadow.
This present life is not vita, sed via ad vitam, life, but a motion, a
journey towards life (Bernard.) The life of a Christian is rather via
than vita, a step towards life, than life. Yet do I believe that that is
not a death, but life, that joins the dying man to Christ ; and that is
not a life, but death, that separates the living man from Christ.

I know I shall not speak long to friends, saints, or sinners ; therefore
T was the more willing to take the opportunity of preaching to you
when I am dead. As Abel by his faith, he being dead, yet speaketh,
Heb. xi. 4, so this treatise may speak and live, when I shall return to
my long home, and fall asleep in the bosom of Christ." Christ his
prophets and apostles, though they are now in heaven, yet by their
doctrines, examples, and writings, they still preach to the saints on earth.

Zisca desired his skin might serve the Bohemians in their wars, when
his body could no more do it. Oh that poor I, that have been but a
little serviceable to the saints in my life, might by this, and my former
weak labours, be much serviceable to them after my death ! Books
may preach, when the author cannot, when the author may not, when
the author dares, yea, and which is more, when the author is, not'

Sixthly, To testify my cordial love and atfection to all the true lovers
of Christ, and to let them know that they are all, though under different
forms, precious in my eyes, and very near and dear unto my heart. I
bless God I am, and I desire more and more to be, one with every one
that is one with Christ, Philip, iv. 21 ; Col. I 4 ; 2 Thess. i. 3. I would
fain have as free, as large, and as sweet a heart towards saints, as Christ
hath. For a wolf to worry a lamb is usual, but for a lamb to worry a

' Every unsettled Christian is Magor-misaabib, a terror to himself, yea, his life is a
very hell ; fears and doubts are his cbiefest companions, and so he judges himself unfit
and unworthy to live, and yet he is afraid to die ; and verily this is the sad condition
of most Christians. * Eccles. xii. 5 ; Acts vii. 60.

' A reminiscence from Thomad Adams. See Index, sub nomine. — 6.

EPISTLE TO THE SAINTS. 315

lamb is unnatural ; for Christ's lilies to be among thorns, is ordinary,
but for these lilies to become thorns, to tear and fetch blood of one
another, is monstrous and strange.^ Ah, Christians ! can Turks and
Pagans agree ? can Herod and Pilate agree ? can Moab and Ammon
agree ? can bears and lions, can wolves and tigers agree ? yea, which
is more, can a legion of devils agree in one body ? and shall not the
saints, whom heaven must hold at last, agree ?

Pancirolus tells us, that the most precious pearl the Romans had,
was called unio} Oh the union of saints is an un valuable pearl ! The
heathen man, by the light of nature, could say, ' That the thickest wall
of a city in peace, and the safest rampire^ in war, is unity. Verily all
saints are one in Christ, all saints partake of the same spirit, promises,
graces, and privileges. All saints are fellow-members, fellow-soldiers,
fellow-travellers, fellow-heirs, fellow-sufferers, and fellow-citizens ; and
therefore I cannot, dare not but love them all, and prize them all ; and to
evidence it, I have dedicated this treatise to the service of their souls.

Seventhly and lastly. To fence and fortify the souls of real, serious
Christians against those brain-sick notions, and those airy speculations,
and imaginary revelations, and enthusiastical fancies, &c., with which
many are sadly deluded and deceived, even to their eternal overthrow, I
had almost said.

Thus have I given you a brief account of the reasons that have pre-
vailed with me to publish this treatise to the world, and to dedicate it
to yourselves.* Let your hearts dwell on truth, as the bee doth upon the
flower ; every truth being a flower of paradise that is more worth than
a world.

Now the God of all grace fill your hearts and souls with all the fruits
of righteousness and holiness, that you may attain unto a full assuranceof
your everlasting happiness and blessedness ; which that you may is the
sincere, earnest, and constant desire of him who is your soul's servant,

Thomas Brooks.

1 Mareellinus, a heathen historian, taxeth the Christians of his time for their dissen-
sions, biting and devouring one another, till they were even consumed one of another :
a sad thing that a heathen should see such miscarriages among Christ's followers.

* Cap. vii. de Gemmis. [Pancirolus died 1599. — G]

2 Rampart = defence. J 1 et another Shakesperian word : Timon of Athens, V. 5. — G.

* I had not thought to have pressed into the press, had I not been soundly pressed there-
unto.

THE PREFACE,

TOUCHING THE NATURE OF ASSURANCE.

To be in a state of true grace, is to be miserable no more ; it is to be
happy for ever. A soul in this state is a soul near and dear to God.
It is a soul much beloved, and very highly valued of God. It is a soul
housed in God. It is a soul safe in everlasting arms. It is a soul fully
and eminently interested in all the highest and noblest privileges.^ The
being in a state of grace makes a man's condition happy, safe, and sure ;
but the seeing, the knowing of himself to be in such a state, is that
which renders his life sweet and comfortable. The being in a state of
grace will yield a man a heaven hereafter, but the seeing of himself in
this state will yield him both a heaven here and a heaven hereafter ;
it will render him doubly blest, blest in heaven, and blest in his own
conscience.^

Now assurance is a reflex act of a gracious soul, whereby he clearly
and evidently sees himself in a gracious, blessed, and happy state ; it is
a sensible feeling, and an experimental discerning of -a man's being in
a state of grace, and of his having a right to a crown of glory ; and this
rises from the seeing in himself the special, peculiar, and distinguishing
graces of Christ, in the light of the Spirit of Christ,' or from the testi-
mony and report of the Spirit of God, ' the Spirit bearing witness with
his spirit, that he is a son, and an heir-apparent to glory', Rom. viii.
16, 17.

It is one thing for me to have grace, it is another thing for me to see
my grace ; it is one thing for me to believe, and another thing for me
to believe that I do believe ; it is one thing for me to have faith,
and another thing for me to know that I have faith. Now assurance
flows from a clear, certain, evident knowledge that I have grace, and
that I do believe, &c.*

Now this assurance is the beauty and top' of a Christian's glory in

> Ps. cxliv. 15 ; Mal.iii. 17 ; Rom. viii. 16, 17 : Deut. xxxiii. 26, 27 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23.

* A man may he God's, and yet not know it ; his estate may be good, and yet he not
Bee it, Eph. i. 13 ; 1 -John v. 13 ; Gal. iv. 6.

' A man cannot see the sun, but by the light of the sun.

* It is one thing to be an heir, and another thing to know that one is an heir. The
child in the womb or in the arms, may be an heir to a crown, and yet understands it not.

* See Glossary, sub voce, — G.

PREFACE. 317

this life. It is usually attended with the strongest joy, with the
sweetest comforts, and with the greatest peace. It is a pearl that most
want, a crown that few wear. His state is safe and happy, whose soul
is adorned with grace, though he sees it not, though he knows it not.

Assurance is not of the essence of a Christian. It is required to the
bene esse, to the well-being, to the comfortable and joyful being of a
Christian ; but it is not required to the esse, to the being of a Christian.
A man may be a true believer, and yet would give all the world, were
it in his power, to know that he is a believer. To have grace, and to
be sure that we have grace, is glory upon the throne, it is heaven on
this side heaven. But more of these things you will find in the follow-
ing discourse, to which I refer you.

A SERIOUS DISOOPRSE, TOUCflmG A WELL-
GROUNDED ASSURANCE.

CHAPTER I.

Shewing that believers may in this life attain unto a well-grounded
assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness.

First, The ground on which the apostle Paul builds his assurance,
is not any special revelation, but such a foundation as is common to
all believers, as clearly appears from

Rom. viii. 32-34, He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him
up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that
justifleth ; who is he that conderaneth ? It is Christ that died,' yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us.

It is clear from these words, that this blessed apostle had not that
glorious assurance that he speaks of in the two last verses of this chapter
by immediate revelation,* for he concludes it from such arguments as
are general or common to all the godly; and therefore it roundly
follows,

First, That believers may in this life attain unto a well-grounded
assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness. So Heze-
kiah's assurance did spring from a principle that is common to all be-
lievers, 2 Kings XX. 3. Ergo, —

tSecondly, It is the vei^ scope and end of the Scripture to help be-
lievers to a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness
and blessed/ness. ' These things,' saith John, ' have I written unto you .
that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye
have eternal life,' 1 John v. 13. These precious souls did believe, and
they had eternal life, in respect of the promise of eternal life, Titus i. 2,
and in respect of Christ their head, who had taken up their rooms

' Immediate revelations are fleeting and inconstant ; and therefore men had need he
careful how they huild upon them.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 319

aforehand in heaven, and who as a public person doth represent all his
people, Eph. ii. 6 ; and they had eternal life in respect of the begin-
nings of it ; for what is grace but glory begun ? and what is glory but
grace perfected ? Grace is glory in the bud, and glory is grace at the
full. Now, though they had eternal life in aJl these respects, yet they
did not know it ; though they did believe, yet they did not believe that
they did believe ; therefore the apostle, in those precious epistles of his,
doth make it his business, by variety and plenty of arguments, to help
all, but especially such as are weak in the faith, to a well-grounded as-
surance of their eternal welfare.'

It is the very drift and design of the whole Scripture, to bring souls
first to an acquaintance with Christ, and then to an acceptance of Christ,
and then to build them up in a sweet assurance of their actual interest
in Chiist : which made Luther to say, ' That he would not live in para-
dise, if he might, without the word, but with the word he could Hve in
hell itself.'* No histories are comparable to the histories of the Scrip-
ture for,

1, Antiquity; 2, rarity; 3, variety; 4, brevity; 5, perspicuity; 6,
harmony ; 7, verity.

The word evidences truth, it evinces falsehood ; it fights against folly,
it opens the bowels- of mercy, and it assures believing souls of eternal
felicity. That is a precious word in Heb. vi. 18.^ God hath given us
his word, his oath, his seal, that our consolation may be strong, and that
our salvation may be sure. Now, what comfort can a believer have
without assurance ? It is the assurance of my interest in the land of
Canaan, in gospel- cordials, in precious promises, and in a precious
Christ, that comforts and delights my soul. It is not enough to raise
strong consolation in my soul, barely to know that there are mines of
gold, mountains of pearl, heaps of treasures, a land flowing with milk
and honey, but it is the knowledge of my interest in these that raises
joy in my soul. To know that there are such things, and that I have
no interest in them, is rather a vexation than a consolation to me ; to
know that there is a feast of choicest delicates, but not a taste for me ;
that there are pleasant fountains and streams, but I must perish for
thirst in a wilderness ; to know that there are royal robes for such and
such, but I must die in my rags ; to know that there is a pardon for
such and such, but I must be turned off the ladder of hfe ; to know
that there is preferment for such and such, but I must still lie with
Lazarus at Dives' door ; such knowledge as this may well add to my
vexation, but it will not add to my consolation.*

It was rather matter of sorrow than joy to the men of the old world,
to know that there was an ark, when they were shut out; and to the
Israelites, to know that there was a brazen serpent set up, whereby
others were cured, when they died with the stinging of the fiery ser-

* Sorely glory is nothing else but a bright constellation of graces; happiness is no-
thing but the quintesence of holiness.

* Gregory calls the Scripture, cor et animam Dei, the heart and soul of God. Adoro
plenitudinem Scripturarum, I adore the fulness of the Scripture — Tertullian. [For Gre-
gory of Nazianzum, see Oratio Secunda, Sec. cv. ; Tertullian, Apolog., et alibi. — G.l

^ 48surance produces such strong consolations, as swallows up all worldly grieu. As
Moses' serpent did the sorcerers' serpents, or as the fire doth the fuel.

* Non in bonorum cognitione, ted fruitione.

320 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

pents.^ So how can it comfort me to know that there is peace in Christ,
and pardon in Christ, and righteousness in Christ, and riches in Christ,
and happiness in Christ, &c., for others, but none for me ! Ah, this
knowledge will rather be a hell to torment me than a ground of joy and
comfort to me. But now God hath in the Scripture discovered who
they are that shall be eternally happy, and how they may reach to an
assurance of their felicity and glory ; which made one [Luther] to say,
' That he would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible.'^ The
Bible is a Christian's magna charta, his chief evidence for heaven.
Men highly prize, and carefully keep their charters, privileges, convey-
ances, and assurances of their lands ; and shall not the saints much more
highly prize, and carefully keep in the closet of their hearts, the pre-
cious word of God, which is to them instead of all assurances for their
maintenance, deliverance, protection, confirmation, consolation, and
eternal salvation.*

Thirdly, Other believers have in an ordinary way attained to a
sweet assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness. ' We
know,' saith the apostle, in the name of the saints, ' that, if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven,' 2 Cor. v. 1, 2.* Their assurance sets them in triumph
upon the throne. We have a house, a house above, a house in heaven,
a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We have a
house, a heavenly house, a house made by the greatest wisdom and
the highest love; a house, that for honour, pleasures, riches, safety,
stability, glory, and perpetuity, transcends all the royal palaces in
the world. It is a house ' not made with hands, but eternal in the
heavens.'

So the church : Solomon's Song ii. 16, ' My beloved is mine, and I
am his.' I know, says the spouse, that Jesus Christ is mine. I can
with the greatest confidence and boldness affirm it : he is my head, my
husband, my Lord, my Redeemer, my Justifier, my' Saviour ; * and I am
his. I am as sure that I am his, as I am sure that I live. I am his by
purchase, and I am his by conquest ; I am his by donation, and I am
his by election ; I am his by covenant, and I am his by marriage. I am
wholly his ; I am peculiarly his ; I am universally his ; I am eternally
his. This I well know, and the knowledge thereof is my joy in life, and
my strength and crown in death.' So the church : Isa. Ixiii. 16, ' Doubt-
less thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not. Thou, Lord, art our Father, and our Redeemer,

' Spira cried out, Christ is to me a grief, a torment, becatise I despised him, I rejected
him, and I have no part in him. [The 'Life' and 'fearful death' of Spira, is a chap-
book to this day. Cf Sibbes's Works, toI. iii. p. 533, note qq. — G.]

* This, like most of Brooks's sayings of Luther, is a reminiscence from that favourite
Puritan folio. Captain Bell's ' CoUoquia Mensalia,' 1652. This reference may serve once for
all.— G.

» Ps. cxix. 11 and 72 compared.

* Nee Christus nee caelum paiitur hyperholem, neither Christ nor heaven can be hyper-
bolised.

6 Eph. i. 22, 23; 1 Cor. i, 30, vi. 20; Ps. ex. 3; John x. 29, xv. 16; Ezek, xvi. 8;
Hob. ii. 19, 20.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 321

thy name is from everlasting.'* David could say, 'The Lord is my
portion for ever,' Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26 ; and at another time he could
sweetly sing it out, ' I am thine, save me •' Ps. cxix. 94. Job could
look through the darkest cloud, and see that his Redeemer lives, Job
xix. 25. Thomas cries out, * My Lord, and my God ! ' John xx. 28.
And Paul trumpets it out, ' That nothing should separate him from
the love of Christ,' Rom. viii. 38, 39 ; and that he had ' fought a good
fight, and finished his course ; and that there was laid up for him a
crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.

By what hath been said, it clearly appears that other believers have
obtained assurance in an ordinary way, and therefore believers now may
attain to a sweet assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessed-
ness.^ Certainly, God is as loving, and his bowels of compassion are as
strong towards believers now, as ever they were to believers of old ; and
it makes as much for the honour of God, the lifting up of Christ, the
stopping of the mouths of the wicked, and the rejoicing of the hearts of
the righteous, for God to give assurance now, as it did for God to give
it then.'

Fourthly, God hath hy promise engaged himself to assure his people
of their happiness and blessedness. ' The Lord will give grace and
glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk up-
rightly,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. If he will withhold no good thing, then cer-
tainly he will not always withhold assurance, which is the great good
thing, the only thing, the chiefest thing, the peculiar thing that be-
lievers seek after. So Ezek. xxxiv. 30, 31, ' Thus shall they know that
I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of
Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock, the flock
of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.' So
John xiv. 21, 23, * He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my
Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.' ' If any
man love me,' saith Christ, ' he will keep my words : and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.' Now hath the Lord spoken it, and shall it not come to pass ?
Men say and unsay, they eat their words as soon as they have spoken
them, but will God do so ? Surely no, he is faithful that hath promised,*
' All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen,' 2 Cor. i.
20 ; that is, they are stable and firm, and shall really be made good.
The promises are a precious book, every leaf drops myrrh and mercy,
therefore sit down and suck at these breasts, warm thyself at this fire.*
God hath been always as good as his word, yea, he hath sometimes

• Vide Calvin.

• Qtiicquid fieri potuit, potest, that which hath been done may be done.

' Heb. xiii. 8 ; Rev, i. 8, 11. Plato, a heathen, saith that God is one and the same,
and always like himself. [See Grote's ' Plato and hia Friends,' and Index under Grote.

• Antiochus promised often, but seldom gave ; but God gives as much, and as often as
he promiseth. He hath a king's heart, as well as a king's purse. Nil Deo difficile,
there is nothing hard for God. TuUy, a heathen , frequently called God Optimum maximum,
the best and greatest. Plato called God, the horn of plenty, and the ocean of beauty,
without the least spot of injustice. [As supra. — G.]

' }a&. Ixiv. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; Ps. xxi. 3 ; Isa. Ixt. 24.
VOL. II. X

322 HEAVEN ON EARTfi. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

been better than his word ; he hath ever performed, and he hath over
performed. He promised the children of Israel only the land of Canaan,
but he gave them, besides the whole land of Canaan, two other king-
doms which he never promised. Ah ! how often hath God prevented
us with his blessings, and hath given us in such mercies as have been as
far beyond our hopes as our deserts. How hath God, in these days of
darkness and blood, gone beyond the prayers, desires, hopes, and con-
fidences of his people in this land, and beyond what we could read in
the book of the promises.^ Satan promises the best, but pays with the
worst : he promises honour and pays with disgrace, he promises pleasure
and pays with pain, he promises profit and pays with loss, he promises
life and pays with death ; but God pays as he promises, all his pay-
ments are made in pure gold ; therefore take these promises wherein
God hath engaged himself to assure thee of his love, and spread them
before the Lord, and tell him that it makes as well for his honour as
thy comfort, for his glory as for thy peace, that he should assure thee
of thy everlasting happiness and blessedness.

Fifthly, There is in all the saints the springs of assurance, and
therefore they may attain to assurance.

Precious faith is one spring of assurance, and this is in all the saints,
though in different degrees, 2 Peter i. 1. ' Simon Peter, a servant and
an apostle of Jesus Christ), to them that have obtained* like precious faith
with us, through the righteousness of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.'
Faith in time will, of its own accord, raise and advance itself to assur-
ance. Faith is an appropriating grace ; it looks upon God, and saith
with David, ' This God is my God for ever and ever, and he shall be
my guide unto the death,' Ps. xlviii. 14. It looks upon Christ, and
saith with the spouse, ' I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me,'
Cant. vii. 10. It looks upon an immortal crown, and saith with Paul,
' Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory,' 2 Tim. iv. 8. It looks
upon the righteousness of Christ, and saith, ' This righteousness is mine
to cover me.' It looks upon the mercy of Christ, and saith, ' This
mercy is mine to pardon me.' It looks upon the power of Christ,
and saith, ' This power is mine to support me.' It looks upon the
wisdom of Christ, and saith, ' This wisdom is mine to direct me.' It
looks upon the blood of Christ, and says, ' This blood is mine to save
me,' &c.^

As faith, so hope is another spring of assurance. Col. i. 27, ' Christ
in you,' saith Paul, 'the hope of glory.' So Heb. vi. 19, 'Which hope
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil.' Hope taketh fast hold upon heaven
itself, upon the sanctum sanctorum. A Christian's hope is not like that
of Pandora, which may fly out of the box, and bid the soul farewell, as
the hope of hypocrites do ; no, it is like the morning light, the least

• Vives reports of a Jew, that having gone over a deep river on a narrow plank, in a
dark night, and coming next day to see what danger ho had escaped, fell down dead with
astonishment. Ah, the astonishing mercies that we have had in these late years !

■ Xax'vffi, obtained by lot. [Cf. Joshua xiv. 2 ; xv. 1, et seq. — G.]

* I may say of faith, as Luther says of prayer : it hath a kind of omnipotency in it,
it is able to do all things. Est qucedam omnipotentia precum. Tanlum posiumut, quantum
eredimus. — Cyprian. [See this lather in Index under pr«ce«. — G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-34;.] heaven on earth. . 323

beam of it shall commence into a complete sunshine ; it shall shine
brighter and brighter till perfect day.^

When Alexander went upon a hopeful expedition, he gave away his
gold ; and when he was asked what he kept for himself, he answered,
Spem majorum et melioram, the hope of greater and better things.
So a Christian will part with anything rather than with his hope ; he
knows that hope will keep the heart both from aching and breaking,
from fainting and sinking ; he knows that hope is a beam of God, a spark
of glory, and that nothing shall extinguish it till the soul be filled with
glory. Souls that are big in hope, will not be long without sweet assur-
ance. God loves not to see the hoping soul go always up and down
sighing and mourning for want of a good word from heaven, for want
of possessing what it hopes in time to enjoy. Hold out hope and
patience ' a little longer, and he that hath promised to come, will come,
and will not tarry,' Heb. x. 37, /i/xgo» o<sov, oaov.

Again, A good conscience is another spring of assurance :- 2 Cor. i. 12,
' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in sim-
plicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abund-
antly to you-wards.' So 1 John iii. 21, ' Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then have we confidence towards God.' A good conscience hath
sure confidence ; he that hath it sits, Noah-like, in the midst of all
combustions and distractions, [in] sincerity and serenity, uprightness and
boldness. A good conscience and a good confidence go together.*

What the probationer-disciple said to our Saviour, Mat. viii. 19,
* Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest,* that a good con-
science says to the believing soul. I will follow thee from duty to duty,
from ordinance to ordinance ; I will stand by thee, I will strengthen
thee, I will uphold thee, I will be a comfort to thee in life, and a friend
to thee in death ; ' though all should leave thee, yet 1 will never for-
sake thee,' Mat. xxvi. 35. A good conscience will look through the
blackest clouds, and see a smiling God.^ Look, as an evil conscience
is attended with the greatest fears and doubts, so a good conscience is
attended with the greatest clearness and sweetness. And as there is
no hell in this world to an evil conscience, so there is no heaven in this
world to a good conscience. He that hath a good conscience hath one
of the choicest springs of assurance, and it will not be long before God
will whisper such a man in the ear, and say unto him, ' Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,' Mat. ix. 2.*

Again, real love to the saints is another spring of assurance, and this
spring is a never-failing spring. This spring is in the weakest as well
as in the strongest saints : 1 John iii. J -4, * We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that
lovetli not his brother abideth in death.' The apostle doth not say. We
think, we hope, &c., that we are translated from death to life, but, ' we

* A saint's motto is Spero meliora ; the hypocrite's hope is like the moraing dew, Job
viii. 13, 14.

* Tolle conscieniiam, tolle omnia. Ccmscientia pura semper secura.

' It is a notable speech of Salvi, Such as are truly blessed in their own consciences,
Cannqt be miserable by the false judgments of others. [Query, Salvian ? — G.]

* Innocency is bulwark enough, if you be not guilty, saith Seneca. [' Epistles ' and
' Blessed Life ' often. — G ]

324 HEAVEN ON EAUTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

know' that we are translated from death to life, because we love the
brethren.' Love to the brethren is not the cause of our passing from
death to life, that is, from a natural state to a spiritual state, from hell
to heaven, but an evidence thereof. I confess it is very sad to consider
how this precious stream of love is even dried up in many.

It was wont to be a proverb, Homo homini deus, one man is a god
to another ; but now it may be truly said, Homo homini dceinon, one
man is a devil to another.* He that wants love to his brethren, wants
one of the sweetest springs from whence assurance flows. A greater
hell I would not wish any man, than to live and not to love the beloved
of God.

Now is it not as easy a thing as it is pleasant, for a man that hath
several sweet springs in his garden, to sit down, draw water, and drink?
John iv, 14. O believing souls ! there are springs, there are wells of
living water not t)nly near you, but in you ; why, then, do you, with
Hagar, sit down sorrowing and weeping, Gen. xxi. 15-19, when you
should be a- tasting or a drinking not only of the springs above you, but
also of the springs within you ? A man that hath fruit in his garden
may both delight his eye and refresh his spirit with tasting of it. Gal. v.
22, 23. Certainly we may both eye and taste the fruits of the Spirit
in us, they being the first-fruits of eternal life. I think none but mad
souls will say that grace is that forbidden fruit that God would have us
neither see nor taste. We ought not so to mind a Christ in heaven,
as not to mind ' Christ in us the hope of glory,' Col. i. 27. Christ would
not have his spouse so to mind her own blackness, as to forgeft that she
is all fair and gk)rious within, Cant. i. 5, iv. 7, and Ps. xlv. 1 1.

Sixthly, The Holy Ghost exhorts us ' to give all diligence to make
our calling and election sure,' 2 Pet. i. 10, and presses us to look to the
obtaining of a ' full assurance.' Therefore believers may attain unto an
assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness : ' Wherefore
the rather, brethren,' saith the apostle, ' give diligence to make your
calling and election sure ; for if you do these things, you shall never
fall' The Greek word^ translated ' give diligence' signifieth two things:
(1.) All possible haste and speed ; (2.) All manner of seriousness and
intention in doing. Make it your main business, your chiefest study,
your greatest care, to ' make your calling and election sure,' saith the
apostle.* When this is done, your all is done. Till this be done, there
is nothing done. And to shew the necessity, utility, excellency, and
possibility of it, the apostle puts a 'rather' upon it: 'Wherefore the
rather give all diligence to make your calling and election sure ;' or, as
it is in the onginal, ' firm or stable.'^ It is the one thing necessary ; it
is of an internal and eternal concernment to make firm and sure work
for your souls. Assurance is a jewel of that worth, a pearl of that price,
that he that will have it must work, and sweat, and weep, and wait to
obtain it. He must not only use diligence, but he must use all dili-

' oIlafittM, to know certainly ; we are as certain of it as we are certain that we live.

* Or, homo homini leo, one man is a lion to another.
' 2<r«t/Sa»^aTi. Vide Beza and Jansen.

* Luther saith he bad rather obey than work miracles.

'" Bi/Ja;a», firm or stable. God loves cvrrittaa, not quceriatas, the runner, 'not tlie
questioner. He is taken most with them that are more for motion than notion, for doing
than talking,

Rom. VIII. 32-34-.] heaven on earth. 325

gence ; not only dig, bmt he must dig deep, before he can come to this
golden mine. Assurance is that * white stone,' that ' new name,' that
hidden manna, that none can obtain but such as labour for it as for
life. Assurance is such precious gold, that a man must win it before he
can wear it. Win gold, and wear gold, is the language both of heaven
and earth.

The riches, honours, langiaages, and favours of this world cannot be
obtained without much trouble and travel, without rising early and
going to bed late, and do you think that assurance, which is more worth
than heaven and earth, can be obtained by cold, lazy, heartless services?^
If you do, you do but deceive your own souls. There are five things
that God will never sell at a cheap rate, — Christ, truth, his honour,
heaven, and assurance. He that will have these must pay a good price
for them, or go for ever without them,^

And as Peter exhorts you to * give all diligence to make your calling
and election sure,' so Paul presseth you to look to the obtaining of full
assurance, which does clearly evidence that there is a possibility of
attaining unto a full assurance oi our happiness and blessedness in this
life. And ' we desire,' saith the apostle, ' that every one of you do shew
the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that ye
be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises,' Heb. vi. 11, 12.^ We must not only strive after
assurance, but we must strive and shew all diligence to the attaining of
that rich and full assurance which will scatter all fears and doubts,
which will make a soul patient in w^aiting, courageous in doing, and
cheerful in suffering, and which will make a heaven in a man's heart
on this side heaven, and make him go singing into paradise, in despite
of all calamities and miseries.* And certainly it can never stand with
the holiness, righteousness, faithfulness, and goodness of God, to put his
people upon making their calling and election sure, and upon obtaining
full assurance, if there were not a possibility of obtaining a full and
well-grounded assurance of their happiness and blessedness in this life ;*
and therefore it doth undeniably follow that they may attain unto a
blessed assurance of their felicity and glory whilst they are in this vale
of misery. The contrary opinion will make a man's life a hell here,,
though he should escape a hell hereafter.

Seventhl'i^, The Lord hath, in much Tnercy and love, propounded in
his word the ways and means whereby believers may obtain a well-
grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness ;
and therefore it may be obtained. Take three scriptures to evidence this.

The first is in 2 Peter i. 13. If you turn to the words, you shall find
that the Lord does not only press tbem to ' give all diligence to make
their calling and election sure ;' but he shews them plainly the way and
means whereby this nmy be done, namely, by adding ' to your faith
virtue, and to virtue knowledge,' &e.

* Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2; Luke v. 5; Prov xiv, 23.

* Qui fecit te sine te, non salvibit te sine te. — Augustine. [Confessions, I., et alibi, — G.]
3 Vide Calvin and Piscator on the text.

* PrcEcepta docent, exempla movent; precepts may instruct, but examples do persuade.
See from verses 13 to 19 of this chapter. [Hebrews vi.]

* It was a good saying, Da quod jttbet et jube quod vis. [Augustine, Confessions, I.,
&c. &c.— G.]

326 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

The second scripture is that 1 Cor. xi. 28, ' But let a man examine
himself ; and so let eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.' By ex-
amination the soul comes to see what right it hath to Christ and all the
precious things of his house ; and believingly to eat so of that bread of
life, that heavenly manna, as that it may live for ever.

The third scripture is that 2 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Examine yourselves whether
ye be in the faith ; prove yourselves ; know ye not your own selves
how that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates V or unapproved, or
rejected.* By a serious examination of a man's own estate, he may
know whether he hath faith or not, whether he be Christ's spouse or the
devil's strumpet, whether there be a work of grace upon his heart or not.
And certainly it cannot stand with the glorious wisdom, unspotted right-
eousness, and transcendent holiness of God, to put men upon the use of
such and such means in order to the obtaining of such and such an end,
if that end could not be obtained by the use of the means prescribed.
Exodus XV. 11. Man, that hath but a spark of that wisdom, righteous-
ness, and holiness that is in God, will not put any upon the use of such
or such means for the obtaining of health, wealth, or the like, unless
there be a proper tendency in the use of those means prescribed to reach
such ends.^ And will God, who is wisdom, righteousness, and holiness
in the abstract? Surely no. God is one infinite perfection in him-
self,^ which is eminently and virtually all perfections of the creatures ;
and therefore it is impossible that God should act below the creature,*
which he should do if he should put the creature upon the use of those
means that would not reach the ends for which the means were used.

Thus you see clearly by this seventh argument that believers may in
this life attain to a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happi-
ness and blessedness.

Eighthly, It was the principal end of Christ's institution of the
sacrament of the supper that he might assure them of his love, and
that he might seal up to them the forgiveness of their sins, the accep-
tation of their persons, and the salvation of their souls, Mat. xxvi.
27, 28. The nature of a seal is to make things sure and firm among
men ; so the supper of the Lord is Christ's broad seal, it is Christ's privy-
seal, whereby he seals and assures his people that they are happy here,
that they shall be more happy hereafter, that they are everlastingly
beloved of God, that his heart is set upon them, that their names are
written in the book of life, that there is laid up for them a crown of
righteousness, and that nothing shall be able to separate them from him
who is their light, their life, their crown, their all in all.*

In this sacrament Christ comes forth and shews his love, his heart,
his bowels, his blood, that his children may no longer say. Doth the
Lord Jesus love us ? doth he delight in us ? &c. ; but that they may say
with the spouse, ' I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me,'
Cant. vii. 10.* Many precious Christians there are that have lain long

' ioxiftd^trt, as the goldsmith does the gold in the fire. iVoxifnu, i. e. unapproved or coun-
terfeit ; not reprobates, as it is translated. — Vide Grotiua. [Cf. Plato, Legg. 742, a Q.]

* Job xxxviii. 5, 18, 21, 33 verses compared.

3 Abstracts do better express God than concretes and adjectives.

* Daniel vi. 8 ; Mat. xxvii. C6 ; 2 Tim. iv. 8; Col. iii. 11.

* inpltJTI His desirous affection is towards me, as the wife's is towards her dearest
husband. iSo the Hebrew word signifies.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 327

under fears and doubts, sighing and mourning; that have run from
minister to minister, and from one duty to another, &c., and yet could
never be persuaded of the love of Christ to their poor souls ; but still
their fears and doubts have followed them, till they have waited upon
the Lord in this glorious ordinance, by which the Lord hath assured
them of the remission of their sins, and the salvation of their souls. In
this ordinance God hath given them manna to eat, and a white stone,
and new name, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it. Rev.
ii. 17. Tell me, ye precious, believing souls, whether you have not
found God in this ordinance often whispering of you in the ear, saying,
' Sons and daughters, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you' ?
Mat. ix. 2. I know you have.

Those scriptures that do expressly require saints to be abundant and
constant in rejoicing and in praising of God, to have always harps in their
hands, and hallelujahs in their mouths, do clearly evidence that believers
may attain to a well-grounded assurance in this life.^ How can they
rejoice and glory in God, that do not know whether he will be an ever-
lasting friend or an everlasting enemy to them, whether he will always
breathe out love or wrath upon them ? How can they but hang their
harps on the willows, that do not know but that they may live in a
strange land, Ps. cxxxvii. 2 ; yea, in a land of darkness all their days ?
How can they be cheerful or thankful, that do not know but that they
may at last hear that heart-breaking, that conscience-wounding, that soul-
slaying word, ' Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared
for the devil and his angels,' Mat. xxv. 41. Now, there is no duty in
the whole book of God that is more frequently and abundantly pressed
upon believers than this of joy and rejoicing, of praise and thanksgiving,
as all know that know anything of the Scripture: 1 Thes. v. 16, 'Rejoice
evermore.' God would not have his children always a-putting finger in
the eye. Ah, Christians ! remember what Christ hath done for you,
and what he is still a-doing for you in heaven, and what he will do for
you to all eternity, and spend your days in whining and mourning if you
can.2 Ps. xxxii. 11, 'Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous;
and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.' Ps. xxxiii. 1, 'Rejoice
in the Lord, O ye righteous ; for praise is comely for the upright.'^
Christians, are not your mercies greater than your miseries? Yes. Are
your greatest sufferings comparable to the least spark of grace or beam
of glory revealed in you or to you ? No. Will not one hour's being in
the bosom of Christ recompense you for aU your trouble and travail ?
Yes. Why, then, do you spend more time in sigliing than in rejoicing;
and why do you, by your not rejoicing, sad those precious hearts that
God would not have sadded, and glad those graceless hearts that God
would not have gladded ?*

1 Nulla verior miseria quam falsa Uetitia, there is no truer misery than false joys.

* It would even be an endless business to cite every scripture wherein this duty is en-
joined. It is a duty that is much pressed in both Testaments, and as little practised by
all whimpering Christians.

3 The word noteth a fair and comely grace, for which a thing is to be liked and desired.
— Ainsworlh. [Henry Ainsworth, ' Annotations on the Bible,' 2 vols, folio, 1627. He
died 1 622.— G.]

* jEtema erit exultatio qtuz bono Icetatur OBtemo, their joy lasts for ever whose object
remains for ever.

328 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

A beautiful face is at all times pleasiug to the eye, but then espe-
cially when there is joy manifested in the countenance. Joy in the
face puts a new beauty, and makes that which before was beautiful to
be exceediug beautiful. It puts a lustre and glory upon beauty ; so
does joy in the face, heart, and life of a Christian, cast a general splen-
dour and glory upon him, and the ways of God wherein he walks. The
joy of the Lord is not only the strength, but also the beauty and glory
of Christians, Neh. viii. 10.

Joy and rejoicing is a consequent and effect of assurance, as many
believers by experience find ; and therefore, without all peradventure,
believers may attain unto a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting
happiness, else it is impossible that they should ' rejoice evermore ;' so
that by this argument, as by the former, it clearly appears that be-
lievers may in this life be assured of their eternal well being. ^

Tenthly, The tenth and last argument, to prove that believers may in
this life attain to a well-grounded assurance, is this, ThatGod would never
have made such a broad difference in the Scripture betiveen the seed of
the woman and the seed of the serpent, between the righteous and the
wicked, between saints and sinners, between sons and slaves, slieep and
goats, between lions and lambs, betiveen wheat and chaff, light and dark-
ness, &c., if it were impossible for men to knoiv which of these two estates
they are in.'^ Therefore they may know whether they are in a state of
life or in a state of death, in a state of misery or in a state of felicity, in a
state of wrath or in a state of love. Mat. xiii. 1, seq. Oh ! it is much below
the grace of God, it is repugnant to the wisdom of God, to make such
a wide difference between his own children and Satan's, John viii. 44,
if it were not possible for every child to know his own father. ' Thou
shalt call me my father.' Isa. Ixiii. 1 6, ' Doubtless thou art my Father,
though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge Us not : thou,
O Lord, art our Father and Redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting.''
The weakest saint can say, * Abba, Father,' Rom. viii. 15 ; the Lord
will not leave his children comfortless, or as orphans, and fatherless chil-
dren, as it is in the Greek.* Though the salvation of believers do not
depend upon their knowledge of God to be their father, yet their con-
solation does ; therefore the Lord will not be only a father to Israel,
but he will make Israel know that he is his father : Jer. iii. 4, * Wilt
thou not from this time cry unto me. My Father, thou art the guide of
my youth ?'*

By these ten arguments it doth evidently appear, that believers may
in this life attain unto a well-grounded assurance of their everla.sting
happiness and blessedness. I shall apply this a little, and then close
up this chapter.

Use. This precious truth thus proved, looks sourly and wishl}?* upon

* Mrs Kath. Brettergh, under the power of assurance, cries out, Oh the joys, the joys,
the inconceivable joys my heart is fiUed with. [See Index under Brettergh, for former
note on. — G.]

» Gen. iii. 15; Ezek. xviii. 19, seq. ; Mat. xxv. 1, teq. ; Mat. iii. 12; 2 Cor. vi. 14.
' The saints' motto is, Tarn pint nemo, tarn pater nemo, No father is like our Father.

* John xiv. 18, i^(pateus. God hath no child so young, but can more or less call him
Father.

* Wo say he is a wise child that knows his father ; such wise ones believers are.

« ' With eager desire,' an early form of ' wistfully.' — G. Qu. Is it not rather connected
with weak, sour wine ? Wuht/-w<uhi/ is a colloquial compound. — £o.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 329

all those that aflSrm that believers cannot in this life attain unto a
certain well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness and bless-
edness, — as papists and Arrainians : all know that know their writings
and teachings, that they are in arms against this Christ-exalting, and
soul-cheering doctrine of assurance. ' I know no such thing as assur-
ance of heaven in this life,' saith Grevinchovius the Arminian.* As-
surance is a pearl that they trample under feet ; it is a beam of heaven
that hath so much light, brightness, and shining glory in it, that their
blear-eyes cannot behold it. Assurance is glory in the bud, it is the
suburbs of paradise, it is a cluster of the land of promise, it is a spark
of God, it is the joy and crown of a Christian ; the greater is their im-
piety and folly that deny assurance, that cry down assurance under any
names or notions whatsoever. They are rather tormenters than com-
forters that say, poor souls may know that there is a crown of right-
eousness, but they must not presume to know that they shall have the
lipnour to wear that crown ; and that makes God like King Xerxes,
who crowned his steersman in the morning, and beheaded him in the
evening of the same day.^

Arminians are not ashamed to say, that God may crown a man one
hour, and. uncrown him in the next ; they blush not to say that a man
may be happy and miserable, under love and under wrath, an heir of
heaven and a firebrand of hell, a child of light and a child of darkness,
and all in an hour. Oh what miserable comforters are these ? What
is this but to torment the weary soul ? to dispirit the wounded spirit,
and to make them most sad whom God would have most glad 1 Ah !
how sad is it for men to affirm, that wounded spirits may know ' that
the Sun of righteousness hath healing in his wings,' Mai. iv. 2 ; but they
cannot be assured that they shall be healed. The hungry soul may
know that there is bread enough in his Father's house, but cannot
know that he shall taste of that bread, Luke xv. 17. The naked soul
may know that Christ hath robes of righteousness to cover all spots,
sores, defects, and deformities of it, but may not presume to know that
Christ will put these royal robes upon it. Rev. iii. 18. The impoverished
soul may know that there be unsearchable^ riches in Christ, but cannot
be assured that ever it shall partake of those riches, Eph. iii. 8. All
that these men allow poor souls, is guesses and conjectures that it may
be well with them. They will not allow souls to say with Thomas, ' My
Lord, and my God,' John xx. 18 ; nor with Job to say, ' My Redeemer
lives,' Job xix. 25 ; nor with the church, ' I am my beloved's, and his
desire is towards me,' Cant. vii. 10. And so they leave souls in a clou3y,
questioning, doubting, hovering condition, hanging, like Mahomet's
tomb at Mecca, between two loadstones ;* or like Erasmus, as the papists
paint him, hanging betwixt heaven and hell.^ They make the poor
soul a M agor-missabib, a terror to itself

' Sensum eleetionis adghriam in hac vita nullam agnotco. — Grevinchov. [That is, Nico-
las Grevinchovius : Apologia, 1617, 4to. — G.]

* (1.) Is the surety of the new covenant grown so poor? Hob. vii. 22. (2.) Is the pro-
mise now come to be yea and nay ? 2 Cor. i. 20. (3.) Is the power of God grown so
weak ? 1 Peter i. 5. (4.) Is the decreeing will of God become immutable ? [mutable ? — G.l
2 Tim. ii. 19. (5.) Is the free, eternal, and everlasting love of God become changeable '?
Jer.'xxxi. 3 ; John xiii. 1, that these things can be?

' unlix^'K^rrov, not to be traced out. [Cf. Rom. xi. 33. — G.] * A n?;/<Athat still lives, — G.

' The Protestant Reformers also, from the great scholar s lukewarmness. — G.

330 HEAVEN ON EARTa [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

What more uncomfortable doctrine than this ? What more soul-dis-
quieting, and soul-unsettling doctrine than this ? Thou art this moment
in a state of life, thou mayest the next moment be in a state of death ;
thou art now gracious, thou mayest the next hour be graceless ; thou
art now in the promised land, yet thou mayest die in the wilderness ;
thou art to-day a habitation for God, thou mayest to-morrow be a syna-
gogue of Satan ; thou hast to-day received the white stone of absolu-
tion, thou mayest to-morrow receive the black stone of condemnation;'
thou art now in thy Saviour's arms, thou mayest to-morrow be in Satan's
paws ; thou art now Christ's freeman, thou mayest to-morrow be Sa-
tan's bondman ; thou art now a vessel of honour, thou mayest suddenly
become a vessel of wrath ; thou art now greatly beloved, thou mayest
soon be as greatly loathed; this day thy name is fairly written in the
book of life, to-morrow the book may be crossed, and thy name blotted
out for ever. This is the Arminians' doctrine, and if this be not to
keep souls in a doubting and trembling, and shivering condition, what
is it ? Well, Christians, remember this is your happiness and blessed-
ness, that ' none can pluck you out of your Father's hand,' John x. 29 ;
that you are ' kept,' as in a garrison, or as with a guard,^ ' by the power
of God through faith unto salvation,' 1 Peter i. 5. ' That the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but the kindness of the Lord
shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of peace be
removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on you,' Isa. liv. 10. * That
Christ ever lives to make intercession for you,' Heb, vii. 25 ; and that
men and devils are as able, and shall as soon, make a world, dethrone
God, pluck the sun out of the firmament, and Christ out of the bosom
of the Father, as they shall pluck a believer out of the everlasting arms
of Christ, or rob him of one of his precious jewels, Deut. xxxiii. 26, 27.
I shall close up this chapter with an excellent saying of Luther : ' The
whole Scripture,' saith he, ' doth principally aim at this thing, that we
should not doubt, but that we should hope, that we should trust, that
we should believe, that God is a merciful, a bountiful, a gracious, and a
patient God to his people.' '

CHAPTER IL

Containing several weighty propositions concerning assurance.

The first proposition that I shall lay down concerning assurance
is this. That God denies assurance for a time to his dearest and choicest
ones, and that upon many considerable grounds.

(1.) As, first, for the eocercise of their grace. A gracious soul would
always be upon mount Tabor, looking into Canaan ; he would always
be in his Father's arms, and under his Father's smiles ; he would always
be in the sunshine of divine favour;* he would always have the heavens
open, that he might always see his Christ and his crown ; he would

' The heathens used to absolve men by giving them white stones, and condemn them
by giving them black ones.

* f^ov^ivfiitevs, kept safe and fast, as in a strong garrison.

' See former footnote on this Treatise, and Index sub nomine- — G.

* Tarn paler nemo, iumpiut nemo. — Tertulliau.

Rom. VIII 32-34.] heaven on earth. 331

with Peter be always upon the mount ; he is loath to walk
through the valley of darkness, through the valley of Baca. As the
king of Sodom said once to Abraham, ' Give me the persons, and take
the goods to thyself,' Gen. xiv. 21 ; so gracious souls are apt to say.
Give me joy, give me peace, give me assurance, and do you take trials,
afflictions, and temptations to yourselves. But pray, what use would
there be of the stars, if the sun did always shine? Why, none. Why,
no more use would there be of your graces, if assurance should be
always continued ; therefore the Lord, for the exercise of his children's
faith, hope, patience, &c., is pleased, at least for a time, to deny them
assurance, though they seek it by earnest prayer, and with a flood of
penitent tears.^

(2.) Tlie Lord denies assurance to his dearest ones, that he may keep
them in the exercise of those religious duties that are most costly and
contrary to flesh and blood, as to mourning, repenting, self-judging,
self-loathing, self-abhorring, and self-searching; as Lam. i. 16, 'For
these things I weep : mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water,
because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me'; chap,
iii. 2, 3, 'He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, not into light.
Surely against me he is turned ; he turneth his hand against me all the
day'; ver. 17, 'And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace : I
forgat prosperity.' Now, what this sad dealings of God puts the
church upon you may see in ver. 40 .' Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to the Lord.' ^ And if you look throughout the book,
you shall find the church much in self-examining, self-judging, self-
loathing, &c., upon this ground, that God had hid his face, and drawn
a curtain between him and them, and stood at a distance from them,
and would not speak comfortably and friendly to them.

Now, if you ask me why God will put his children upon those duties of
religion that are most costly and contrary to flesh and blood 1 I answer,

1. That his strength and power may appear in their weakness, 2 Cor.
xii. 7-9.

2. To discover not only the truth, but also the strength of their graces.
A little grace will put a man upon those religious duties that are easy
and pleasing to flesh and blood, and not chargeable, but rather profitable
and pleasurable ; but it must be strength of grace that puts man upon
those services that are costly and cross to the old man.

3. That they may be more fully and eminently conformable to Christ
their head, who, from first to last, who, even from the cradle to the cross,
was most exercised in those duties and services that were most costly
and cross to flesh and blood, as is most evident to all that study the
writings of the Holy Ghost more than the writings of men,

4. Because in the performance of such duties they do in a more

• If saints should always have assurance, they would be too apt to say, Bonum est essa
hie, it is good for us to be here.

* 'Bring back my soul,' or 'fetch again my soul,' t. «. comfort, refresh, and rejoice
me as in former times. rnprUI HK^DriJ. These two Hebrew words are joined together,
to intimate to us that diligent, narrow, and accurate inquiry that they should make into
their ways, to search as men do into the bowels of the earth, for the discovery of rich
miyies and treasures, which made one of the Kabbins cry out. Venial Messias at ego non
videam, let the Messiah come, but let not me see him. [See Index under Rabbins for for-
mer reference. — G.]

332 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-54.

singular way bear up the name and credit, the honour and glory of God,
Christ, and the gospel in the world ; the very world will cry out, Ah,
these are Christians indeed !

5. Because the more they are in the exercise of such duties, the
greater at last will be their reward, Heb. xi. 7.

6. That Satan's plots and designs may be the better prevented, and
the wicked world more justly condemned, who do not only despise the
hardest duties of religion, but also neglect the easiest. Mat. xxv. 4-6.

(3.) The third reason why God denies assurance to his most precious
ones, is that tliey may be the more clearly and fully convinced of that
exceeding sinfulness and bitterness that is in sin, Jer. ii. 19.' Ah,
Lord, says the soul that [is] sighing and mourning under the want of
assurance, I see now that sin is not only evil, but the greatest evil in
the world, in that it keeps me from an assurance of my interest in thee,
who art the greatest good in the world, and from an assurance of that
favour of thine that is better than life, and from the light of thy sweet
countenance, that is better than corn, and wine, and oil; and from those
joys and comforts that can only make a paradise in my soul, Ps. iv. 7,
Ixiii. 3, 4. Ah, Lord ! now I find sin not only to be bitter, but to be
the very quintessence of bitterness. Ah ! no bitterness so bitter as sin,
that keeps my soul from that sweet assurance, that i& not only the top
and crown of mercy, but also the sweetener of all mercy, misery, and
glory.* Oh what unspeakable evil do I now see in that evil that keeps
me from the most desirable good ! Oh what bitterness do I now find
in that which Satan, the world, and my own deluded heart told me I
should find sweetness in f Ah, now I find by experience, that to be
true, which long since the faithful messengers of the Lord have told me;
viz., that sin debaseth the soul of man, that it defiles and pollutes the
soul of man, that it renders the soul most unlike to God, who is optimum
Tnaximum, the best and greatest, who is omnia supei' omnia, all, and
above all, and renders it most like to Satan, who is a very sea and .sink
of sin.* That it hath robbed the soul of the image of God, the holiness
of God, the beauty of God, the glory of God, the righteousness of God,
and that keeps the soul from wearing this golden chain of assurance.

(4.) A fourth reason why God denies assurance to his dearest ones,
is, because they seek assurance more for themselves, than they do for
his honour and glory; more that they may have joy without sorrow,
comfort without torment, peace without trouble, sweet without bitter,
light without darkness, and day without night, than that he may be
exalted and admired, and his name alone made great and glorious in
the world.*

Many Christians are like the bee that flies into the field to seek
honey to eat, but brings it not into the master's hive. So they seek for

^ Sin is malum catholieum, it is atema macula, it is eorruptio optimi pessima.

* This made one cry out, Quid restat peccator, nisi ut in tota vila tua deplores tolan
vitam tuam. Oh ! what then remains but in our whole life to lament the sins of our
whole life.

' Heb. iii. 13, Sin hath its original from a deceitful subtle serpent, and is the ground
of all the deceit in the world, and is the great cozener of souls.

* Yea, peccatum tst Deicidium, sin is a killin": of God.

* Chrislus opera nostra non lam actibus quam finibua pensat. — Zanchius. The glory of
God must consume all other ends, as the sun puts out the light of the fire.

R(5M. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 333

assurance, that they may feed upon that sweet honeycomb, more [than]
to fill their Lord and master's hive with thanks and praise.

That servant that minds his wages more than his work, must not
wonder if his master be slack in paying; no more should he that minds
comfort more than obedience, that minds assurance more than divine
honour, wonder that God delays the giving in of assurance, though it
be sought with many prayers and tears. He that is most tender of
God's honour, shall find by experience that God is most mindful of his
comfort. God will not see that soul sit long in sackcloth and ashes,
that makes it his business to set him up upon his throne. He that
minds God's glory more than his own good, shall quickly find that God
will even obscure his own glory to do him good. If we are not wanting
to God's glory, he will not long be wanting to our joy.^

(5.) A fifth reason why God denies assurance to his children, is, That
when they have it, they may the more highly prize it, the more care-
fully keep it, the more wisely im^prove it,and themoreaffectionatelyand
effectually bless God for it. None sets such a price upon light, as he that
hath lain long in a dungeon of darkness ; so none sets such a price upon
assurance, as those children of light that have walked most in spiritual
darkness.^ Ah 1 how sweet was the light to Jonah, that had been in the
belly of hell, Jonah ii. 2 ; so is assurance to those that, through slavish
fears and unbelief, 'have made their beds in hell,' as the psalmist speaks,
Pa. cxxxix. 8. Gold that is far fetched, and dearly bought, is most
esteemed ; so that assurance that costs the soul most pains and patience,
most waiting and weeping, most striving and wrestling, is most highly
valued, and most wisely improved/ As, by the want of temporals, God
teaches his people the better to prize them, and improve them when
they enjoy them ; so by the want of spirituals, God teaches his people
the better to prize them, and improve them when they enjoy them. Ah !
how sweet was Canaan to those that had been long in the wilderness !
How precious was the gold and ear-rings to Israel, that had been long in
Egypt, and the gifts and jewels to the Jews that had been long in Babylon !
So is assurance to those precious souls that have been long without it,
but at last come to enjoy it, Num. xiv. 33, 34 ; Exod. xi. ; Ezra i.

After the Trojans had been wandering a long time in the Mediter-
ranean Sea, as soon as they espied land, they cried out with exulting
joy, 'Italy, Italy ;' so when poor souls shall come to enjoy assurance, who
have been long tossed up and down in a sea of sorrow and trouble, how
will they with joy cry out. Assurance, assurance, assurance !*

(6.) The sixth reason why God denies assurance to his dearest ones, at
least for a time, is. That they be kept humble and low in their own
eyes ; as the enjoyment of mercy glads us, so the want of mercy humbles
us.^ David's heart was never more low, than when he had a crown only
in hope, but not in hand. No sooner was the crown set upon his head,

^ It was a notable saying of Nazianzen, Let me, says he, be cast into tbe sea, let me
lose my peace rather than the name of Christ should suffer ; so tender was he of the
honour and glory of Christ. » Life without light is but a lifeless life, Micah vii. 8, 9,

' Socrates prized the king's countenance above his coin, his good looks above his
gold ; so do saints prize assurance above all worldly enjoyments.

* The longer I stay for the empire, said the emperor's son, the greater it will be ; so
th^ longer a saint stays foe assurance, the greater at last it will be. [Italy : Cf. ^neid
iii. 521, &c.— G.]

' Humility is conservatrix virlutum, saith one. [Bernard, sub Humililate.—Q.']

334! HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-^4.

but his blood rises with his outward good, and in the pride of his heart
he says, ' I shall never be removed,' Ps. xxx. 6.

Hezekiah was a holy man, yet he swells big under mercy.^ No
sooner doth God lift up his house higher than others, but he lifts up
his heart in pride higher than others. When Grod had made him high
in honours, riches, victories, ay, and in spiritual experiences, then his
heart flies high, and he forgets God, and forgets himself, and forgets
that all his mercies were from free mercy, that aU his mercies were but
borrowed mercies. Surely, it is better to want any mercy than an humble
heart, it is better to have no mercy than want an humble heart.* A
little, little mercy, with an humble heart, is far better than the greatest
mercies with a proud heart. I had rather have Paul's coat with his
humble heart, than Hezekiah's lifted-up heart with his treasures and
royal robes. Well, Christians, remember this, God hath two strings to
his bow ; if your hearts will not lie humble and low under the sense of
sin and misery, he will make them lie low under the want of some de-
sired mercy. The want of assurance tends to bow and humble the soul,
as the enjoyment of assurance doth to raise and rejoice the soul ; and
therefore do not wonder Avhy precious souls are so long without assurance,,
why Christ's chariot, assurance, is so long a-coming. Judges v. 28.'

(7.) The seventh and last reason why God denies assurance, for a
time, even to his dearest ones, is, That they may live clearly and fully
upon Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ may he seen to he all in all. It
is natural to the soul to rest upon everything below Christ ; to rest upon
creatures, to rest upon graces, to rest upon duties, to rest upon divine
manifestations, to rest upon celestial consolations, to rest upon gracious
evidences, and to rest upon sweet assurances. Now the Lord, to cure
his people of this weakness, and to bring them to live wholly and solely
upon Jesus Christ, denies comfort, and denies assurance, &c., and for a
time leaves his children of light to w^alk in darkness. Christians, this
you are always to remember, that though the enjoyment of assurance
makes most for your consolation, yet the living purely upon Christ in
the want of assurance, makes most for his exaltation. No Christian
to him that, in the want of visibles, can live upon an invisible God;
that in thick darkness can live upon God as an everlasting light.* He
is happy that believes upon seeing, upon feeling, but thrice happy are
those souls that believe when they do not see ; that love when they do
not know that they are beloved ; and that in the want of all comfort
and assurance, can live upon Christ as their only all.* He that hath
learned this holy art, cannot be miserable ; he that is ignorant of this
art cannot be happy.®

• 2 Cbron. xxxii. The whole chapter is worthy of reading.

* As I get good by my sins, so I get hurt by my graces, said Mr Fox, they being acci-
dental occasions of pride to him. [The Martyrologist.— G.] Augustine saith that the
first, second, and third virtue of a Christian is humility. [See Index under Humility
for former citations of this ; also under Augustine for reference.— G.]

» God hath two hands, a hand open and a hand shut, and he makes use of both to
keep souls humble.

* Omne bonum in sutnmo bono, all good is in the chiefest good. Christ is all things to
Christians ; he is bread to feed them, a fountain to refresh them, a physician to heal them,
a rock to shelter them, a light to guide them, and a crown to crown them.

» Heb. xi. 27; Isa. Ix. 1!» ; Micah vii. 7-9; John xx. 28, 29.

• Christ is omnia super omnia.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 335

The second proposition is this, That the Scripture hath many sweet
significant tcords to express that well-grounded assurance by, which
believers may attain to in this life.

Sometimes it is called a persuasion.' Rom. viii. 38, ' I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, &c., shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' It is rendered a per-
spicuous and peculiar manifestation of Christ to the soul, John xiv.
21-24. It is often rendered, to know, as 1 John iii. 14, 19, 24, and
V. 13, 19, &c. But the word that the Scripture doth most fully express
this by, '^'krjPo<poBia, full assurance, that is, when the soul, by the Spirit
and word, is so fully persuaded of its eternal happiness and blessedness,
that it is carried, like Noah's ark, above all waves, doubts, and fears,
and, Noah-like, sits still and quiet, and can, with the apostle Paul,
triumph over sin, hell, wrath, death, and devil.

This is sometimes called ' full assurance of understanding ;' some-
times it is called ' full assurance of hope ;' and sometimes it is called
' full assurance of faith ;' because these are the choice and pleasant
springs from whence assurance flows. Col. ii. 2 ; Heb. vi. 11, 18, 19;
X. 22.

Now though this full assurance is earnestly desired, and highly prized,
and the want of it much lamented, and the enjoyment of it much en-
deavoured after by all saints, yet it is only obtained by a few. Assur-
ance is a mercy too good for most men's hearts, it is a crown too weighty
for most men's heads. Assurance is optimum maximum, the best and
greatest mercy ; and therefore God will only give it to his best and
dearest friends.''

Augustus in his solemn feasts, gave trifles to some, but gold to others.
Honours and riches, &c., are trifles that God gives to the worst of men ;
but assurance is that 'tried gold,' Rev. iii. 18, that God only gives to
tried friends. Among those few that have a share or portion in the
special love and favour of God, there are but a very few that have an
assurance of his love.'

It is one mercy for God to love the soul, and another mercy for God
to assure the soul of his love. God writes many a man's name in the
book of life, and yet will not let him know it till his hour of death, as
the experience of many precious souls doth clearly evidence. Assurance
is a flower of paradise that God sticks but in a few men's bosoms. It
is one thing to be an heir of heaven, and another thing for a man to
know or see himself an heir of heaven. The child in the arms may be heir
to a crown, a kingdom, and yet not understand it ; so many a saint may
be heir to a crown, a kingdom of glory, and yet not know it. As the
babes that passes the pangs of the first-birth do not presently cry,
'Father, father;' so the new-born babes in Christ, that have passed
the pangs of the second-birth, do not presently cry ' Abba, Father ;' they

^ (1.) There is a natural persuasion : natural principles may persuade a man that there
is a God, and that this God is a great God, a beauteous God, &c., but this will not make
a man happy; (2.) there is a moral persuasion; (3.) there is a traditional persuasion;
(4.) there is a divine persuasion that flows from divine principles and causes.

* This full assurance is the maximum quod sic, the highest pinnacle of assurance.

' Most saints, 1 believe, can give a loud testimony to this truth. I shall rejoice when
theii: experiences shall confute it. [Augustus, . . . trifles : Suetonius, Octavius, cap.
75._G.]

336 HEAVEN ON EAETH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

do not presently cry out, Heaven, heaven is ours ; glory, glory is ours
Rom. viii. 16, 17, 1 Peter ii. 2.

The third proposition is this. That a man may have true grace,
that hath Ti ) assurance of the love and favour of God, or of the remis-
sion of his sins and salvation of his soul.

A man may be truly holy, and yet not have assurance that he shall
be eternally happy. A man may be God's, and yet he not know it ;
his estate may be good, and yet he not see it ; he may be in a safe
condition, when he is not in a comfortable condition. All may be well
with him in the court of glory, when he would give a thousand worlds
that all were but well in the court of conscience.'

The Canaanite woman shewed much love, wisdom, zeal, humility,
and faith, yea, such strength of faith as makes Christ admire her, and
yield to her, grace her, and gratify her, and yet she had no assurance
that we read of, Mat. xv. 22, 29. So Paul, speaking of the believing
Ephesians, saith, ' In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in whom also, after that
ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,' Eph.
i. 13.* First, they heard the word ; and then secondly, they believed ;
and then thirdly, they were sealed ; that is, fully assured of a heavenly
inheritance, of a purchased possession.^ So 1 John v. 13, 'These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe
on the Son of God.' So Isa 1. 10, ' Who is among you that feareth the
Lord, that obeyetli the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness,
and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay
himself upon his God.' So»Micah vii. 8, 9, ' Rejoice not against me, O
mine enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the
Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute
judgment for me; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold
his righteousness.'* Asaph was a very holy man, a man eminent in
grace, and yet without assurance, as may be seen at large, Ps. Ixxvii.
Heman, doubtless, was a very precious soul, and yet from his youth up,
he was even distracted with terrors, P.s. Ixxxviii. There are thousands
of Christians that are in a state of grace, and shall be saved, that want
assurance and the proper effects of it, as high joy, pure comfort, glorious
peace, and vehement longings after the coming of Christ.*

Assurance is requisite to the well-being of a Christian, but not to the
being ; it is requisite to the consolation of a Christian, but not to the
salvation of a Christian ; it is requisite to the well-being of grace, but
not to the mere being of grace. Though a man cannot be saved with-
out faith, yet he may be saved without assurance. God hath in many
places of the Scripture declared, that without faith there is no salvation,
but God hath not in any one place of the Scripture declared, that without

' The blind mau in the Gospel called his faith unbelief. [Mark ix. 24. — G.]

* They that honour God by sealing to his truth, those God will honour by sealing
them with his Spirit.

* Saints have eternal life, 1. inpretio ; 2, in promisso ; 3, in prmitiis.

* Eiyt. Zagnaph signifies vehement anger, with a sad and lowering countenance, Dan.
i. 10. Vide Merc. [That is, John Le Mercier or Mercerus. Died 1572. His 'Com-
mentaries' still in use. — G.] ' Isa. viii. 17 ; xlix. 14-16 ; liv. 6-11.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 337

assurance there is no salvation.^ A man must first be saved before he
can be assured of his salvation, for he cannot be assured of that which
is not ; and a man must have saving grace before he can be saved, for
he cannot be saved by that which he hath not. Again, a man must be
ingrafted into Christ, before he can be assured of remission or salvation,
but this he cannot be before he hath faith, therefore there may be grace
where there is no assurance. Christ went to heaven in a cloud, and
the angel went up to heaven in the smoke and flame of the sacrifice ;
and so I doubt not but many precious souls do ascend to heaven in
clouds and darkness. Acts i. 9 ; Judges xiii. 20.

Now a man may have grace, and yet want assurance, and that may
arise from these causes.

(] .) First, From his cavilling spirit, and from his siding with the
old man against the new, with the flesh against the spirit, with corrup-
tion against grace, with the house of Saul against the house of David,
with the work of Satan against the work of God. Sin is Satan's work ;
grace, holiness is God's ; yet such is the weakness, yea, madness of many
poor souls, that they will fall in and side with Satan's work, rather
than with God's, against their own souls.* Ah ! Christians, will you con-
demn that judge for injustice and unrighteousness, that shall open his
ears to the complaints of the plaintiff, but stops his ears against the
answers of the defendant ; and will you not condemn yourselves for
that you do with both ears hear what sin and Satan hath to say against
the soul, but have not one ear open to hear what the Spirit, what grace,
what the new man, what the noble part of man, what the regenerate
man, can say for the justification, satisfaction, and consolation of the
soul.^ Let me tell thee, O thou cavilling soul I that it is thy wisdom
and thy duty to rememember that command of God, that doth pro-
hibit thee from bearing false witness against thy neighbour. That same
command doth enjoin thee not to bear false witness against the work
of grace upon thy own heart, against the precious and glorious things
that God hath done for thy soul. And thou shouldst make as much
conscience of bearing false witness against anything the Lord hath
wrought in thee, and for thee, as thou doest make conscience of bearing
false witness against thy neighbour. It cannot but be sad with the
soul, but be night with the soul, when it makes much conscience of the
one, and no conscience of the other. Many heathens have been so
loving and faithful one to another, that they would rather die, than
they would bear false witness one against another. How dare you

* God never said, Except you be assured I will pardon you, I will never pardon yon ;
except you are assured 1 will save you, I will never save you. This is language God
never spoke ; and why, then, should men speak it ?

' Cease cavilling, thou weak soul, and say, Quodfui, Domine, ignosee; quod mm, eorrige;
quod ero, dirige, Lord, forgive what I have been, correct what I am, direct what I shall
be.

' When John Prostiborski [?], baron of Schanow, was laid on the rack, he, with an
heroical indignation, cut out his tongue, and cast it away. Being demanded why he did
80, set down his answer with a quill on the wall : I did it, said he, because I would not
bft brought by any tortures to say anything that is false against myself or others. Ah !
cavilling souls, I had almost said that you were better cut out your tongues than suffer
them to be cavilling against the grace of God, the image of God, that is stamped upon
you;

VOL. IL Y

338 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

cavilling souls, then to bear false witness against your own souls, and
the gracious work of the Lord upon them ! If this be not the way to
keep off assurance, and keep the soul in darkness, yea, in a hell, I know
nothing.

(2.) Again, a man may have grace, and yet want assurance, and
that may arise in the second place from the exceeding littleness and
weakness of his grace} A little candle yields but a little light, and a
little grace yields but a little evidence.^ Great measures of grace
carries with them great and clear evidences, but little measures carries
with them but little evidence. Some stars are so small that they are
scarce discernible ; so some saints' graces are so small, that they can
hardly see their graces to be graces. A little fire will yield but a little
heat ; a little grace will yield but a little comfort, a little evidence ; a
little grace will yield a man a heaven hereafter, but it is a great deal
of grace that must yield us a heaven here ; a little stock will bring in
but a little profit ; a little grace will bring in but a little peace ; a little
jewel yields but a little lustre, a little glory ; no more doth a little
grace, and therefore it is that Christians that have but a little grace,
have but a little of the shine and lustre of assurance, they have but
little joy and comfort in this world. Yet that the spirits of weak
Christians may not utterly faint, let me give them this hint, viz., that
the weakest Christian is as much justified, as much pardoned, as much
adopted, and as much united to Christ as the strongest, and hath as
much interest and propriety in Christ as the highest and noblest
Christian that breathes, though he cannot make so much advantage
and improvement of his interest and propriety as the strong Christian,
who hath a greater degree of grace.^

Hierom [Jerome] observes upon the beatitudes, that there are many
of the promises made to weak grace : Mat. v. 3, 4, 6, ' Blessed are the
poor in spirit : blessed are they that mourn : blessed are they that
hunger and thirst.' Weak saints, remember this: the promise is a ring
of gold, and Christ is the precious tried stone in that ring ; and upon
that stone must you rest, as you would have grace to thrive, and your
souls to be safe and happy. Weak souls, remember this : as Joseph
sent chariots to bring his father and his brethren to him. Gen. xlv.
80 God would have your weak graces to be as chariots to bring you to
himself, who is the cherisher, strengthener, and increaser of grace. He
that makes his graces to be servants and handmaids to convey him to
Christ, the fountain of grace, he shall find the greatest sweetness in
grace, and the greatest increase of grace.

(3.) Thirdly, A man may have true grace, and yet want assurance,
and this may arise from the resurrection of old sins. Ah ! when those
sins which were long since committed, and long since lamented, and
long since loathed, and long since crucified ; when those old sins, which

' Mat. xiv. 30, 81 ; Mark ix. 24.

* Pythagoras saith, that mustard seed hath the pre- eminence among those things
whose power is to ascend upward. Pliny, in his Nat. Hist., lib. ii. cap. 22, speaks more-
of this grain. [Rather lib. xix. c. 54, 57. — G.]

' The babe in the arms hath as much propriety in the father as he that is grown up
to ripe years, though he cannot make such improvement of it as the other. A child's
hand may receive a pearl as well as the hand of a giant ; so may a weak faith a Christ
as well as a strong.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 339

hath cost a soul many prayers and many tears, and many sighs, and
many groans, and many complaints, when those sins that have been
long buried shall be again revived, and meet the soul, and stare upon
the soul, and say to the soul. We are thine, and we will follow thee ;
we are thine, and we will haunt thee ; ^ ah, how will this cause a
man's countenance to be changed, his thoughts to be troubled, his
joints to be loosed, and his heart to be amazed. David and Job meet-
ing with the sins of their youth, long after they were lamented and
pardoned, makes their hearts startle and tremble, Ps. xxv. 7, Job xiii.
26. Upon the new risings of old sins, the soul begins to question all,
and thus to expostulate the case : Surely my estate is not good, my
pardon is not sealed ; if it be, how comes these sins to be revived, to be
remembered? Hath not God engaged himself in the promises of grace,
that those sins that are pardoned, shall never be remembered ? Isa.
xliii. 25, Jer. xxxi. 34, and surely if these sins be not pardoned, I have
reason to fear that others be not pardoned ; and if my sins be not
pardoned, how shall I escape being destroyed ? Surely my repentance
was not sound, my sorrow was not sincere, the blow, the wound I gave
sin, was not mortal; if it had, how comes it to pass that it now meets
me like an armed enemy? Thus, these new risings of old sins keeps
many a man's soul and assurance asunder.

(4.) Fourthly, A man may have grace and yet want assurance, and
this may arise from his falling short of that 'perfection that the word
requires, and that other saints have attained to} Ah ! says such a
soul, surely I have no grace ! Oh how short do I fall of such and such
righteous rules, and of such and such precious Christians ! Ah ! how
clear are they in their light ! How strong are they in their love ! How
high are they in their attainments ! How are their hearts filled with
grace, and their lives with holiness! All their motions towards God,
and towards man, speak out grace, grace; they pray indeed like saints,
and live indeed like angels. Now many poor souls, comparing them-
selves with the perfect rule of righteousness, and with those that are in
the highest forms in Christ's school, and that are the noblest and
choicest patterns for purity and sanctity, and finding such a vast dis-
proportion between their hearts and the rule, between their actions
and lives, and the actions and lives of others, they are apt to sit down
sadded and discouraged.'

Suetonius reports of Julius Caesar, that seeing Alexander's statue,
he fetched a deep sigh, because he at that age had done so little.* So
many precious souls sit do\\Ti sighing and weeping, that they have
lived so long, and done so little for God, and for their own internal and
eternal good. This wounds and sinks their spirits, that they are so

* It woiiW very much discomfort us and terrify us to see one haunt us that was long
since laid in the grave, whose resurrection we did neither fear nor repent,* till the sound-
ing of the last trumpet. — * Qu. ' expect'? — Ed.

* Perfection is desirable on earth, but shall be only enjoyed in heaven.

' It was a sweet saying of one, In libra ttio tcribunUtr omnes qui qnod possunt faciunt, ti
quod debent non possiint. They are surely written all in God's book that do what they can,
though they cannot but underdo. Remember this, though your consolation depends
upon degrees of grace, yet your salvation depends upon the truth of grace. [Cf. Purnell,
• TheiWay step by step to a Sound and Saving Conversion,' p. 99— which firooks here
anticipates. — G.]

* A commonplace in the Lives of Ctesar, early and modem. — G.

340 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

unlike to those in grace, that they desire to be like unto in glory ; and
that they are so far below such and such in spirituals, whom they are
so far above in temporals.*

(5.) Fifthly, A man may have true grace and yet want assurance,
and this may arise from that smoke and clouds, those fears and doubts
that corruption raises in the soul; so ihat the soul cannot see those
excellent graces that othervjise might be discerned. Though there may
be many precious gems and jewels in the house, yet the smoke may
hinder a man from seeing them sparkle and shine. So though there
may be many precious graces in the souls of saints, yet corruption may
raise such a dust, such a smoke in the soul, that the soul is not able to
see them in the beauty and glory. The well of water was near Hagar,
but she saw it not till her eyes were opened by the Lord, Gen. xxi. 19,
20. So grace is near the soul, yea, in the soul sometimes, and yet the
soul doth not see it, till God opens the eye and shews it. ' The Lord
was in this place,' saith Jacob, ' and I knew it not,' Gen. xxviii. 16. So
many a precious soul may say, grace was in my heart, and I knew it
not, I saw it not.*

Blessed Bradford in one of his epistles saith thus, ' O Lord, methinks
I feel it so with me, sometimes as if there were no difference between
my heart, and the heart of the wicked; my mind is as blind as
theirs, my spirit as stout, stubborn, and rebellious as theirs, and my
thoughts as confused as theirs, and my affections as disordered as theirs,
and my services as formal as theirs,' &c.^ Ah, Christians ! have not
many of your souls found it so ? Surely yes ! No wonder then, that
though you have grace, yet you have not seen it sparkling and shining
in your souls ; as some have thought that their fields have had no
corn, because the}' have T)een so full of weeds; and that their heap hath
no wheat, because nothing hath appeared but chaff; and that their
pile hath no gold, because it hath been covered with much dross. So
some have thought that their hearts have been void of grace, because
they have been so full of fears and doubts. Peter at one time believes
and walks, at another time he doubts and sinks. Mat. xiv, 30. Abra-
ham believes and offers up Isaac at one time, he fears and falls at
another time. ' Say thou art my sister, lest they kill me,' Gen xx. 2.
So David and Job, they had their shufflings, tremblings, faintings,
shakings, and questionings, Ps. cxvi. 11, Ps. xxxi. 22. It is not always
high water with saints, sometimes they are reduced to a very low ebb.
The best of saints are like the ark, tossed up and down with waves,
with fears and doubts ; and so it will be till they are quite in the bosom
of Christ.*

(6.) Lastly, A man may have grace, and yet not see it, yet not know
it ; and this may arise from his non-searching, his non-examining y
his non-ransacking, of his own soul. There is gold in the mine, and

> The being of grace is a different thing from the seeing of grace. The blind man in
the Gospel called his faith unbelief.

« Yet a saint at worst is not like him in Plutarch, who would not be resolved of his
doubts because he would not lose the pleasure in seeking for resolution. No ; he loves,
and looks, and longs for resolution to all his doubts.

3 Wiitings of Bradford, by Townsend, 1863 : Letters.— G.

* Eara hora, brevii mora. — Bernard.

KOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 341

men might find it, if they would but dig and search diligently after it/
There is grace in the heart, and you might see it, if you would but take
the candle of the Lord, and look narrowly after it. Look, as many a
man upon a diligent search may find his temporal estate to be better
than he apprehends it, so many choice souls upon a diligent search may
find their spiritual estate to be far better than they conceived or judged
it to be. Therefore souls, cease from complaining, cease from rash
judging and dooming of yourselves to hell, and be diligent in inquiring
what the Lord hath done, and what the Lord is a-doing, in you and for
you. Compare the books together, compare his working upon you and
others together. What ! is there no light, no love, no longings, no
hungerings, no thirstings after God ? What ! is there no sighing, no
complaining, no mourning, under the sense of sin, and under the want
of divine favour V Surely if you search, you will find some of these
things ; and if you do, prize them as jewels that are more worth than a
world. God will not despise ' the day of small things,' and will you ?
Will you, dare you, say that that is little that is more worth than
heaven ? The least spark of grace shall at last be turned into a crown
of glory. Well ! remember this, that as the least grace, if true and
sincere, is sufficient to salvation, so the sense of the least grace should
be sufficient to your consolation.

The fourth proposition is this, viz.. That God may deny assurance
long, and yet give it in to his children at last, after patient waiting.
God appears to David, and brings him out of 'an horrible pit' (or out
of a ' pit of noise'), ' and sets his feet upon a rock, and puts a new song
into his mouth,' Ps. xl. 1-4.

After the church in the Canticles had run through many hazards and
hardships, many difficulties and dangers, she finds ' him whom her soul
loved,' chap. iii. 5.

The prophet sits down and bewails his sad condition thus : Ps. Ixix.
8, 20, ' I am weary of my crying ; my throat is dried : mine eyes fail
while I wait on my God. And I am full of heaviness ; and I looked
for some to take pity, but there was none ; and for comforters, but I
found none.' Ay, but at last God appears, and then says he : ' I will
praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with
thanksgiving,' ver. 30.

Job sighs it out : ' Behold I go forward, but he is not there ; and
backward, but I cannot perceive him : on the left hand, where he doth
work, but I cannot behold him : he hideth himself on the right hand,
that I cannot see him,' Job viii. 9. But after this sighing, he sings it
out : ' Till I die, I will not remove my integrity from me. My right-
eousness I hold fast, and will not let it go : my heart shall not reproach
me so long as I live,' chap, xxvii. 5, 6.*

• Worthless daisies grow in sight upon the surface of the earth, but tho^ precious and
richest rarities are hid within the bowels of the earth. You are wise, and know how to
apply it.

* The cry that was heard in the temple was, Migremu» hinc, Let us go hence, let us go
hence. [Josephus, Jewish War, Book vi. — G.]

' Experience doth abundantly evidence, that this is the manner of God's dealing with
abundance of those precious souls of whom this world is not worthy. I could say much
to this point from my own knowledge, but I must forbear lighting a candle to see the
son at noon.

342 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Mr Frogmoiton was as holy and as choice a preacher as most was in
England in those days, and he lived seven and thirty years without
assurance, and then died, having assurance but an hour before he died.
He went to die at Mr Dod's, who is now with the Lord, and did die
there in full assurance of the justification of his person, the remission of
his sins, and the salvation of his soul.^ God denied assurance a great
while to Mr Glover, though he sought it with many prayers and tears ;
and 3'et when he was in sight of the fire, the Lord sinned forth in his
favour so sweetly upon him, that he cries out to his friend, ' lie is come,
he is come ''^ So Mrs Katherine Bretterge, after many bitter conflicts
with Satan the day before she died, she had sweet assurance of that
kingdom that shakes not, of those riches that corrupt not, and of that
crown of righteousness that fades not away.^

I have read of three martyrs that were bound and brought to the
stake, and one of them gets from under his stake to admiration, and
falls down upon the ground, and wrestles earnestly with God for the
sense of his love, and God gave it him then at that instant, and so
he came and embraced the stake, and died cheerfully and resolutely
a glorious martyr. God delayed till he was bound, and then lets out
himself sweetly and gloriously to him.*

Now God doth delay the giving in of assurance to his dearest ones,
and that partly to let them know that he will be waited ou, and that
assurance is a jewel worth waiting for.

The least smile from God when our last glass is running, will make
our souls amends for all their waiting. And partly that we may know
that he is free in his workings, and that he is not tied to any prepara-
tions or qualifications in the creature, but is free to come when he will,
and go when he will, and stay as long as he will, though the soul doth
sigh it out, ' How long, Lord, how long will it be before my mourning be
turned into rejoicing ?'

Again, God delays the giving in of assurance, not because he delights
to keep his children in fears and doubts, nor because he thinks that
assurance is too rare, too great, too choice a jewel to bestow upon them ;
but it is either because he thinks their souls do not stand at a sufficient
distance from sin, or because their soids are so taken up and filled with
creature enjoyments as that Christ is put to lodge in an out-house, or
else it is because they pursue not after assurance with all their might ;
they give not all diligence to make their calling and election sure ; or
else it is because their hearts are not prepared, are not low enough, for
so high a favour.*

Now God's delaying assurance upon these weighty grounds should
rather work us to admire him, to justify him, and quietly to wait for him,
than to have any hard thoughts of him, or to carry it unkindly to him, or
impatiently to say, * Why is his chariot so long a-coming ?' Judges v. 28.

The fifth proposition is this. That those choice souls that have assur-
ance may lose it, they may forfeit it. The freshness and greenness, the
beauty, lustre, and glory of assurance may be lost.

* See Index, sub Frogmorton.— G. * See Vol. I. p. 109.— G.
3 Ibid. p. 116.— G.

* Hudson, Ibid, p. 109 G. Voluntat Dei neeessitas ret, God will have every child of

hi* to put his fiat, hia placet, to God's, go it never so much against the liaira.

' Isa, lix. 1, 2 ; Jeremiah t. 25 ; Luke ii. 7 ; 2 Peter ii. 5.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 343

It is true, believers cannot lose the habits, the seeds, the root of
grace ; yet they may lose assurance, which is the beauty and fragrancy,
the crown and glory of grace, J John iii. 9, 1 Peter i. 5. These two
lovers, grace and assurance, are not by God so nearly joined together
but that they may by sin on our side, and justice on God's, be put
asunder. The keeping of these two lovers, grace and assurance, together,
will yield the soul two heavens, a heaven of joy and peace here, and a
heaven of happiness and blessedness hereafter ; but the putting these
two lovers asunder will put the soul into a hell here, though it escape a
hell hereafter. This Chrysostom knew well, when he professed that the
want of the enjoyment of God would be a far greater hell to him than
the feeling of any punishment,'

As you would keep your Christ, as you would keep your comfort, as
you would keep your crown, keep grace and assurance together, and
neither by lip nor life, by word nor works, let these be put asunder. It
is possible for the best of men so to blot and blur their evidences for
felicity and glory, as that they may not be able to read them nor under-
stand them. They may so vex and grieve the Spirit either by gross
enormities, or by refusing his comforts and cordials, or by neglecting or
slighting his gracious actings in themselves and others, or by misjudging-
his work, as calling faith fancy, or sincerity hypocrisy, &c., or by father-
ing those brats upon him that are the children of their own distempered
hearts, as that he may refuse to witness their interest in him, though
he be a witnessing Spirit, and refuse to comfort them, though he be the
only Comforter.^

The best believer that breathes may have his summer-day turned
into a winter-night, his rejoicing into sighing, his singing into weeping,
his wedding-robes into mourning weeds, his wine into water, his sweet
into bitter, his manna, his angels' food, into husks, his pleasant grapes
into the grapes of Sodom, his fruitful Canaan, his dehghtful paradise,
into a barren and unlovely wilderness. Look, as faith is often attended
with unbelief, and sincerity with hypocrisy, and humility with vain-
glory, so is assurance with fears and doubts.^

Blessed Hooker* hved near thirty years in close communion with
God, without any considerable withdrawings of God all that while ;
and yet, upon his dying bed, he went away without any sense of assur-
ance, or discoveries of the smiles of God, to the wonder and deceiving
of the expectation of many precious souls, and without doubt in judg-
ment to wicked men.

Look, as many a man loses the sight of the city when he comes near
to it, so many a choice soul loses the sight of heaven, even then when
he is nearest to heaven. Abraham, you know, had assurance in an
extraordinary way concerning his protection from God ; and yet says

* It is wonderful rare, if possible, for a soul that ever had a ■well-grounded assurance
not to experience this truth at first or last. A separation between the body and the Boul
will not so torment the soul as separation between grace and assurance.

^ Spiritus tanclus eat ret delieata, the Holy Spirit is a very tender thing, 1 Sam. zvi.,
and John xiv.

* What Latimer said of the Spirit, It is going and coming, may be truly said of assur-
ance, and joy, It is coming and going. So did Master Burroughs, of blessed memory, go
into heaven in a cloud. [That is, Jeremiah Burroughs, He died in 1646. — G,]

* Thomas Hooker, afterwards of New England. He died 1647. — G.

344 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Abraham, * Say thou art my sister ; for otherwise they will kill me,'
Gen. xii. 13, and xx. 2. Ah ! how was the freshness, the greenness, the
beauty and glory of his assurance wore off, that he should, out of
slavish fears, expose his wife to other men's pleasure, and himself and
his neighbour to God's displeasure ; that he should wound four at once,
the honour of God, his wife's chastity, his own conscience, and Pharaoh's
soul.^

David, you know, sometimes sings it out sweetly : ' The Lord is my
portion, and the lot of mine inheritance ; he is my salvation : of whom
shall I be afraid ? He is my rock and fortress, and my deliverer, my
God, my strength, my trust, my buckler, and my high tower,' Ps. xviii.
2. At other times you have him sighing it out : ' Why art thou cast
down, my soul ? why art thou disquieted in me ? why hast thou
forgotten me X Ps. xlii. 5. ' O God, my rock ! why go I mourning' ?
' Thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There
is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger ; neither is there
any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over my head ; as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. I am
troubled ; I am bowed down greatly ; I go mourning all the day long,'
Ps. xxxviii. 2-6. ' Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled,' Ps.
XXX. 7. * Restore to me the joy of my salvation, that the bones that
thou hast broken may rejoice,' Ps. li. 12. His heart was more often
out of tune than his harp. He begins many of his psalms sighing, and
ends them singing ; and others he begins in joy, and ends in sorrow ;
* So that one would think,' saith one, ' that those psalms had been
composed by two men of a contrary humour.'* Yea, it is very observ-
able, that though David had assurance in an extraordinary way that he
should be king, being anointeil by that great prophet Samuel, yet the
lustre and glory of this assurance wears off; and he, overcome by
slavish fears, cries out, that * All men are liars,' (even Samuel as well
as others), and that ' he shall one day perish by the hand of Saul.'*
It is true, says David, I have a crown, a kingdom in a promise ; but I
must swim to the crown through blood, I must win the crown before I
wear it ; and the truth is, I am like to die before I attain it. Yea, and
after he was kipg, when king Jesus did but hide his face, he was sorely
troubled ;* so that neither his glorious throne, nor his royal robes, nor
his golden crown, nor his glistering courtiers, nor his large revenues, nor
his cheerful temper, nor his former experiences, could quiet him or
satisfy him when God had turned his back upon him. Look, as all
lights cannot make up the want of the light of the sun, so all temporal
comforts cannot make up the want of one spiritual comfort.

So Job sometimes sings it out, 'My witness is in heaven, and my
record is on high ; and my Redeemer lives,' &c.. Job xvi. 19, and xix.
25. At other times you have him complaining, ' The arrows of the

' We should rather die than lie. We are not to tell an officious [i. e. forward to lie]
lie, lo tell a lie for no hurt, hut for no good, though it were to save all the world, said
Austin.

* Peter du Moulin. [Better known as Molinseus. — 6.]

' Ps, cxvi. 11, *tBn, In my trembling, or in my affrightment, I said, all men are liars.

* Ps. XXX. 6, 7, Sn3, Bahal. I was troubled like a withered flower that loseth sap
and vigour; so it is used in Exod. xv. 15. When God is gone, it is night with the
soul.

EOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 345

Almighty stick fast in me, and their poison drinketh up my spirit,'
Job vi. 4 ; ' The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.'
And chap. xxix. 2—5, you have him sighing it out thus : ' Oh that I
were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me ; when
his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through
darkness ; as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God
was upon my tabernacle ; when the Almighty was yet with me !' &c.^

Now, by all these clear instances, and by many other saints' experi-
ences, it is evident that the choicest saints may lose their assurance,
and the lustre and glory of it may decay and wither. What the soul
should do in such a case, and how it should be recovered out of this
sad state, I shall shew you towards the close of this discourse.

The sixth proposition is this. That the certainty and infallibility
of a Christian's assurance cannot be made known to any but his own
heart. He can say as the blind man once said, ' This I know, that once
I was blind, but now I see,' John ix. 25. Once I was a slave, but now
I am a son ; once I was dead, but now I am alive ; once I was dark-
ness, but now I am light in the Lord ; once I was a child of wrath, an
heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven ; once 1 was Satan's bond-
man, but now I am God's freeman ; once I was under the spirit of
bondage, but now I am under the spirit of adoption, that seals up to
me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person, and the
salvation of my soul.* All this I know, says the assured saint ; but I
cannot make you know it certainly and infallibly if you would give me
a thousand worlds.' What I have found and felt, and what I do find
and feel, is wonderfully beyond what I am able to express. I am as
well able to tell the stars of heaven, and to number the sand of the
sea, as I am able to declare to you the joy, the joy, the unconceivable
joy, the assurance, the glorious assurance, that God hath given me.

Severinus, the Indian saint, under the power of assurance, was heard
to say, O my God ! do not for pity so over-joy me ; if I must still
live, and have such consolations, take me to heaven, &c. So say souls
under the power of assurance : Lord ! we are so filled with joy and
comfort, with delight and content, that we are not able to express it
here on earth ; and therefore take us to heaven, that we may have that
glory put upon us, that may enable us to declare and manifest those
glorious things that thou hast wrought in us.*

Parents do by experience feel such soundings, such meltings, such
rollings, such sweet workings of their affections and bowels towards
their children, that for their lives they cannot to the life describe to
others what it is to be a father, to be a mother ; what it is to have
such rollings of bowels towards children. Assurance is that white stone
that none knoweth but he that hath it : Rev. ii. 17, 'To him that

^ Tota vita boni Christiani sanctum desiderium est, tbe whole life of a good Christian is
an holy wish, said one.

2 Rom. viii. 6, 11, 18 ; Eph. v. 8, and ii. 3 ; John viii. 36 ; 2 Cor. iii. 17 ; Gal. i. I, 13 ;
Eph. i. 13, 14.

' Can you compass the heavens with a span, or contain the sea in a nutshell ? Then
may you fully evidence your assurance to others.

* ,1 Peter i. 8. So my young Lord Harrington [Funeral Sermon by Stock, 1614. — G.],
and Nazianzen, and Vincentius, and Faninus an Italian martyr, with many more that
might be named. [Vincentius, Clarke, as before, pp. 34, 86 ; Faninus, ibid. — G.]

346 HEAVEN ON EAKTH, [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth saving he that receiveth it." White stones were in great use
among the Romans.

(1 .) In white stones they used to write the names of such as were
victorious and conquerors ; so in that text, ' To him that overcometh,
will I give a white stone.'

(2.) They used to acquit the innocent in courts of justice, by giving
them a white stone ; and so here the white stone points out absolution
and remission.*

(3.) They used to give a white stone to those that were chosen to any
places of honour ; so the white stone of assurance is an evidence of our
election, of our being chosen to a kingdom that shakes not, to riches
that corrupt not, and to a crown of glory that fades not. And thus
much for this sixth proposition, viz., that the certainty and infallibility
of a Christian's assurance cannot be made known to any but his own
heart, Heb. xii. 28 ; Mat. vi. 20 ; 1 Pet. i. 4.

The seventh proposition is this, That there are some special seasons
and times, ivherein the Lord is graciously pleased to give to his children
a sweet assurance of his favour and love, and tliey are these that follow.

I. First, Sometimes, I say not always, at first conversion, the Lord
is pleased to raake out sweet manifestations of his love to the penitent
soul. When the soul hath been long under guilt and wrath, when the
soul hath been long under the frowns and displeasure of God, and hath
long seen the gates of heaven barred against him, and the mouth of
hell open to receive him ; when the soul hath said, Surely there is no
hope, there is no help, surely I shall lose God, Christ and heaven for
ever, then God comes in and speaks peace to the soul, then he says, ' I
will blot out thy iniquities for my name's sake, and will remember thy
sins no more,' Isa. xliii. 25. Hark, soul, hark, says Christ, ' My thoughts
are not as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways,' Isa. Iv. 8, 9. My
thoughts towards you are thoughts of peace and thoughts of love.
Hark, soul ! here is mercy to pardon thee, and here is grace to adorn
thee ; here is righteousnessto justify thee ; here is eye-salve to enlighten
thee, and gold to enrich thee, and raiment to clothe thee, and balm to heal
thee, and bread to nourish thee, and wine upon the lees to cheer thee,
and happiness to crown thee, and myself to satisfy thee. Ah, souls !
have not some of you found it so ? surely you have.^

God deals sometimes with rebellious sinners, as princes do with those
that are in arms, that are in open rebellion against them. You know
princes will put such hard to it : they shall fare hard, and lie hard ; chains,
and racks, and what not, shall attend them ; and yet after the sentence
is passed upon them, and they are upon the last step of the ladder of life,
ready to be turned off, and all hope of escape is gone, then the prince's
pardon is put into their hand.* So the Lord brings many poor souls to
the last steps of the ladder, to a hopeless condition, and then he puts
their pardon into their bosoms ; then he says, ' Be of good cheer, I have

* Vide Beza, BuUinger, Pererius, and Brightman, on the words.

2 And they gave black stones to note their condemnation.

3 I Cor, i. 30 ; Rev. iii. 18 ; Isa. xxv. 6.

* This hath been a practice among all princes, whether they have been Christians or
heathens.

Rom. VIII. 32-34-.] heaven on earth. 347

received you into favour, I have set my love upon you, I am reconciled
to you, and will never be separated from you.'

You know how God dealt with Paul : after he had awakened and con-
vinced him, after he had unhorsed him and overthrown him, after he
had amazed and astonished him, then he shews himself graciously and
favourably to him, then he takes him up into the third heaven, and
makes such manifestations of his love and favour, of his beauty and
glory, of his mercy and majesty, as he is not able to utter.*

So upon the prodigal's return, the fatted calf is killed, and the best
robe is put upon his back, and the ring is put on his hand, and shoes
on his feet, Luke xv. 22, 23.

Some understand by the robe, the royalty of Adam, others, the
righteousness of Christ ; and by the ring, some understand the pledges
of God's love, rings being given as pledges of love ; some the seal of
God's Spirit, men using to seal with their rings.^

Among the Romans, the ring was an ensign of virtue, honour, and
nobility, whereby they that wore them were distinguished from the
common people. I think the main thing intended by all these pas-
sages, is to shew us, that God sometimes upon the sinner's first conver-
sion and returning to him, is graciously pleased to give him some choice
and signal manifestations of his love and favour, of his good-will and
pleasure, and that upon these following grounds :

(1.) The first ground. That they may not be swallowed up of sor-
row, nor give up the ghost under the pangs and throes of the new
birth. Ah ! did not the Lord let in some beams of love upon the soul,
when it is Magor-missabib, a terror to itself ; when the heart is a hell
of horror, the conscience an Aceldama, a field of black blood ; when
the soul is neither quiet at home nor abroad, neither at bed nor board,
neither in company nor out of company, neither in the use of ordinances
nor in the neglect of ordinances ; how would the soul faint, sink, and
despair for ever !^ But now when it is thus night with the soul, the
Lord sweetly comes in and tells the soul, that all is well, that he hath
found a ransom for the soul, that the books are crossed, that all debts
ai"e discharged, and that his favour and love upon the soul is fixed. Job
xxxiii. 24. And so God by his sweet and still voice, speaking thus to
the soul, quiets and satisfies it, and keeps it from sinking and despairing.

(2.) 2'he second ground. God gives in assurance sometimes at first
conversion, t/iat he may the more raise and inflame their love and
affections to him. Ah ! how does a pardon given in when a man is
ready to be turned off, draw out his love, and raise his affections to that
prince that shews bowels of mercy, when he is upon the brink of misery !*
So when a poor sinner is upon the last step of the ladder, upon the very
brink of hell and misery, now for God to come in and speak peace and
pardon to the soul, ah ! how does it inflame the soul, and works the
soul to a holy admiration of God, and to a spiritual delighting in God !

' Acts ix. 3, Vide Bezam, et Grotium, et Calvin.

' The dignity which Adam lost ; nay, I think in this parable God sets forth his good-
ness and our happiness in restoring to us more by the death of the second Adam, than
we lost by the sin of the first Adam.

' An awakened conscience is like Prometheus's vulture, it lies ever gnawing.

* Titus's motto was, Frinceps bonut orbia amor, all the world falls in love with a good
prince, with a merciful prince. [Cf. Josephus, tub nomine. — G.]

348 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34!.

King Antigonus his pulliug a sheep with his own hands out of a
dirty ditch, as he was passing by, drew his subjects exceedingly to com-
mend him and love him.' So King Jesus pulling of poor souls out of
their sins, and as it were out of hell, cannot but draw them to be much
in the commendations of Christ, and strong in their love to Christ.
Christ hath nothing more in his eye, nor upon his heart, than to act
towards bis people in such ways and at such seasons as may most win
upon their affections. And therefore it is, that sometimes he gives the
strongest consolation at first conversion.

(3.) Tlie third ground. Christ sometimes at first conversion grants
to his people the sweetest manifestations of his love, that tliey may he
the more active, fervent, abundant, and constant in ways of grace wnd
holiness.^ He knows that divine manifestations of love will most
awaken, quicken, and engage the soul to ways of piety and sanctity.

Look what wings are to the bird, oil to the wheels, weights to the
clock, a reward to the coward, and the loadstone to the needle, that are
the smiles and discoveries of God to a poor soul at his conversion. The
manifestatations of divine love puts heat and life into the soul, it makes
the soul very serious and studious how to act for God, and live to God,
and walk with God. Ah ! says a soul under the beams of divine love,
it is my meat and drink, it is my joy and crown to do all I can for that
God that hath done so much for me, as to know me in darkness, and
to speak love to me when I was most unlovely ; to turn my mourning
into rejoicing, and my hell into a heaven.

(4.) The fourth ground. Christ sometimes at first conversion
gives his people the sweetest manifestations of his love, to fence and
fortify them against Saians fiery temptations. Before Christ shall be
led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, the Spirit of the
Lord shall descend upon him like a dove, and he shall hear a voice from
heaven, saying, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased/
Mat. iii. 16, 17,^ that so he may be strong in resisting, and glorious in
triumphing over all the assaults and temptations of Satan, Eph. vi. 16.
So many times at first conversion, the Lord makes out sweet mani-
festations of his love to the soul, that so the soul may stand fast, and not
give ground, and in the sense of divine love may so manage the shield
of faith, as to quench ail the fiery darts of the devil.

The Lord knows that when he sets upon the delivering of a poor soul
from the kingdom of darkness, and translating it into the kingdom of
his dear Son, that Satan will roar and rage, rend and tear, as he did
him, Mark ix. 25, 26, ' When Jesus saw that the people came running
together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and
deaf spirit, I charge thee to come out of him. And the spirit cried, and
rent him sore, and came out of him : and he was as one dead ; inso-
much that many said. He is dead.' No sooner did Jesus Christ look
with an eye of love, pity, and compassion upon the boy, but the devil
in his rage and wrath falls a-renting and tearing of him, as mad dogs

^ Diod. lib. xviii.-xx. ; Plutarch. Eumenes and Demetrius- — G.

* Amor dei nunquam otiosus est ; operatur enim magna si est ; si vero operari renuit, amor
nan est ; the love of God is never idle, for if it is, it worketh great things ; but if it re-
fuse to work, it is not love. So said Bradford, and other blessed souls.

• ivioKtifa. is an emphatical word, and signifies that infinite affection, delight, and con-
tent that God the Father did take in Christ.

Rom. VIII. 82-34.] HJiLiVEN on eakth. 349

do things they fasten upon. This poor child had never so sore a fit as
now he was nearest the cure. When rich mercy and glorious power is
nearest the soul, then Satan most storms and rages against the soul.
Col. i. 13.* The more the bowels of Christ do work towards a sinner,
the more furious will Satan assault that sinner. Therefore divine
wisdom and goodness does the more eminently shine in giving the poor
soul some sight of Canaan, and some bunches and clusters of that land,
upon its first coming out of the wilderness of sin and sorrow.

But that no soul may mistake this last proposition, give me leave to
premise these two cautions.

[1.] The first caution. That God does manifest his love only to
some at their first conversion, not to all. Though he dearly loves
every penitent soul, yet he does not manifest his love at first conversion
to every penitent souL God is a free agent, to work where he will, and
when he will, and to reveal his love how he will, and when he will, and
to whom he will. It is one thing for God to work a work of grace upon
the soul, and another thing for God to shew the soul that work.^

God oftentimes works grace in a silent and secret way, and takes
sometimes five, sometimes ten, sometimes fifteen, sometimes twenty
years ; yea, sometimes more, before he will make a clear and satisfying
report of his own work upon the soul. Though our graces be our best
jewels, yet they are sometimes, at first conversion, so weak and imper-
fect, that we are not able to see their lustre. The being of grace makes
our estates safe and sure, the seeing of grace makes our lives sweet and
comfortable.

[2.] The second caution. A man may at first conversion have
such a clear glorious manifestation of God's love to him, and of his
interest in God, and his right to glory, that he may not have the like
all his days after.^ The fatted calf is not every day slain, the robe of
kings is not every day put on, every day must not be a festival day, a
marriage day ; the wife is not every day in the bosom, the child is not
every day in the arms, the friend is not every day at the table, nor the
soul every day under the manifestations of divine love ; Jacob did not
every day see the angels ascending and descending ; Stephen did not
every day see the heavens open, and Christ standing on the right hand
of God ; Paul was not every day caught up to heaven, nor John was
not every day rapt up in the Spirit. No saint can every day cry out,
I have my Christ, I have my comfort, I have my assurance, as the
Persian king* cried out in his dream, ' I have Themistocles, I have
Themistocles.' Job had his harp turned into mourning, and his organ
into the voice of them that weep. Job xxx. 31. The best of saints are
sometimes put to hang their harps upon the willows, and cry out,
' Hath God forgotten to be gracious, and will he be favourable no more? '
Ps. cxxxvii. 2, Ixxvii. 7-9.

1 Pharaoh in his furious and violent pursuing after Israel, when he saw that God
would bring them from under his power, was a type of Satan. The Greek word pnfru,
signifies to tear and rent as the dog doth.

' A man may enjoy the warmth and heat of the sun when he cannot see the sun, so
a man may have grace when he cannot see that he hath grace.

' I have conversed with several precious souls that have found this true by experience,
aiad upon this very ground have questioned all, and strongly doubted, whether that they
have not taken Satan's delusions for divine manifestations.

Viz., Artaierxes, as in Plutarch and Diodorus, under Themistocles. — G.

350 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. S2-34.

II. The[re is a] second special season or time wherein the Lord is
pleased to give to his children a sweet assurance of his favour and love,
and that is, when he intends to put theini iipon soTne high and hard,
soTTie difficult and dangerous service} Oh then he gives them some
sweet taste of heaven beforehand ; now he smiles, now he kisses, now
he embraces the soul, now he takes a saint by the hand, now he causes
his goodness and gloiy to pass before the soul, now he opens his bosom
to the soul, now the soul shall be of his court and counsel, now the
clouds shall be scattered, now it shall be no longer night with the soul,
now the soul shall sit no longer mourning in the valley of darkness, now
Christ will carry the soul up into the mount, and there reveal his glory
to it, that it may act high and brave, noble and glorious in the face of
difficulties and discouragements. Christ did intend to put Peter, James,
and John upon hard and difficult service, and therefore brings them up
into an high mountain, and there gives them a vision of his beauty and
glory ; there they see him transfigured, metamoi-phosed, or transformed ;
there they see his face shining as the sun, and his raiment glistering,
Mat. xvii. 1-6. In the mount he shews them such beams of his deity,
such sparkling glory, as did even amuse* and amaze them, transport
them, and astonish them ; and all this grace and glory, this goodness
and sweetness Christ shews them, to hearten and encourage them to
own him and his truth, to stand by him and tFUth, to make him and his
truth known to the world, though hatred, bonds, and contempt did
attend them in so doing.

Thus God dealt with Paul before he put him upon that hard and
dangerous service that he had cut out for him. Acts ix. 1-23. He takes
him up into heaven, and sheds abroad his love into his heart, and tells
him that he is a chosen vessel ; he appears to him in the way, and fills
him with the Holy Ghost, that is, with the gifts, graces, and comforts of
the Holy Ghost, and straightway he falls upon preaching of Christ, upon
exalting of Christ, to the amazing and astonishing of all that heard him.'
And as he had more clear, full, and glorious manifestations of God's
love and favour than others, so he was more frequent, more abundant,
and more constant in the work and service of Christ than others, 2 Cor.
xi. 21-33.

And this hath been the constant dealing of God with the patriarchs,
as with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, &c., and with the prophets, as with
Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, &c.* When he hath put them upon
weighty services, he hath shed abroad his love into their hearts, he hath
set his seal upon their spirits, and made them to know that he hath set
them as a seal upon his hand ; he hath assured them of his countenance,
and of his presence, and of his assistance; he hath told them, though
others should desert them, yet he will stand by them, and strengthen

' 2 Cor. V. 14, i.tnix'1- Divine love hath a compulsive faculty, it is very powerful to
put the soul upon acting in the highest and hardest services for Christ.

* ' Set them musing.' Cf. Glossary, sub voce — G.

3 Chrysostom saith, that he was insatiabilis Dei cultor, an insatiable server of God.

* It is sufficient to point at these instances, they are so notoriously known to all that
know anything of the scripture in power. As he in Plutarch said of the Scythians, that
although they had no music nor vines among them, yet, as better things, they had gods.
So the saints, though they may want this and that outward encouragement in the service
of God, yet they shall enjoy his presence, that is better than all other things in the world.

Rom. Vni 32-34.] heaven on earth. 351

them, and support them, and uphold them with the right hand of his
righteousness ; he hath told them that his power should be theirs to
defend them, and his wisdom should be theirs to direct them, and his
goodness should be theirs to supply them, and his grace should be
theirs to heal them, and his mercy should be theirs to pardon them, and
his joy should be theirs to strengthen them, and his promise should be
theirs to cheer them, and his Spirit should be theirs to lead them ; and
this hath made them as bold as lions, this hath made them stedfast,
and stand close to the work of God in the face of all dangers and diffi-
culties ; this hath made them, with stout Nehemiah, scorn to desist or
fly from the Avork of the Lord ; this hath made their bows to abide in
strength, though the archers have shot sore at them. Now there are
considerable reasons why God is pleased to give his children some sweet
tastes of his love, some assurance of his favour, when he puts them upon
some hard and difficult service, and they are these that follow.

(1.) Tlie first reason. That they Tnay not faint nor falter in his ser-
vice, but go through it resolutely and bravely, in the face of all diffi-
culties and oppositions} When God put Joshua upon that hard
service of leading and governing his people Israel, he assures him of his
love and of his presence : ' Fear not, be of good courage, I am with
thee,' Joshua i. 6. And this makes him hold on and hold out in the
service of the Lord bravely and resolutely, in the face of all discourage-
ments : ' Choose you whom you will serve, whether your fathers' gods
or the gods of the Amorites ; but as for me, and my house, we will serve
the Lord,' Joshua xxiv. 15. So when the Lord put Paul upon such
service that occasioned bonds and afflictions to abide him in every city.
Acts XX. 23, he gives him a taste of heaven beforehand, and lifts up the
light of his countenance upon him, and this makes him resolute and
bold in the work of the Lord. Now Paul will not consult with flesh
and blood. Gal. i. 15-17; now it is not reproaches, nor stripes, nor
prisons, nor whips, nor perils, nor deaths, that can make him look back,
having put his hand to the Lord's plough. Oh ! the beamings forth of
divine love upon his soul filled him with that courage and resolution
that, with Shammah, one of David's worthies, he stands and defends the
field, when others fall, and fly, and quit the field, 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17.

(2.) The second reason : God gives his people some tastes of his love,
some sense of his favour, when he puts them upon hard and difficult
services, because else he should not only act below himself, as he is a
wise God, a faithful God, a powerful God, a Tnerciful God, a inghteous
God, <&c., but also act below his poor weak creatures.^ For what hus-
band will put his wife, what father will put his child, what master will
put his servant, what captain will put his soldier, what prince will put
his ambassadors, upon hard and difficult services, but they will smile
upon them, and speak kindly to them, and make large promises to
honour their persons, and kindly to accept, and nobly to reward their
services, &c. Surely none. And will God ? Will God, who will not
give his glory to those that have the most glorious beings, suffer his

• Apollonius, as Philostratus reports, being asked if he did not tremble at the sight of
the tyrant, made this answer : God, which hath given him a terrible countenance, hath
given also unto me an undaunted heart, &c.

' And to imagine that ever the great God will act below the wisdom of those that are
foolishness in the very abstract, is the greatest madness and blasphemy in the world.

352 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

glory to be clouded and eclipsed by the prudent actings of weak worms ?
Surely no. Isa. xlii. 8, and xlviii. 11.

(3.) The third reason : God lifts up the light of his countenance upon
his people when he puts them upon hard and difficult services, that they
may never repent of listing themselves in his sei^ice.^ Ah ! did not
the Lord warm the hearts of his people with the glorious beams of his
love, when he puts them upon hard work, they would be ready, when,
they meet with oppositions and hazards, to throw up all, and to sit
down lamenting and repenting that ever they were engaged in his ser-
vice. They would be as peevish and froward as Jonah, and with him
venture a drowning, to shift off God's service." Ah ! but now the Lord,
by letting his goodness drop upon their hearts, and by putting an.
earnest-penny into their hands, he causes them to go cheerfully on in
his work, without sighing or repenting. The kisses and embraces of
God do put such life, such spirit, such mettle into their souls, as makes
them bid defiance to the greatest dangers, and as crowns them con-
querors of the greatest difficulties. Ah ! says a soul that hath walked
some turns in paradise. What is dross to gold ! what is darkness to
light ! what is hell to heaven ! No more are all difficulties and oppo-
sitions to me, who have found the sweetness of divine grace, and have
had the happiness to lie in the bosom of God.

Diocletian, the worst and last persecutor in all the ten persecutions,
observed, ' that the more he sought to blot out the name of Christ, the
more it became legible ; and to block up the way of Christ, the more
it became passable ; and whatever of Christ he thought to root out, it
rooted the deeper, and rose the higher in the hearts and lives of the
saints, among whom he had scattered the beams of his love and the rich
pearls of his grace.'* Such souls as have once been in the arms of God,
in the midst of all oppositions, they are as men made all of fire walking
in stubble ; they consume and overcome all oppositions ; all difficulties
are but as whetstones to their fortitude. The moon will run her course,
though the dogs bark at it ; so will all those choice souls that have
found warmth under Christ's wings run their Christian race in spite of
all difficulties and dangers. The horse neighs at the trumpet, the
leviathan laughs at the spear ; so does a saint, under the power of
assurance, laugh at all hazards and dangers that he meets with in the
Lord's service. The sense of God's love and goodness makes him to
triumph over the greatest difficulties.

(4.) The fourth reason, and lastly : God gives his people some tastes
of his love when he puts them upon hard and difficult services^ that
the mouths of the wicked may be stopped. Should God lay heavy bur-
dens upon his people's shoulders, and not put under his fingers to give
some ease ; should God double their tale of brick, and yet deny them
straw ; should God engage them against a potent enemy, and then
desert them ; should God send them upon some weighty embassage,
and not give proportionable encouragements to them, what would the

^ Solus amor nescit difficultates, lore knows no diflBeulties.

' Melancthon was such a man, whom Luther encourages thus : Why should we fear a
conquered world, that have Christ the conqueror on our side? &c. [Correspondence
during the Diet of Augsburg, 1530. Cf. Sibbes's Works, vol. i. p. 126.-0.]

'As they said once of the Grecians in the epigram, whom they thought invulnerable,
We shoot at them, but they fall not down ; we wound them, and yet not kill them.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 353

world say? Exod. xxxii. 12, Num. xiv. 12-16. Would tbey not say
that he is a hard master, and that his ways are not equal ? Would they
not say, Verily they are liars that say he is glorious in power, and won-
derful in counsel, and infinite in mercy, and admirable in goodness, and
rich in grace, and unsearchable in his understanding ? For surely were
he, he could not, he would not, put his children upon such hard and
dangerous services, but he would own them, and stand by them ; he
would assist them, and smile upon them ; he would be as careful to
bring them bravely off, as he hath been ready to bring them freely on
Oh ! he could not see them in garments rolled in blood, but his bowels
would yearn towards them, and he would arise, and have mercy on
them.

III. Then, thirdly, Waiting times are times wherein God is pleased
to give his people some secret tastes of his love, and to lift up the light
of his countenance upon them: * I waited patiently' for the Lord,' saith
David, ' and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me
up also out of an hoixible pit' (or out of a pit of noise), 'out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God,'
Ps. xl. 1-3. After God had exercised David's patience in waiting, he
sweetly breaks in upon him, and knocks off his bolts, and opens the
prison doors, and takes him by the hand, and leads him out of the pit
of noise and confusion, in which he was, and causes his love and good-
ness so to beam forth upon him as causes his heart to rejoice, and his
tongue to sing. So after devout Simeon had waited for the consolation
of Israel, that is, for Christ's coming, the Holy Ghost falls upon him,
and leads him to a sight of Christ in the temple, and this makes the
good old man sing, Nunc dimittis, Now, let thy servant depart in
peace, Luke ii. 25-33. Ah ! says Simeon, I have lived long enough !
now I have got Christ in my heart, and Christ in my arms, who is my
light, my life, my love, my joy, my crown, let me depart, according to
thy word. Ah ! saints, I appeal to you, have not many of you found by
experience the sweet breathings of Christ upon you, even whilst you
have been waiting at the door of mercy ? while you have been weeping
and waiting, hath not the Lord Jesus come in and said, * Peace be to
you ' ; ' Waiting souls, be of good cheer, it is I; be of good cheer, your
sins are pardoned' ? Surely you have. Hath not God made that word
good unto you, ' Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the Lord ' ? Ps. xxvii. 24< ; yes.
And hath he not made that good to you, ' They shall not be ashamed
that wait for me ' ? Isa. xlix. 23 ;* that is, they shall not be deceived,
or disappointed of their hopes and expectations, that wait for me. Yes.
And have you not found that word made sweet to your souls, * There-
fore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious : blessed are all they
that wait for him ' ? Yes. And hath not the Lord made that word good
to you, ' The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul

^ *nMp nip waiting, I waited.

* These words, •shall not be ashamed,' in the Hebrew dialect, do not simply import that
Buch shall not be brought to shame, or shall not perish, but that he shall be advanced to
great dignity and glory, to everlasting happiness and blessedness.

VOL. II. Z

SS-i HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

that seeketh him' 1 Lam. iii. 25. Yes. Waiting souls, remember this
assurance is yours, but the time of giving it is the Lord's ; the jewel is
yours, but the season in which he will give it is in his own hand ; the
gold chain is yours, but he only knows the hour wherein he will put it
about your necks. Well ! wait patiently and quietly, wait expectingly,
wait believingly, wait affectionately, and wait diligently, and you shall
find that scripture made good in power upon your souls, ' Yet a little
while, and he that shall come will come, and will not taiTy,' Heb. x. 37,
(jfitxfov gov sov), Hab. ii. 3, He will certainly come, he will seasonably
come, he will suddenly come, as the prophet Malachi speaks : ' Behold,
I will send ray messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and
the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in : behold, he shall come,
saith the Lord of hosts,' Mai. iii. 1. Well ! I will say but this, if assur-
ance of God's love be not a jewel worth a waiting for, it is worth no-
thing.

IV. Fourthly, Suffering times are times wherein the Lord is pleased
to give his people some sense of his favour.^ When they are in suffer-
ings for righteousness' sake, for the gospel's sake, then usually God causes
his face to shine upon them.^ Now they shall hear best news from
heaven when they hear worst from earth. God loves to smile most upon
his people when the world frowns most. When the world puts their
iron chains upon their legs, then God puts his golden chains about their
necks ; when the world puts a bitter cup into their hands, then God
drops some of his honey, some of his goodness and sweetness into it.
When the world is ready to stone them, then God gives them the white
stone ; and when the world is a-tearing their good names, then he gives
them a new name, that none knows but he that hath it, a name that is
better than that of sons and daughters. When the world cries out,
' Crucify them, crucify them,' then they hear that sweet voice from
heaven, ' These are my beloved ones, in whom I am well pleased.' When
the world clothes them with rags, then the Lord puts on his royal
robes, and makes a secret proclamation to their spirits, * Thus shall it
be done to the men whom the King is pleased to honour.' When the
world gives into one hand a cup of water, God gives into the other a
cup of nectar, a cup of ambrosia. When the world gnasheth upon them,
and presents all imaginary tortures before them, then the Lord opens
paradise to them, as he did to Stephen. When Paul and Silas were in
prison for the gospel's sake, then God fills them with such unspeakable
joy, that they cannot but be singing when others were sleeping, Acts
xvi. 23, 24. God turns their prison into a palace, a paradise, and they
turn his mercies into praises. Paul and Silas found more pleasure than
pain, more joy than sorrow, more sweet than bitter, more day than night,
in the prison.^

God will make some beams of his goodness and glory to break
through stone walls, to warm and glad the hearts of his suffering ones.

' Kon poena sed causa facit martyrem.

* Adversiis pentet, gratias agimus quod H molestii dominit liberemur, saith one : We thank
you for delivering us from hard taskmasters, that we may enjoy more sweetly the bosom
of Christ.

• Methinks, said one, I tread upon pearls, when he trod upon hot burning coals : and
I feel no more pain than if I lay in a bed of down ; and yet he lay in flames of lire.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 355

When John was banished into the isle of Patraos, ' for the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus,' Rev. i. 9, 10, then he is filled with the
Spirit, and hath the choicest manifestations, and the most glorious reve-
lations that ever he had all his days.' Now God makes him one of his
court and counsel, and tells him what glorious and mighty things shall
be in the latter days. Now he is in a spiritual rapture and ecstasy, and
carried above himself, and above all outward things, to attend those
glorious visions that God would make known to him.

It was God's lifting up the light of his countenance that made the
martyrs to sing in the fire, to clap their hands in the flames, and to
tread upon hot burning coals as upon beds of roses. This made one say,
when he felt the flame come to his beard, ' What a small pain is this, to
be compared to the glory to come ? What is a drop of vinegar put into
an ocean of wine ? What is it for one to have a rainy day, that is going
to take possession of a kingdom ?* The smiles of God made another to
sing under dreadful sufferings, Ghristianus sum, I am a Christian ;^
and this made the Christians to sing, in Tertullian's time, Grudelitas
vestra gloria nostra, your cruelty is our glory.*

This made a French martyr to say, when the rope was about his fel-
low's neck, ' Give me that golden chain, and dub me a knight of that
noble order.' This made another to desire, when he was to die, the
favour of having his chains buried with him, as the ensigns of his
honour.*

This made Basil say, * Fire, sword, prison, famine, are all a pleasure,
a delight unto me.' This made Paul to rattle his iron chains, and to
glory in it, more than worldly men glory in all their outward glory.

This made Theodoret to complain, that his persecutors did him wrong,
when they took him off the rack, and ceased tormenting of him ; for,
said he, ' All the while I was on the rack, I found methought there
was a young man in white, an angel stood by me, which wiped off the
sweat ; and I found a great deal of sweetness in it, which now I have
lost.«

To conclude, the smiles of God upon the prisonei-sof hope,is that which
makes them more cheerful and delightful in their sufferings than Jesus
Christ was in his.

When Faninus, an Italian martyr, was asked by one, why he was so
merry at his death, sith Christ himself was so sorrowful : ' Christ,' said
he, ' sustained in his soul all the sorrows and conflicts with hell and
death, due to us, by whose sufferings we are delivered from sorrow, and
fear of them all ; and therefore we have cause of rejoicing in the greatest
sufferings.^

Now there are these special reasons to be given, why the Lord is
pleased in suffering times to visit his people with his loving-kindness,
and to lift up the light of his countenance upon them.

* He was banished thither by Domitian, the tyrant. Vide Euseb. lib. ill. cap. xviii. ;
vick Pliny, lib. iv. cap. xii. [Rather cap. xxiii., The Sporades — G.]

• Vincentius. [Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as be/ore, pp. 34, 36.— G.]

» Sanctus. [Ibid. p. 31.— G.] * Apology.— G.

' Nihil senlil crvx in tiervo, quando animus est in calo. [The reference is to Fournier
of Chalons. Clarke, a$ before, pp. 233, 234.— G.]

® Sufferings are the ensigns of heavenly nobility. No wonder then that the saints are
6o joyful under them. [Clarke, as before. — G.] ^ Ibid. — G.

356 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34).

(1.) The first reason. That their patience and constancy under tlie
cross may be invincible} God knows right well, that if his left hand
in suffering times be not under his people, and his right hand over them,
if he does not give them some sips of sweetness, some relishes of good-
ness, tliey would quickly grow impatient and inconstant. Oh, but now the
smiles of God, the gracious discoveries of God, makes their patience
and constancy invincible, as it did Vincentius, who by his patience and
constancy madded his tormentors ; wherefore they stripped him stark
naked, whipped his body all over to a gore blood, sprmkled salt and
vinegar over all his wounds, set his feet on burning coals, then cast him
naked into a loathsome dungeon, the pavement whereof was sharp
shells, and his bed to lie on a bundle of thorns. All which this blessed
martyr received, without so much as a groan, breathing out his spirit in
these words, * Vincentius is my name, and by the grace of God I will
be still Vincentius, in spite of all your torments.' Persecution brings
death in one hand and life in the other ; for while it kills the body it
crowns the soul.*

The most cruel martyrdom is but a crafty trick to escape death, to
pass from life to life, from the prison to paradise, from the cross to the
crown.

Justin Martyr says, that when the Romans did immortalise their em-
perors, as they called it, they brought one to swear that he see [saw?] him
go to heaven out of the fire. But we may see, by an eye of faith, the
blessed souls of suffering saints fly to heaven, like Elias in his fiery
chariot, like the angel that appeared to Manoah in the flames. Judges
xiii. 20.=*

John Huss, martyr, had such choice discoveries of God, and such
sweet incomes of the Spirit, as made his patience and constancy in-
vincible. When he was brought forth to be burned, they put on his
head a triple crown of paper, painted over with ugly devils ; but when
he saw it, he said, ' My Lord Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a
crown of thorns ; why should not I then for his sake wear this light
crown, be it never so ignominious? Truly I will do it, and that willingly.'
And as they tied his neck with a chain to the stake, smiling, he said,
' That he would willingly receive the same chain for Jesus Christ's sake,
who he knew was bound with a far worse chain for his sake.'* Well !
remember this, their names that by a patient suffering are written in
red letters of blood in the church's calendar, are written in golden letters
in Christ's. register, in the book of life.

(2.) The second reason. A second reason why the Lord lifts up the
light of his countenance upon his people in suffering times, and that is,
for the confirmation of some, for the conversion of others, and for the
greater conviction and confusion of their adversaries, who wonder,
and are like men amazed, when they see the comfort and ike courage

' Christian fortitude is inferendo, non inferiendo, not in smiting, but suffering.

* Wil. Flower, ApoUonius, Basil, Fulgentius, Giles of Brussels, Alexander, Hales,
Polycarpus, Calvin, Luther, Brentius, BuUinger, these and many more have been
eminent in patience under sore trials. [See Clarke, as before, sub nominibus. — G.]

3 A patient man under reproaches, is like a man with a sword in one hand, and a
salve in the other ; he could wound, but he will heal. The motto of patient souls is,
J'tura pro Ckristo toleranda, we must suffer more than so for Christ.

* Clarke, as before. — G.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 357

of the saints in suffering times. Paul's choice carriage in his bonds
was the confirmation of many. 'And many of the brethren in the Lord,
waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word
without fear,' Philip, i. 14 : vide Estius. And as the sufferings of the
saints do contribute to the confirmation of some, so by the blessing of
God they contribute to the conversion of others. ' I beseech thee,' says
Paul, 'for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds,'
Philemon ] 0. It was a notable saying of Luther, Ecclesia totum Tnun-
dum conveHit sanguine et oratione. The church converteth the
whole world by blood and prayer.^ Basil affirms,'^ that the primitive
saints shewed so much heroic zeal and constancy, that many of the
heathens turned Christians ; so that choice spirit that the saints have
shewed in their sufferings, when Christ hath overshadowed them with
his love, and ' stayed them with flagons, and comforted them with
apples,' Cant.ii. 5, hath madded, grieved, vexed, and extremely tormented
their tormentors.'

Lactantius boasts of the braveness of the martyrs in his time : ' Our
children and women, not to speak of men, do in silence overcome their
tormentors, and the fire cannot so much as fetch a sigh from them.'

Hegesippus reports an observation of Antoninus the emperor, viz.,
'That the Christians were most courageous and confident always in
earthquakes, whilst his own heathen soldiers were at such accidents
most fearful and disspirited.' Certainly no earthquakes can make any
heartquakes among the suffering saints, so long as the countenance of
God shines upon their face, and his love lies warm upon their hearts.
The suffering saint may be assaulted, but not vanquished ; he may be
troubled, but can never be conquered ; he may lose his head, but he
cannot lose his crown, which the righteous Lord hath prepared and laid
up for him, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. The suffering saint shall still be master of
the day ; though they kill him, they cannot hurt him ;* he may suffer
death, but never conquest. 'And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their
lives unto the death,' Rev. xii. 11. They love not their lives that love
Christ and his truth more than their lives ; they that slight, contemn,
and despise their lives, when they stand in competition with Christ,
may be truly said not to love their lives. In these words you see that
the saints by dying do overcome : ' They may kill me,' said Socrates of
his enemies, ' but they cannot hurt me.'' A saint may say this and
more. The herb heliotropium doth turn about and open itself accord-
ing to the motion of the sun ; so do the saints in their sufferings,
according to the internal motions of the Sun of righteousness upon
them.*

(3.) The third reason, A third reason why the Lord causes his good-
ness to pass before his people, and his face to shine upon his people in

* They knew it could be but a day's journey between the cross and paradise, between
that short storm and an eternal calm.

« Qu. Justin Martyr, as before? See Index, sub nomine.— G.

' It would be too tedious to give you an account of all particular persecutors in this
case, whom the courage, faith, and patience of the saints have tired out and made weary
of their lives, and also bred wonder and astonishment in beholders and readers.

* Mori potse, vinci non posse. * Plato, Phsedo. — G.

* Lord Jesus, said one, 1 love t\xee,plusquammea,plusquamTneos,plusquamme, more
than all goods, more than all my friends, yea, more than my very life.

358 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

suffering times, and that is, /or the praise of his own grace, and for
the gloiy of his own name. God would lose much of his own glory, if
he should not stand by his people, and comfort them and strengthen
them, in the day of their sorrows. Ah the dirt, the scorn, the contempt,
that vain men would cast upon God, Exod. xxxii. 12, Num. xiv. 13.
Look, as our greatest good comes through the sufferings of Christ, so
Grod's greatest glory that he bath from his saints comes through their
sufferings : ' If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ;
for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you : on their part he is
evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified,' 1 Pet. iv. 14 [vide Bezam].
It makes much for the glory of God, that his people are cheered and
comforted, quickened and raised, spiritualised and elevated in the day
of their sufferings. Oh the sight of so noble a spirit in the saints,
causes others to admire God, to lift up God, to fall in love with God,
and to glorify God ; for owning his people, and for being a light to them
in darkness, a joy to them in sorrow, and a palace to them in prison.*
God is very sensible of the many praises and prayers that he should
lose, did lie not cause his love and his glory to rest upon his people in
suffering times. 1 here is nothing that God is so tender of, as he is of
his glory, and that his heart is so much set upon as his glory ; and there-
fore he will visit them in a prison, and feast them in a dungeon, and
walk with them in a fiery furnace, and shew kindness to them in a lion's
den, that every one may shout and cry, Grace, grace !^ God loves to
act in such ways of grace towards his suffering ones, as may stop the
mouths of their enemies, and cause the hearts of his friends to rejoice.

(4.) The fourfh reason. Believing times are times %vherein the Lord
is graciously pleased to lift up the light of his countenance upon his
people. When his children are in the exercise of faith, then the Lord
is pleased to make known his goodness, and to seal up to them everlast-
ing happiness and blessedness : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in
whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise ;' or in whom believing ye were sealed, that is, as you were
in the very exercise and actings of faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Spirit of the Lord made sure, and sealed up to you your adoption,
your reconciliation, your pardon, and everlasting inheritance.'

Him that honours Christ by believing, by fresh and frequent acts of
faith upon him, him will Christ certainly honour and secure by setting
his seal and niark upon him, and by assuring of him of a kingdom that
shakes not, of riches that corrupt not, and of glory that fades not. Ah
Christians ! you wrong two at once, Christ and your own souls, whilst
you thus reason : Lord, give me first assurance, and then I will believe
in thee and rest upon thee ; whereas your great work is to believe, and
to hold on believing and acting of faith on the Lord Jesus, till you come
to be assured and sealed up to the day of redemption. This is the
surest and shortest way to assurance.

That is a remarkable passage of the apostle in Rom. xv. 1 3, ' Now
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye

» Dan. iii. 28-30, Dan. vi. 25-27.

' Isa. xlviii. 11 ; Gen. xxxi.x. 20; Dan. vi. 10; Zpch. iv. 7.

^ If ijf Kx) v/*ns, cLKoufckuru. . . . Vide Beza and Calvin.

Rom. VIII. 32-34).] heaven on earth. 359

may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' * The God
of hope,' saith the apostle, ' shall fill you with all joy and peace'in believ-
ing.' That is, whilst you are in the exercise and actings of faith, the
God of hope shall fill you with that joy that is 'unspeakable and full of
glory,' and with that * peace that passes understanding.'^

Faith is the key that unlocks paradise, and lets in a flood of joy into
the soul. Faith is an appropriating grace, it appropriates all to itself;
it looks upon God, and says with the psalmist, ' This God is my God for
ever and ever,' Ps. Ixiii. 1, and xlviii. 14. It looks upon Christ and
says, ' My beloved is mine, and his desires are towards me,' Cant. vii. 10.
It looks upon the precious promises and says. These ' precious pro-
mises' are mine, 2 Peter i. 4. It looks upon heaven and says, ' Hence-
forth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness/ 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; and this
fills the soul with joy and peace. Faith hath an influence upon other
graces, it is like a silver thread that runs through a chain of pearl, it
puts strength and vivacity into all other virtues. It made Abraham to
rejoice, and it made Noah sit still and quiet in the midst of a deluge ;
tantum possuinits, quantum credimus.

Faith is the first pin that moveth the soul ; it is the spring in the
watch that sets all the golden wheels of love, joy, comfort, and peace
a-going. Faith is a root-grace, from whence springs all the sweet
flowers of joy and peace. Faith is like the bee, it will suck sweetness
out of every flower ; it will extract light out of darkness, comforts out of
distresses, mercies out of miseries, wine out of water, honey out of the
rock, and meat out of the eater. Judges xiv. 14. 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom
having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' Upon
the exercise of faith, their hearts are filled with joy, with unspeakable
joy, with glorious joy. Faith sees in Chi-ist plenitudo abundantice and
plenitudo redundantice, a fulness of abundance and a fulness of redund-
ancy; and this fills the heart with glorious joy.

Ah, Christians ! believing, believing is the ready way, the safest way,
the sweetest way, the shortest way, the only way to a well grounded
assurance, and to that unspeakable joy and peace that flows from it, as
the effect from the cause, the fruit from the root, the stream from the
fountain. There is such assurance, and such joy that springs from the
fresh and frequent actings of faith, that cannot be expressed, that cannot
be painted. No man can paint the sweetness of the honeycomb, the
sweetness of a cluster of Canaan, the sweetness of paradise, the fragrancy
of the rose of Sharon. As the being of things cannot be painted, and
as the sweetness of things cannot be painted, no more can that assur-
ance and joy that flows from believing be painted or expressed; it is too
great and too glorious for weak man to paint or set forth.^

When Abraham believed in hope against hope, Rom. iv. 1 8, and when
in the face of all dangers and difficulties, he put forth such noble and
glorious acts of faith, as to conclude that ' the Lord would provide him-
self a lamb for a burnt-offering,' Gen. xxii. 8, and that ' in the mount
^ trXti^uirat, shall fill you, from xXn^iu, that signifies to be filled with joy and peace, as
the sails of a ship are filled with wind.

? There is in Christ not only plenitudo vasts, but plenitudo fontis, the fulness of a vessel,
but the fulness of a fountain ; and this makes the heart of a saint leap, when he sees it
by an eye of faith.

360 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

he would be seen/ Gen. xxii. 14; God is so taken with the actings of
his faith and the effects of it, tliat he swears by himself, that * in bless-
ing he would bless him;' that is, I will certainly bless him, and will
bless his blessing to him ; 'and in multiplying, he would multiply his
seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore,' Gen. xxii. 17. Now the angel of the Lord, viz., the Lord Jesus,
as his own words shew, verses 12, 15, 16, calls unto Abraham, out of
heaven, not once but twice ; and now he shews his admirable love in
countermanding of Abraham, and in providing a ram, even to a miracle,
for a burnt offering.^

And thus you see that believing times are times wherein the Lord is
graciously pleased to reveal his love, and make known his favour to his
people, and to look from heaven upon them, and to speak again and
again in love and sweetness to them.

V. Fifthly, Hearing and receiving times are times wherein the
Lord is graciously pleased to cause his face to shine upon his people*
When they are a-hearing the word of life and a-breaking the bread of
life, then God comes in upon them, and declares to them that love that is
better than life : Acts x. 44, ' While Peter yet spake these words, the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.' As Peter was
speaking, the Holy Ghost, that is, the graces of the Holy Ghost, viz.,
the joy, the comfort, the love, the peace, &c., of the Holy Ghost, fell
upon them. So in Gal. iii. 2, ' This only would I learn of you, received
ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith V

By the Spirit here, Calvin and Bullinger and other expositors, do
understand the joy, the peace, the assurance that is wrought in the
heart by the hearing of faith, that is, by the doctrine of the gospel ; for
in these words of the apostle, hearing is put for the thing heard, and
faith for the doctrine of the gospel, because the gospel is the ordinary
means of working faith, 'Faith comes by hearing,' saith the apostle, Rom.
x. 17. So 1 Thes. i. 5, 6, ' For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance ; as
ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And
ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in
much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.'*

In these words you have a divine power attending Paul's ministry, a
power convincing, enlightening, humbling, raising, delighting, reforming,
renewing, and transforming of them that heard him. Also you have
the sweet and blessed testimony of the Spirit attending his ministry,
and assuring those of their effectual calling and election, upon whom
the word came in power, and raising up their spirits to joy in the midst
of sorrow. Ah ! you precious sons and daughters of Zion, that have sat
waiting and trembling at Wisdom's door, tell me, tell me, hath not God

* Dominus provtdebit, the Lord will provide, was Maximilian's pious motto, and should
be every saint's motto in straits and troubles.

' Ps. Ixiii. 3, 4. Also by the Holy Ghost is meant the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,
ver. 45, 46, Acts xi. 15. Therefore, says the apostle, do not leave the substance for a
shadow, the sun for a candle, and solid meat for milk ; which none would do, except they
were bewitched.

' By the Holy Ghost in this text cannot be meant the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,
and that, first, because they were no evidences of election ; secondly, because many
vessels of wrath have been partakers of them ; thirdly, many of God's choice and chosen
ones have been destitute of those extraordinary gifts.

EoM. VIIL 32-34).] heaven on earth. 361

•

rained down manna upon your souls whilst you have been hearing the
word ? Yes. Hath not God come in with power upon you, and by his
Spirit sealed up to you yourelection, the remission of your sins, the justi-
fication of your persons, and the salvation of your souls ? Yes, without
controversy, many saints have found Christ's lips, in this ordinance,
to drop honey and sweetness, marrow and fatne.ss.

And as Christ in hearing times, when his people are a-hearing the
word of life, does lift up the light of his countenance upon them ; so
when they are a-receiving the bread of life, he makes known his love to
them, and their interest in him. In this feast of fat things, the master
of the feast, the Lord Jesus, comes in the midst of his guests, saying,
* Peace be here.'^ Here the beams of his glory do so shine, as that they
cause the hearts of children to burn within them, and as scatters all
that thick darkness and cloud that are gathered about them. When
saints are in this wine-cellar, Christ's banner over them is love ; when they
are in this Canaan, then he feeds them with milk and honey ; when
they are in this paradise, then they shall taste of angels' food ; when
they are at this gate of heaven, then they shall see Christ at the right
of the Father ; when they are before his mercy-seat, then they shall see
the bowels of mercy rolling towards them. In this ordinance they
see that, and taste that, and feel that of Christ, that they are not able
to declare and manifest to others ; in this ordinance saints shall see
the truth of their graces, and feel the increase of their graces, and re-
joice in the clearness of their evidences ; in this ordinance Christ will
seal up the promises, and seal up the covenant, and seal up his love,
and seal up their pardon sensibly to their souls. Many precious souls
there be that have found Christ in this ordinance, when they could not
find him in other ordinances, though they have sought him sorrowingly.'
Many a cold soul hath been warmed in this ordinance, and many a
hungry soul hath been fed with manna in this ordinance, and many a
thirsty soul hath been refreshed with wine upon the lees in this ordi-
nance, and many a dull soul hath been quickened in this ordinance.' I
do not say that ever a dead soul hath been enlivened in this ordinan^,
this being an ordinance appointed by Christ, not to beget spiritual life
where there was none, but to increase it where the Spirit hath formerly
begun it.* In this ordinance, weak hands and feeble knees have been
strengthened, and fainting hearts have been comforted, and questioning
souls have been resolved, and staggering souls have been settled, and
falling souls have been supported. Ah, Christians ! if you will but stand
up and speak out, you must say, that in this ordinance, there hath been
between Christ and you such mutual kisses, such mutual embraces,
such mutual opening and shutting of hands, such mutual opening and
closing of hearts, as hath made such a heaven in your hearts as cannot
be expressed, as cannot be declared. Christ in this ordinance opens
such boxes of precious ointment, as fill the saints with a spiritual savour;

* Gen. xxii. 8. This ordinance is a cabinet of jewels ; in it are abundance of spiritual
springs, and rich mines, heavenly treasures.

* Every gracious soul may say, not only Credo vitam oetemam et tdo vitam cetemam, I be-
lieve life eternal, but I receive, I eat life eternal.

' The Supper of the Lord. Cf. supra. — G.

* Every wicked soul that takes the cup may say, Calix vitce ealix mortia, the cup of
life is made my death, I Cor. xi. 27.

S62 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

•

he gives them a cluster of the grapes of Canaan, that makes them
earnestly look and long to be in Canaan.* The Christians in the pri-
mitive times, upon their receiving the sacrament, were wont to be filled
with that zeal and fervour, with that joy and comfort, with that faith,
fortitude, and assurance, that made them to appear before the tyrants
with transcendent l)oldness and cheerfulness, as many writers do testify.
Now there are these reasons why God is pleased to lift up the light of
his countenance upon his people, when they are a-hearing the word of
life, and a-breaking the bread of life.

(1 .) The first reason. That they may highly prize the ordinances, the
choice discoveries that God makes to their souls in tJtem, ivories them.
to set a very high price upon them. Oh ! says our souls, we cannot but
affect them for what of God we have enjoyed in them, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, 11.
Many there are that are like old Barzillai, that had lost his taste and
hearing, and so cared not for David's feasts and music, 2 Sam. xix. 32,
seq. So many there are that can see nothing of God, nor taste nothing
of God in ordinances : they care not for ordinances, they slight ordi-
nances.^ Oh ! but souls that have seen, and heard, and tasted of the
goodness of the Lord in ordinances, they dearly love them, and highly
prize them:' ' I have esteemed thy word,' says Job, ' above my necessary
food,' Job xxiii. 12. And David sings it out : ' The law of thy mouth
is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver' [Ps. cxix. 72].
Luther prized the word at such a high rate that he saith he would not
live in paradise, if lie might, without the word : At cum verbo etiam
in inferno facile est vivere, but with the word he could live in hell itself,
Ps. xxvii. 4>.

(2.) The second reason. God lifts up the light of his countenance
upon his people in ordinances, that he may keep them close to ordinances
and constant in ordinances. The soul shall hear good news from
heaven when it is waiting at wisdom's door, Prov. viii. 31, 35. God
will acquaint the soul with spiritual mysteries, and feed it with the
droppings of the honeycomb, that the soul may cleave to them as Ruth
did to Naomi, and say of them as she said of her : ' Where these go, I
will go; where these lodge, I will lodge,' Ruth i. 15-17; and nothing
but death shall make a separation between ordinances and my soul.
After Joshua had had a choice presence of God with his spirit in the ser-
vice he was put upon, he makes a proclamation, ' Choose you whom
you will serve, I and my household will serve the Lord,' John xxiv. 15.
Let the issue be what it will, I will cleave to the service of my God ; I
will set my soul under God's spout, I will wait for him in his temple,
Malachi iii. 1 ; I will look for him in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks, Rev. ii. 1 ; I have found him a good master ; I will live and
die in his service ; I have found his work to be better than wages ; I have
found a reward, not only for keeping, but also ' in keeping his com-
mandments,' as the psalmist speaks, Ps. xix. II. The good works, the
sweet aspects, the choice hints, the heavenly intercourse that hath been
between the Lord Jesus and my soul, in his service, hath put such great

' Num. xiii. 23-25 ; Cyprian, 1. 4 ; Ep. vi. Augustine on John, tract, xxvii. &c.
• Ps. Ixiii. 2, 3; Cunt. ii. 3; Ps. xix. 10. Tliis age is full of careless Gallios, Acts
xviii. 17, that care not for these things.
' Better that the sun shine not, than that Ghrysostom preach not.

Rom, VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 363

and glorious engagements upon my soul that I cannot but say with the
servant in the law, ' I love my master, and I will not quit his service,
because it is well with me ; my ear is bored, and I will be his servant
for ever,' Exod. xxi. 5 ; Deut. xv. IG, 17.

(3.) The third reason why the Lord causes the beams of his love,
and the brightness of his glory to shine forth upon his people in ordi-
nances is. To fence and strengtiien their souls against all those tempta-
tions that they may meet with from Satan and his instruments, that
lie in wait to deceive,^ and by their cunning craftiness endeavour
vrith all their might to work men first to have low thoughts of ordi-
nances, and then to neglect them, and then to despise them. Now the
Lord by the sweet discoveries of himself, by the kisses and love-t(jkens
that he gives to his people in ordinances, does so endear and engage
their hearts to them, that they are able not only to withstand tempta-
tions, but also to triumph over temptations, through him that hath
loved them, and in ordinances manifested his presence, and the riches
of his grace and goodness, to them. The sweet converse, the blessed turns
and walks that the saints have with God in ordinances, makes them
strong in resisting, and happy in conquering of those temptations that
tend to lead them from the ordinances ; which are Christ's banqueting-
house, where he sets before his people all the dainties and sweet-
meats of heaven, and bids them eat and drink abundantly, there being
no danger of surfeiting in eating or drinking of Christ's delicates. Truly,
many a soul hath surfeited of the world's dainties, and died for ever ;
but there is not a soul that hath had the honour and happiness to be
brought into Christ's banqueting-house, and to eat and drink of his
dainties, but they have lived for ever.^

(4.) The fourth reason why the Lord is pleased to give his people
some sense of his love, and some taste of heaven in ordinances, is, That
he Tnay fit and ripen them for heaven, and make them look and long
more after a perfect, complete, and full enjoym.ent of God. Souls at
first conversion are but rough-cast, but God, by visiting of them, and
manifesting of himself to them in his ways, doth more and more fit those
vessels of mercy for glory, Isa. Ixiv. .5. Ah ! Christians, tell me, do not
those holy influences, those spiritual breathings, those divine in-comes,
that you meet with in ordinances, make your souls cry out with David,
* As the hart pauteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after
thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, even for the hviug God : When
shall I come and appear before the presence of God ? Ps. xlii. 1, 2. So
in Ps. Ixiii. 1. 2, ' O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee ; my
soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is : to see thy power and thy gh)rv, so as I have
seen thee in the sanctuary.'"* In these words you liave David s strong,

• Eph. iv. 14. xvCtiet signifies cogging with a die ; such sleights as cheaters and false
gamesters use ut dice.

' Chrysostom saith, that by the sacrament of the Lord's supper, we are so armed against
Satan's temptatiuns, tliat he fleeth from us as if we were so many leones ignem expuentes,
lions that spit fire. Cant. ii. 4, pn 1^2 is damns vin>, the house of wine.

' The Greeks derive their word for desire from a root that signifieth to hunt. Now,
if que should heap never so much fuel upon a fire, it would not quench it, but kindle it
the more. So nothing can satisfy the desires of a saint but a full celestial enjoyment of
God.

364 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

earnest, and vehement desires ; here you have desire upon desire ; here
you have the very flower and vigour of his spirit, the strength and
sinews of his soul, the prime and top of his inflamed affections, all
strongly working after a fuller enjoyment of God. Look, as the espoused
maid longs for the marriage day, the apprentice for his freedom, the
captive for his ransom, the condemned man for his pardon, the traveller
for his inn, and the mariner for his haven ; so doth a soul, that hath
met with God in his ordinances, long to meet with God in heaven. It
is not a drop, it is not a lap and away, a sip and away, that will suflBce
such a soul. No. This soul will never be quiet, till it sees God face to
face, till it be quiet in the bosom of God. The more a samt tastes of God
in an ordinance, the more are his desires raised and whetted, and the
more are his teeth set on edge for more and more of God. Plutarch
saith, that when * once the Gauls had tasted of the sweet wine that
was made of the grapes of Italy, nothing would satisfy them but
Italy, Italy.* So a soul that hath tasted of the sweetness and goodness
of God in ordinances, nothing will satisfy it, but more of that goodness
and sweetness.' A little mercy may save the soul, but it must be a
great deal of mercy that must satisfy the soul. The least glimpse of
God's countenance may be a staff to support the soul, and an ark to
secure the soul, and a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by nigiit to
guide the soul ; but it must be much, very much of God, that must be
enough to satisfy the soul.

(5.) TJie fifth reason. The fifth and last reason why the Lord is
graciously pleased to give his people some sense of his love, and some
assurance of his favour in ordinances, is, That they may have where-
withal to silence and stop the mouths of wicked and ungodly rnen,
whose words ai^ stout against the Lord; who say, it is in vain to serve
God, and what profit is there in keeping his statutes and ordinances,
and in walking mournfully before the Lord of hosts? Mai. iii. 13, 14.
Now the Lord causes his face to shine upon his people in ordinances,
that they may stand up, and bear him witness before the wicked world,
that he is no hard master, that he reaps not where he sows not.* In
ordinances he kisses them, and there he gives them his love, and makes
known his goodness and glory, that his children may, from their own
experiences, be able to confute all the lies and clamours of wicked men
against God and his ways. And blessed be God, that hath not left
himself without witness, but hath many thousands that can stand up
before all the world and declare, that they have seen 'the beauty and
glory of God in his sanctuary,' that they have met with those joys and
comforts in the ways of God, that do as far surpass all other joys
and comforts, as light does darkness, as heaven does hell, that they

1 It is not drops, but swimming in the ocean, that will satisfy a soul that hath looked
into paradise. » Plutarch in vita Camilli.

* A full enjoyment of God is the most sparkling diamond in the ring of glory.

* The saints, by the gracious experiences that they have of the sweet breathings of
God upon them in ordinances, are able to confute, muzzle, halter, or button up the
mouths of vain and wicked men, who say unto the Lord, ' Depart from us ; for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ? and
what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ?' Job xxi. 14, 15. [The peculiar ex-
pression ' button up,' i.e. shut up, of this note, is another Shakesperean word ; e.g. ' Hia
heart is buttoned up,' Comedy of Errors, iv. 2. — G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 365

have met with such heart-meltings, such heart-humblings, such heart-
revivings, such heart-cheerings, as they have never met with before, in
all their days.

Ah ! say these souls, ' One day in his courts, is better than a thou-
sand ' years elsewhere, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1 0. Oh we had rather with Moses
lose all, and be whipped and stripped of all, than lose the sweet enjoy-
ments of God in ordinances. Oh in them, God hath been light and
life, a joy and a crown to our souls. God is tender of his own glory,
and of his children's comfort; and therefore he gives them such choice
aspects, and such sweet visits in ordinances, that they may have argu-
ments at hand to stop the mouths of sinnei-s, and to declare from their
own experience, that all the ways of God are ways of pleasantness, and
that all his paths drop fatness, Prov. iii. 17, Ps. Ixv. 11. And thus much
for the reasons, why God lifts up the light of his countenance upon his
people in ordinances. Before I pass to the next particular, it will be
necessary that I lay down these cautions, to prevent weak saints from
stumbling and doubting, who have not yet found the Lord giving
out his favours, and making known his grace and love, in such a
sensible way to their souls, in breaking the bread of life, as others have
found.

(1.) The first caution. Now, the first caution I shall lay down is this,
TJiat even believers may sometimes come and go from this ordinance,
without that comfort, that assurance, that joy, that refreshment thai
others have, and may meet with. And this may arise, partly from
their unprepared ness and unfitness to meet with God in the ordinance,
2 Ohron. xxx. 19, 20, 1 Cor. xi. 20-34; and partly from their playing
and dallying with some bosom sin ; or else it may arise from their not
stirring up themselves to lay hold on God, as the prophet Isaiah com-
plains, ' There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up
himself to take hold of thee,' Isa. Ixiv. 7 ; or else it may arise from the
Spirit's standing at a distance from the soul. It may be, O soul, that
thou hast set the Comforter, the Spirit a-mourning; and therefore it is,
that he refuses to comfort thee, and to be a sealing and witnessing
Spirit unto thee. Thou hast grieved him with thy sins, and he will
now vex thee by his silence ; thou hast thrown the cordials against the
wall; thou hast trampled his manna under thy feet; and therefore it is
that he hath veiled his face, and changed his countenance and carriage
towards thee ; thou hast been unkind to the Spirit ; and therefore
he carries it towards thee as an enemy, and not as a friend, Ps.
Ixxvii. 2, Gen. xxxi. 5.

(2.) The second caution is this, That though God doth in this
ordinance withhold comfort and assurance from thee, yet thou m,ust
hold on in the duty, thou m'ost wait at hope's hospital. At this
heavenly pool, thou must lie till the angel of the covenant, the Lord
Jesus, comes and breathes upon thee ; at these waters of the sanctuary
thou must lie, till the Spirit moves upon thy soul ; thou must not
neglect thy work, though God delays thy comfort; thou must be as
obedient in the want of assurance, as thou art thankful under the en-
joyment of assurance.' Laban often changed Jacob's wages, yet Jacob

' 'The longer mercy is a-coming, the greater, the sweeter, and the belter usually it is
when it comes. Many a child hath got a Benjamin's portion, a Hannah's portion, a

S66 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

never changed nor neglected his work. Though God should change
thy wages, thy comforts into discomforts, thy spring into an autumn,
&c., yet thou must never change nor neglect thy work, which is obey-
ing, believing, and waiting, till God, in his ordinances, shall lift up the
light of his countenance upon thee, and turn thy night into day, and
thy mourning into rejoicing. God is the same, and the commands of
the gospel are the same, and therefore thy work is the same, whether
it be night or day with thy soul, whether thou art under frowns or
smiles, in the arms or at the feet of God.

(3.) The tJdrd caution is this. Many of the precious sons and
daughters of Slon have had and may have so much comfoH and
sweetness, so much life and heat, so much reviving and quickeniTig^
80 m,uch marrow and fatness in this ordinance, as may clearly
evidence the special presence of God with their spirits, and as they
■would not exchange for all the world, and yet would give a world,
were it in their power, for those strong comforts and full assurance,
that others enjoy in this ordinance. In this ordinance, Christ looks
upon one and kisses another ; he gives a nod to one, and his hand to
another. Some in this ordinance shall have but sips of mercy, others
shall have large draughts of mercy ; some in this ordinance shall see
but the back-parts of Christ, others shall see him face to face. Lam. i.
16 ; to one he gives silver, to another he gives gold ; to one he gives
but a glass of consolation, to another he gives flagons of consolation.
Cant. ii. 5; some shall have but drops, others shall swim in the ocean;
some shall have a large harvest, others shall have but a few gleanings,
and yet they, if rightly valued, are more worth than a world.^ The
Sun of righteousness is a free agent, and he will work and shine forth
as he pleases, and on whom he pleases ; and who art thou that darest
say to Christ, Why doest thou so ?* Ah ! Christians, you may not, you
must not say, We have not met with Christ in the sacrament, because
we have not met with joy and assurance in the sacrament ; for you
may enjoy very much of Christ in that ordinance, and yet not so much
as may boil up to full assurance, and make you go away singing, 'My
beloved is mine, and I am his,' Cant. ii. 16. We may enjoy the warmth
and heat of the sun, when we cannot see the sun ; so souls may enjoy
much of Christ, by holy influences, in the sacrament, when they cannot
see Christ in the sacrament.

VI. Sixthly, Times of personal afflictions are times wherein the
Lord is graciously pleased to vouchsafe to his people sweet manifesta-
tions of his love and favour. When his hand is heavy on them, then
he lifts up the light of his countenance upon them : Ps. Ixxi. 20, 21,
' Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me
again ; and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.' So
Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the multitude of my careful troubled thoughts, thy

double portion, by waiting ; so hatb many a saint got a worthy portion, a double portion
of comfort and assurance by waiting. Urgo, wait patiently, and work heartily.

1 King Cyrus gave a kiss to Chrysantes, and a golden cup to Artabnzus. [Chrysan-
taa, not Chrysfnifes, stood very high in the favour of Cyrus: Cyropsedeia throughout.
Artabazus. Cf. Cyrop, i. 4, sec 27 ; iv. 1, sec. 23, &c., &c.— G.]

* The least star gives light, the least drop moistens, the least pearl sparkles, and the
least dram of special grace saves.

Rom. VIII. 32-34-.] heaven on earth. 367

comforts delight my soul.'' Ah, Christians ! hath not God by all afflic-
tions lifted up your souls nearer heaven, as Noah's ark was lifted up
nearer and nearer heaven by the rising of the waters higher and higher ?
The ball in the emblem says Percussa surgo, the harder you beat me
down in afflictions, the higher I shall bound in affection towards heaven
and heavenly things ; so afflictions do but elevate and raise a saint's
affections to heaven and heavenly things.

When Munster lay sick, and his friends asked him how he did and
how he felt himself, he pointed to his sores and ulcers, whereof he was
full, and said, 'These are God's gems and jewels, wherewith he decketh
his best friends ; and to me they are more precious than all the gold
and silver in the world.'

Ajfflictiones benedictiones, afflictions are blessings. God's corrections
are our instructions, his lashes our lessons, his scourges our school-
masters, his chastisements our advertisements.* And to note this, the
Hebrews and Greeks both do express chastening and teaching by one
and the same word (">D1D <:ra/diia, Tuusar, paideia), because the latter
is the true end of the former. Ah, you afflicted sons and daughters of
Zion, have you not had such sweet discoveries of God, such sensible
demonstrations of his love, such bowels of affections working in him
towards you ? Have you not had such gracious visits, and such glorious
visions, that you would not exchange for all the world ? Yes. Have
you not had the precious presence of God with you, quieting and stilling
your souls, supporting and upholding your souls, cheering and refreshing
your souls ? Yes. And have you not had the Lord applying precious
promises, and suitable remedies, to all your maladies ? Have you not
found God a-bringing in unexpected mercy in the day of your adversity,
suitable to that promise, Hosea ii. 14, ' I will allure her, and bring her into
the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her' (or, I will speak earnestly
to her heart, as the Hebrew reads it') ? Yes. Have you not found
that God hath so sweetened and sanctified afflictions to you, as to make
them a means to discover many sins that lay hid, and to purge you from
many sins that cleaved close unto you, and to prevent you from falling
into many sins that would have been the breaking of your bones, and
the loss of your comfort? Yes.* Have you not found that you have
been like the walnut tree, the better for beating; and like the vine, the
better for bleeding ; and like the ingenuous child, the better for whip-
ping ? Yes.* Have you not found afflictions to revive, quicken, and
recover your decayed graces ? Have they not inflamed that love that
hath been cold, and put life into that faith that hath been dying, and
quickened those hopes that have been withering, and put spirit into

1 ^syiJJ', my cogitations, i.e. my careful, troubled thoughts, perplexed as the branches
of a tree by a strong wind. It comes from 5]">yD, a branch, by interposing ^.

' Qui non est criidanus, non est Chrittianus, saith Luther. The proverb is. Smart
makes wit, and vexation gives understanding. I bless God I know several precious souls
of whom this world is not worthy, that have found more of God in nfflictions than in any
other gracious dispensation. Manasseh got more by his iron chain than ever he got by
his golden crown.

* Oculos quos peccatum clauditpcena aperit. Periua<m ntsi perxissem, I had perished, if
I had not perished.

* Musk, saith one, when it hath lost its sweetness, if it be put into the sink amongst
filth, it recovers it. So doth afflictions recover and revive decayed graces.

368 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

those joys and comforts that have been languishing ? Yes. Oh, then,
stand up and declare to all the world that times of affliction have been
the times wherein you have seen the face of God, and heard the voice
of God, and sucked sweetness from the breasts of God, and fed upon the
delicates of God, and drunk deep of the consolations of God, and have
been most satisfied and delighted with the presence and in-coraes of
God.

When Hezekiah in his greatest affliction laraentingly said, Isa. xxxviii.
9-20, ' I shall go mourning to my grave, I shall not see the Lord in the
land of the living. He will cut me off with pining sickness, he will break
all my bones. Like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn
as a dove ; mine eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed,
undertake for me.' So now God comes in a way of mercy to him, and
prints his love upon his heart: ver. 17, ' Thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption ;' or rather, as the Hebrew reads
it, 'K'SJ nn'^ < Thou hast loved my soul from the grave, for thou hast
cast all my sins behind thy back.' Ah, says Hezekiah, I have now found
that in my afflictions thy affections have been most strongly carried
towards me, as towards one whom thou art exceedingly taken with.
Oh, now thou hast warmed me with thy love, and visited me with thy
grace ; thou hast made my darkness to be light, and turned my sighing
into singing, and my mourning into rejoicing. So when Habakkuk's
belly trembled, and his lips quivered, and rottenness entered into his
bones, and all creature comforts failed, yet then had he such a sweet
presence of God with his spirit, as makes him to rejoice in the midst of
sorrows : ' Yet,' says he, ' I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation,' chap. iii. 16-18. And thus you see it clear, that
in times of affliction God makes sweet manifestations of his love and
favour to his children's souls.

VII. Seventhly, Praying times are times wherein the Lord is
graciously pleased to give his people some sweet and comfortable
assurance of his love and favour towards them,. Prayer crowns God
with honour and glory that is due to his name ; and God crowns prayer
with assurance and comfort. Usually the most praying souls are the
most assured souls. There is no service wherein souls have such a near,
familiar, and friendly intercourse with God, as in this of prayer ; neither
is there any service wherein God doth more delight to make known his
grace and goodness, his mercy and bounty, his beauty and gloiy, to poor
souls, than this of prayer.' The best and the sweetest flowers of paradise,
God gives to his people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is
porta coeli, clavis paradisi, the gate of heaven, a key to let us into
paradise. When John was weeping, in prayer doubtless, the sealed
book was open to him. Many Christians have found by experience,
praying times to be sealing times, times wherein God hath sealed up to
them tlie remission of their sins, and the salvation of their souls. They
have found prayer to be a shelter to their souls, a sacrifice to God, a
sweet savour to Christ, a scourge to Satan, and an inlet to assurance.
God loves to lade the wings of prayer with the choicest and chiefest

^ Nunqrtam abs te absque te reeedo. — Bernard, Epist. 116, Lord, saith he, I never go
away frum tlieo without thee. He was a man very much in prayer, as some writers
observe.

Rom. VTII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 369

blessings. Ah ! how often, Christians ! hath God kissed you at the be-
ginning of prayer, and spoke peace to you in the midst of prayer, and
filled you witli joy and assurance, upon the close of prayer ! That ninth
of Daniel, from the seventeenth to the four and twentieth verse, is full to
the point in hand ; I shall only cite the words of the four last verses :
Dan. ix. 20-23, ' And whilst I was speaking, and praying, and confess-
ing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my suppli-
cation before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God ; yea,
whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had
seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,^ touched
me about the time of evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked
with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and
understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the command-
ment came forth, and I am come to shew thee, for thou art greatly be-
loved ; therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.' In
these words you see, whilst Daniel was in prayer, the Lord appears to
him and gives him a divine touch, and tells him that he is 'a man
greatly beloved,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' a man of desires.'* So Acts
X. 1-4. ' There was a certain man in Csesarea, called Cornelius, a cen-
turion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that
feared God with all his house ; which gave much alms to the people, and
prayed to God always ; he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth
hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto
him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said,
What is it. Lord ? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms
are come up for a memorial before God.'' Praying Cornelius, you see,
is remembered by God, and visited sensibly and evidently by an angel,
and assured that his prayers and good deeds are not only an odour, a
sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God, but also
that they shall be gloriously rewarded by God. So when Peter was
praying, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and had his mind
elevated, and all the faculties of his soul filltd with a divine revelation,
Acts X. 9-16 ; so when Paul was a-praying, he sees a vision, Acts ix.
11-16, Ananias a-coming and laying his hands on him, that he might
receive his sight. Paul had not been long at prayer before it was re-
vealed to him, that he was a chosen vessel, before he was filled with the
voice and comforts of the Holy Ghost ; so our Saviour was transfigured
as he was praying, Mat. xvii. 1, 2. Thus you see, that praying times
are times wherein the Lord is graciously pleased to lilt up the light of
his countenance upon his people, and to cause his grace and favour, his
goodness and kindness, to rest on them, as the spirit of Elijah did rest
on Elisha, 2 Kings ii. 15.

Obj. But some may object and say. We have been at the door of
mercy, early and late, for assurance, and yet we have not obtained it ;
we have prayed and waited, and we have waited and prayed, we have
prayed and mourned, and we have mourned and prayed, and yet we
cannot get a good word from God, a smile from God ; he hath covered

^ ^Vl PjyD, with weariness or flight, tired as it were with his making speed.
*, nniDn, Chamudoth, a man of desires, that is, one that id very pleasing and delight-
ful to God. * Kick Calvin and (Ecumenius on the words.
VOL. 11. A a

370 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

himself with a cloud, and after all that we have done, it is still night
with our souls ; God seems not to be at home, he seems not to value
our prayers ; we call, and cry and shout out for assurance, and yet he
•hutteth out our prayer ; we are sure that we have not found praying
times to be times of assurance to our souls, &c.. Lam. iii. 8.
Ans. 1. Now to this objection I shall give these answers :
(1.) First, That it may be you have been more earnest and vehement
for assurance, and the effects of it, viz., joy, comfort, and peace, than
you have been for grace and holiness, for communion with God, and
conformity to God.' It may be your requests for assurance have been
full of life and spirits, when your requests for grace and holiness, for
communion with God, and conformity to God, have been lifeless and
spiritless. If so, no wonder that assurance is denied you. Assurance
makes most for your comfort, but holiness makes most for God's honour.
Man's holiness is now his greatest happiness, and in heaven man's
greatest happiness will be his perfect holiness. Assurance is the daughter
of holiness ; and he that shall more highly prize, and more earnestly
press after the enjoyment of the daughter than the mother, it is not a
wonder if God shuts the door upon him, and crosses him in the thing
he most desires. The surest and the shortest way to assurance is to
wrestle and contend with God for holiness, as the angel contended with
the devil about the body of Moses, Jude 9. When the stream and
cream of a man's spirit runs after holiness, it will not be long night with
that man ; the Sun of righteousness will shine forth upon that man,
and turn his winter into summer, and crown him with the diadem of
assurance, Mai. iv. 2. The more holy any person is, the more excellent
he is. All corruptions are diminutions of excellency. The more mixed
anything is, the more it is abased, as if gold and tin be mixed ; and
the more pure it is as mere gold, the more glorious it is.^ Now the
more divinely excellent any man is, the more fit he is to enjoy the
choicest and highest favours. Assurance is a jewel of that value, that
he will bestow it upon none but his excellent ones, Ps. xvi. 3. Assur-
ance is that tried gold, that none can wear but those that win it in a
way of grace and holiness, Rev. iii. 18. It may be, if thou hadst
minded, and endeavoured more after communion with God, and con-
formity to God, thou mightest before this time have looked upward,
and seen God in Christ smiling upon thee, and have looked inward into
thy own soul, and seen the Spirit of grace witnessing to thy spirit that
thou wert a son, an heir, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ,
Rom. viii. 15-17. But thou hast minded more thy own comfort than
Christ's honour ; thou hast minded the blossoms and the fruit, assur-
ance and peace, more than Christ the root; thou hast minded the
springs of comfort, more than Christ, the fountain of life ; thou hast
minded the beams of the sun, more than the Sun of righteousness ; and
therefore it is but a righteous thing with God to leave thee to walk
in a valley of darkness, to hide his face from thee, and to seem to be
as an enemy to thee.

Ans. 2. But secondly, I answer, It may he thou art not yet Jit for so

* It is better to ask and not receive, than to receive and not ask — Clement.
» The Jews havu a saying, that tliose seventy souls that went down to Egypt were
more worth than the seventy nations of the world.

Rom. VIII. 32-34i.] heaven on eaeth. 371

choice a mercy, thou art not able to bear so great a favour. Many
heads are not able to bear strong waters. Why, the very quintessence
of all the strong consolations of God are wrung out into this golden cup of
assurance ; and can you drink of this cup, and not stammer norstagger?
Believe it, assurance is meat for strong men ; few babes, if any, are able
to bear it, and digest it.' The apostle saith, Heb. V. 12, 14, that ' strong
meat belongeth to them that are of full age' (or that are comparatively
perfect, or full-grown), 'even those who, by reason of use' (Greek, by
reason of habit, which is got by continual custom and long practice*),
' have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.' The Greek
word properly signifies such an exercise as wrestlers, or such as contend
for victory, do use, which is with all their might and strength, being
trained up unto it by long exercise. It may be, O complaining Christian,
that thou art but a scrub,^ a babe in gi*ace, 1 Cor. iii. 1-3 ; happily thou
art not yet got beyond the breast, or, if thou art, yet thou art not past
the spoon. Ah ! Christian, if it be thus with thee, cease complaining of
want of assurance, and be up and growing ; be more aged in grace and
holiness, and thou shalt find assurance growing upon thee.* Divine
wisdom sparkles much in this, in giving milk to babes that are more
carnal than spiritual, and meat, i.e. assurance, to strong men, that have
more skill and will, that have a greater ability and choicer faculty to
prize arid improve this jewel assurance than babes have. The Hebrew
word chahodh signifies both weight and glory^ ; and verily, glory is such
a weight, that if the body were not upheld by that glorious power that
raised Jesus Christ from the grave, if it were not bore up by everlasting
arms, it were impossible it should bear it, Deut. xxxiii. 27. Now assur-
ance is the top of glory, it is the glory of glory. Then certainly they
had need be very glorious within that shall be crowned with such a
weight of glory as assurance is, Ps. xlv. 1 3. Well ! remember this, it is
mercy to want mercy till we are fit for mercy, till we are able to bear
the weight of mercy, and make a divine improvement of mercy.

Ans. 3. Thirdly, You Diust distinguish between delays and denials.^
God may delay us, when he does not deny us ; he may defer the giving
in of a mercy, and yet, at last, give the very mercy begged. Barren
Hannah prays, year after year, for a mercy. God delays her long, but
at last gives her her desire ; and the text says expressly, that her coun-
tenance was no more sad, 1 Sam. i. 1 8. After many prayers and tears,
the Lord comes in, and assures her, that she should have the desire of
her soul ; and now she mourns no more, but sits down satisfied, com-
forted, and cheered. After much praying, waiting, and weeping, God
usually comes with his hands and heart full of mercy to his people. He
loves not to come vacuis manibus, empty-handed, to those that have
sat long with wet eyes at mercy's door. Christ tries the faith, patience,
and constancy of the Canaanite woman, Mat. xv. 21-29 ; he deferred
and delayed her, he reproached and repulsed her ; and yet at last is

" Job XV. 11. Divine comfort is a delicate thing, and it not given to him that admits
of any other. ^ rtktiut , . . ^la rtiv t|jv ret alfSri'ri^ia lytyvfttairftivK.

3 ' A mean fellow.' — G.

* Invalidum omne natura qutrulum. — Seneca. Weak spirits are ever quarrelling and
contepnding. " 1U3. So the Chaldee lp\

® Every audience increaseth love, thanks, and trust, Ps. cxvi. 1-3. And those mercies
are best improved, which we receive after we have been long upon our kuees.

372 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

overcome by her, as not being able any longer to withstand her impor-
tunate requests. ' O woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee, even
as thou wilt'^ Christ puts her off at first, but closes with her at last ;
at first a good word, a good look is too good for her, but at last good
words and good looks are too little for her : ' Be it unto thee, -even as
thou wilt.' At first Christ carries himself to her as a churlish stranger,
but at last as an amorous lover. Though at first he had not an ear to
hear her, yet at last he had a heart to grant her, not only her desires,
but even what else she would desire over and above what she had
desired. God heard Daniel at the beginning of his supplications, and
his bowels of love was working strongly towards him, but the angel
Gabriel doth not inform Daniel of this till afterwards, Dan. ix. 15-25.
Praying souls, you say that you have prayed long for assurance, and yet
you have not obtained it. Well, pray still. Oh pray and wait, wait
and pray ; ' the vision is for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it ; because it will surely
come, it will not tarry,' Hab. ii. 3. God hath never, God will never,
fail the praying soul ; at the long run, thou shalt be sure to obtain that
assurance that will richly recompense thee for all thy praying, waiting,
and weeping ; therefore hold up and hold on praying, though God doth
delay thee, and my soul for thine, thou shalt reap in due season such a
harvest of joy and comfort, as will sufficiently pay thee for all thy pains,
Gal. vi. 9. Shall the husbandman wait patiently for the precious fruits
of the eai'th, James v. 7; and wilt not thou wait patiently for assurance,
which is a jewel more worth than heaven and earth ? Pra3'ing souls, re-
member this. It is but weakness to think that men shall reap as soon as
they sow, that they shall reap in the evening when they have but sowed
in the morning. Titus Vespasian never dismissed any petitioner with
a tear in his eye, or with a heavy heart •,'^ and shall we think that the
God of compassions will always dismiss the petitioners of heaven with
tears in their eyes ? Surely no.^

VIII. Ei{/hthly, Sometimes beforethe soulis deeply engaged in sore con-
flicts with Satan, the Lord is graciously pleased to visit hisjjeople with
his loving-kindness, and to give them scnne sv;eet assurance, that thovgh
they are tempted, yet they shall not he worsted; though they are tried, yet
tliey shall he crowned, 1 John x. 28 ; though Satan doth roar as a lion
upon the soul, yet he shall not make a prey of the soul; for the Lion
of the tHhe of Judah will hold it fast, and none shall pluck it out of
his hand. Rev. v. 5. God first fed Israel with manna from heaven, and
gave them water to drink out of the rock, before their sore fight with
Amalek, Exod. xvii 8, &c. Before Paul was buffeted by Satan, he was
caught up into the third heaven, where he had very glorious visions
and revelations of the Lord, even such as he was not able to utter,
2 Cor. xii. 1-8. Before Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness to be
tempted by Satan, to question and doubt of his Sonship. he heard a
voice from heaven, saying, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.' Mat. iii. 17. The Spirit of the Lord did first descend upon
him as a dove, before Satan fell upon him as a lion. God walks with

' Exclamat tanquam victus, lie cries out as conquerpd. — Burgends.

* Suetonius. ^ This truth many choice Chribtians have found by experience.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 373

his people some turns in paradise, and gives them some tastes of his
right-hand pleasures, before Satan, by his tempting, shall do them a dis-
plea-sure, Ps. xvi. 11. But I must hasten to a close of this chapter ; and
therefore,

IX. Ninthly, and lastly. After some sharp conflicts vAth Satan, Ood
is ffraciously pleased to lift up the light of his countenance upon his
people, and to ivarm and cheer their hearts with the beams of hi a
love, :^ Mat. iv. 11, 'Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels
came and ministered unto him.' When Christ had even spent himself
in foiling and quelling, in resisting and scattering Satan's temptations,
then the angels come and minister cordials and comforts unto him. So
after Paul had been buffeted by Satan, he heard that sweet word from
heaven, ' My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in weakness,' 'Z Cor. xii. 7-10, which filled his heart with joy and glad-
nessv The hidden manna, the new name, and the white stone, is given
to the conqueror. Rev. vii. 17 ; to him that hath fought 'with principa-
lities, and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places,' lilph. vi. 12,
and is come off with his garments dipped in blood. After the Roman
generals had gotten victory over their enemies, the senate did use not
one way, but many ways, to express their loves to them. So after our
faith hath gotten victory over Satan, God usually takes the soul in his
arms, and courts it, and shews much kindness to it. Now the soul
shall be carried in triumph, now the chariot of state attends the soul,
now white raiment is put upon the soul. Rev, iii. 5, and vii. 9 ; now
palms are put into the conqueror's hands, now the garland is set upon
the conqueror's head, and now a royal feast is provided, where God will
set the conqueror at the upper end of the table, arvd speak kindly, and
carry it sweetly towards him, as one much affected and taken with his
victory over the prince of darkness. Conflicts with Satan are usually
the sharpest and the hottest ; they spend and waste most the vital and
noble spirits of the saints ; and therefore the Lord, after such conflicts,
doth ordinarily give his people his choicest and his strongest cordials.^

And thus, by divine assistance, we have shewed you the special times
and seasons wherein the Lord is graciously pleased to give his people
some tastes of his love, some sweet assurance, that they are his favour-
ites, that all is well, and shall be for ever well between him and them ;
and that, though many things may trouble them, yet nothing^ shall sepa-
rate them from their God, their Christ, their crown.

CHAPTER III.

Containing the several hindrances and impediments that keep poor
souls from assurance ; with the means and lielps to remove those
impediments and hindrances.

(1.) The first impediment. Now the first impediment and hindrance
to assurance that we shall instance in, is, DespaiHng thoughts of mercy.
Oh !, these imprison the soul, and make it always dark with the soul ;

' Non tanquam misericordes indigenli, sed tanquam suljecti omnipotenti. — Augastine,
Horn. viii. * Aa many have found by experience.

374? HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

these shut the windows of the soul, that.no light can come in to cheer
it. Despairing thoughts make a man fight against God with his own
weapons ; they make a man cast all the cordials of the Spirit against
the wall, as things of no value ; they make a man suck poison out of
the sweetest promises ; they make a man eminent in nothing unless it
be in having hard thoughts of God, and in arguing against his own soul
and happiness, and in turning his greatest advantages into disadvan-
tages, his greatest helps into his greatest hindrances.* Despairing
thoughts of mercy make a man below the beast that perisheth. Pliny
speaks of the scorpion, that there is not one minute wherein it doth not
put forth the sting, as being unwilling to lose any opportunity of doing
mischief'^ Such scorpions are despairing souls, they are still a-putting
out their stings, a-wrangling with God, or Christ, or the Scripture, or
the saints, or ordinances, or their own souls. A despairing soul is Magor-
missabib, a terror to himself; it cannot rest, but, like Noah's ark, is al-
ways tossed here and there ; it is troubled on every side, it is full of
fears and fightings.^ A despairing soul is a burden to others, but the
greatest burden to itself It is still a-vexing, terrifying, tormenting, con-
demning, and perplexing itself Despair makes every sweet bitter, and
every bitter exceeding bitter ; it puts gall and wormwood into the
sweetest wine, and it puts a sting, a cross, into every cross.* Now whilst
the soul is under these despairing thoughts of mercy, how is it possible
that it should attain to a well grounded assurance. Therefore for the
helping of the soul out of this despairing condition, give me leave a
little to expostulate with despairing souls. Tell me, despairing
souls, is not despair an exceeding vile and contemptible sin ? Is it not
a dishonour to God, a reproach to Christ, and a murderer of souls ? Is
it not a belying of God, a denying of Christ, and a crowning of Satan ?
It doth without doubt proclaim the devil a conqueror, and lifts hira up
above Christ himself* Despair is an evil that flows from the greatest
evil in the world ; it flows from unbelief, from ignorance, and misappre-
hensions of God and his grace, and from mistakes of Scripture, and
from Satan, who, being for ever cast out of paradise, labours with all his
art and might to work poor souls to despair of ever entering into para-
dise. O despairing souls, let the greatness of this sin effectually
awaken you, and provoke you to labour as for life, to come out of this
condition, which is as sinful as it is doleful, and as much to be hated as
[to] be lamented.

Again, tell me, O despairing souls, hath not despairing Judas per-
ished, whenas the murderers of Christ, believing on him, were saved ?
Did not Judas sin more heinously by despairing than by betraying
of Christ ?* Despairing Spira is damned, when repenting Manasseh is
saved. O despairing souls, the arras of mercy are open to receive a

' There is a threefold despair : 1, worldly ; 2, moral ; 3, spiritual. And this last is
the worst and greatest.

« Nat. Hist. lib. xi. cap. 30 (25).— G.

3 It makes a man call good evil, and evil good ; light darkness, and darkness light ;
sweet bitter, and bitter sweet ; a Saviour a destroyer, a Redeemed a revenger, &c. [Cf.
Isa. v. 20, &c.— G.]

* A despairing soul is like the spider, that draws poison out of the sweetest flowers.

" Despair is Satan's master piece ; it carries men headlong to hell ; it makes a man
twice-told a child of hell ; it is a viper that hath stinged many a man to death.

^ Flut peccavil Judat duperando quam prodendo Christum, saith one.

Rom. VIIL 32-34.] heaven on earth. 375

Manasseh, a monster^ a devil incarnate ; he caused that gospel prophet
Isaiah to be sawed in the midst with a saw, as some rabbins say ; he
turned aside from the Lord to commit idolatry, and caused his sons to
pass through the fire, and dealt with familiar spirits, and made the
streets of Jerusalem to overflow with innocent blood, 2 Chron. xxxiii.
1-15. The soul of Mary Magdalene was full of devils ; and yet Christ
casts them out, and made her heart his house, his presence chamber,
Luke vii. 47. Why dost thou then say there is no hope for thee, O
despairing soul ? Paul was full of rage against Christ and his people,
and full of blasphemy and impiety, and yet behold, Paul is a chosen
vessel, Paul is caught up into the heaven, and he is filled with the
gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, Acts viii. 1, 2 ; ix. 1 ; xxvi. 11 ;
1 Tim. i. 13, 15, 16. Why shouldst thou then say there is for thee no
help, O despairing soul ! Though the prodigal had run from his
father, and spent and wasted all his estate in ways of baseness and
wickedness, yet upon his resolution to return, his father meets him, and
instead of killing him, he kisses ; instead of kicking him, he embraces
him ; instead of shutting the door upon him, he makes sumptuous pro-
vision for him, Luke xv. 13-23. And how then dost thou dare to say,
despairing soul, that God will never cast an eye of love upon thee,
nor bestow a crumb of mercy on thee ! The apostle tells you of some
monstrous miscreants that were unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, adul-
terers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous,
drunkards, revilers, extortioners ; and yet these monsters of mankind,
through the infinite goodness and free grace of God, are washed from
the filth and guilt of their sins, and justified by the righteousness of
Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, and decked and adorned
with the precious graces of Christ, 1 Cor. vi. 9-11. Therefore do not
say, despairing soul, that thou shalt die in thy sins, and lie down
at last in everlasting sorrow.' Did it make for the honour and glory of
his free grace to pardon them, and will it be a reproach to his free grace
to pardon thee? Could God be just in justifying such ungodly ones,
and shall he be unjust in justifying of thee ? Did not their unworthi-
ness and unfitness for mercy turn the stream of mercy from them ?
No. Why then, O despairing soul, shouldst thou fear that thy un-
worthiness and unfitness for mercy will so stop and turn the stream
of mercy, as that thou must perish eternally for want of one drop of
special grace and mercy ?

Again, tell me, despairing soul, is not the grace of God free
grace, is not man's salvation of free grace V ' By grace ye are saved,'
Ephes. ii. 8. Every link of this golden chain is grace. It is free grace
that chose us, Rom. xi. 5. Even so then at this present time also there
is ' a remnant according to the election of gi-ace.' It is free grace that
chooses some to be jewels from all eternity, that chooses some to life,
when others are left in darkness.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a gift of free grace. Christ is the greatest,
the sweetest, the choicest, the chiefest gift that ever God gave ; and yet

* O despairing souls, are you good at burning, that you have no mercy on yourselves,
buttto argue to your own undoing '?

* Sub laudibus naturae latent inimici gratiae, — Augustine. The patrons of man's free
will are enemies to God's free grace.

376 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

this gift is given by a hand of love. ' God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son,' &c., John iii. lb' ; Isa. ix. 6 ; John iv. 10.
Here is a sic without a sicut, 'God so loved the world ;' so freely, so vehe-
mently, so fully, so^ admirably, so unconceivably, ' That he gave his
only Son,' Hi.s Son, not his servant, his begotten Son, not his adopted
Son, yea, his only begotten Son.

I have read of one that had four sons; and in a famine, sore oppressed
with hunger, the parents resolved to sell one for relief; but then they
considered with themselves which of the four they should sell. They
said the eldest was the first of their strength, therefore loath were they
to sell him The second was the picture of their father, and therefore
loath were they to part with him. The third was like the mother, and
therefore they were not willing to part with him. The fourth, and
youngest, was the child of their old age, their Benjamin, the dearly
beloved of them both ; and therefore they were resolved not to part with
any of them, and so would rather suffer themselves to perish than to
part with any of their children.^

Oh ! but God's heart is so strongly set upon sinners, that he freely
gives Jesus Christ, who is his first-born, who is his very picture, who is
his beloved Benjamin, who is his chiefest joy, who is his greatest de-
light. As Solomon speaks : Prox. viii. 30. ' Then I was by him as one
brougVit up with him, and I was daily his delight' (in the Hebrew D^yiS^VB',
' his delights,' that is, his greatest delight), ' rejoicing always before him,'
or sporting greatly before him, as little ones do before their parents.
Why, then, O despairing soul ! doest thou sit down sighing, and walk
up and down mourning, and sadly conchiding that there is no mercy
for thee ? Hold up thy head, O despairing soul ! Jesus Christ himself
is a gift of free grace. The consideration of his free, boundless, bottom-
less, and endless love, may afford thee much matter of admiration and
consolation, but none of desperation.*

And as Jesus Christ is a gift of free grace, or a free-grace gift, so the
precious covenant of grace is a gift of grace : Gen. xvii. 2, ' I will make
my covenant betwixt me and thee ;' but in the original it is, ' I will
give thee my covenant,' ^nnn njnxv Here you see that the covenant of
grace is a free gift of grace.

God gave the covenant of the priesthood untoPhinehas as a gift,Num.
XXV. 1 2 ; so God gives the covenant of grace as a gift of favour and
grace to all that he takes unto covenant with himself. From first to
last all is from free grace. God loves freely : * I will heal their back-
sliding ; I will love them freely,' &c., Hosea xiv. 4.

So Moses : ' The Lord,' saitii he, ' set his love upon you to take you
into covenant with him : not because you were more in number than
other people, but because he loved you, and chose your fathers,' Deut.
vii. 7, 8.

The only ground of God's love is his love. The ground of God's love
is only and wiioUy in himself. There is neither portion nor proportion
in us to draw his love. There is no love nor lovelmess in us that should

* But Ood, thou despairing soul, is pater miseratiomim, he is all bowels, he will not
stand upon giving his most lovely Son to most uulovely souls

* Christ is called the gift of God, and the free gift of God, five times together in Bom.
T. 15-18.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 377

cause a beam of his love to shine upon us. There is that enmity, that
filthiness, that treacherousness, that unfaithfulness, to be found in every
man's bosom, as might justly put God upon glorifying himself in their
eternal ruin, and to write their names in his black book in characters of
blood and wrath.' And as God loves freely, so God justifies us freely :
Rom. iii. 21, ' Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Jesus Christ.' And as poor sinners are justified freely, so they
are pardoned freely : Acts v, 31, ' Him hath God exalted,' speaking of
Christ, ' with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give re-
pentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.' And as they are pardoned
freely, so they shall b« saved freely : Rom. vi. 23, ' For the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life,' &c.^ Thus you see, de-
spairing souls ! that all is of free grace ; from the lowest to the highest
round of Jacob's ladder all is of grace. Christ is a donative, the covenant
of grace is a donative, pardon of sin is a donative, heaven and salvation
is a donative. Why, then, O despairing souls ! should you sit down
sighing under such black, sad, and dismal apprehensions of God, and
your own state and coudition ?

Verily, seeing all happiness and blessedness comes in a way of free
grace, and not in a way of doing, not in a way of works, you should arise,
O despairing souls ! and cast off all despairing thoughts, and drink of
the waters of life freely, Rev. xxi. 6, xxiu 18. What though thy heart
be dead, and hard, and sad ; what though thy sins be many, and thy
fears great ; yet behold here is glorious grace, rich grace, wondrous
grace, matchless and incomparable riches of free grace .spread before thee.
Oh ! let this fire warm thee, let these waters refresh thee, let these
cordials strengthen thee, that it may be day and no longer night with'
thee, that thy mourning may be turned into rejoicing, and that thy
beautiful garments may be put on, that so the rest of thy days may l)e
days of gladness and sweetness, and free grace may be an everlasting
shade, shelter, and rest unto thee, Isa. Iii. 1.

Again, tell me, O despairing souls ! do you understand, and most
seriously and frequently ponder upon those particular scriptures that do
most clearly, sweetly, and fully discover the mercies of God, the bowels
of God, the grace and favour of God to poor sinners, as that Ps. Ixxxvi.
5, ' For thou. Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in
mercy, unto all them that call upon thee'? God's mercies are above all
his works, and above all ours too. His mercy is without measures and
rulea All the acts and attributes of God sit at the feet of mercy. The
weapons of God's artillery are turned into the rainbow ; a bow, indeed,
but without an arrow, bent but without a string. The rainbow is an
emblem of mercy ; it is a sign of grace and favour, and an assurance
that God will remember his covenant. It is fresh and green, to note to
us that God's mercy and grace to poor sinners is always fresh anJ green,'

Again, tell me, O despairing souls ! have you seriously pondered upon

* God will have all blessings and happiness to flow from free grace : (1.) that the worst
of sinners may have strong grounds for hope and comfort ; (2.) for the prai.se of his own
glory; (3.) that vain man may not boast; (4.) that our mercies and blessings may be
sure to us.

» ^f.^igii,a, Tov etfltf, the gracious gift of God. Chariama signifies a gift flowing from the
free grace and favour of God, John x. 28.

* The rainbow ia signum gratice et faederit.

378 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Neh. ix. IG, 17, ' But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened
their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, and refused to
obey ; neither were mindful of the wonders that thou didst among
them, but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a cap-
tain to return to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and for-
sookest them not ' ? ' Thou art a God,' says he, ' ready to pardon,' or
rather as it is in the original, ' And thou a God of pardons' [ni'?N nnxi
nilT'^D]. There is a very great emphasis in this Hebraism, ' a God of
pardons.' It shews us that mercy is essential unto God, and that he is
incomparable in forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Here Nehe-
miah sets him forth as one made up all of pardoning grace and mercy.
As a circle begins everywhere, but ends nowhere, so do the mercies of
God, Micah vii. 18.

When Alexander did sit down before a city, he did use to set up a
light, to give those within notice that if they came forth to him whilst
the light lasted, they might have quarter ; if otherwise, no mercy was
to be expected. Oh ! but such is the mercy and patience of God to
sinners, that he sets up light after light, and waits year after year upon
them. When they have done their worst against him, yet then he
comes with his heart full of love, and his hands full of pardons, and
makes a proclamation of grace, that if now at last they will accept of
mercy, they shall have it, Luke xiii. 7, Jer. iii. 1-15. Why, then, O
despairing soul ! dost thou make thy life a hell by having such low
and mean thoughts of God's mercy, and by measuring of the mercies
and bowels of God by the narrow scantling' of thy weak and dark under-
standing ?

Again, tell me, O despairing souls ! have you seriously pondered upon
those words in Isa. Iv. 7-9 : ' Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man' (or rather as it is in the original, 'the man of iniquity'*)
' his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon,' or as
it is in. the original, * He will multiply to pardon.'^ ' For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the
Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts' ? Turn,
despairing souls ! to these scriptures : Num. xiv. 19, 20 ; Exod. xxxiv.
6, 7 ; Micah vii. 18, 19 ; Isa. xxx. 18, 19 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 34-4-0 ; ciii. 8-13 ;
Jer. iii. 1-12 ; Luke xv. 20-24 ; 1 Tim. i. 13-17 ; and tell me whether
you have seriously and frequently pondered upon them !

Oh ! how can you look so much grace and so much love and favour,
and such tender bowels of compassion, in the face, as appears in these
scriptures, and yet rack and tear your precious souls with despairing
thoughts !

Oh ! there is so much grace and goodness, so much love and favour,
so much mercy and glory, sparkling and shining through these scrip-

* » Measurement' or portion ; another Sb&kesperian word, ' Scantling of good or bad,'
Troilus and Cressida, i. 8. — G.

* ]1K K'N"'"!, veish aven ; the man of iniquity, t. e. one that makes a trade of sin.

^ n2"l*"*3. He will multiply to pardon, or he will increase his pardon, as the sinner
increases his sins.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 379

tures, as may allay tte strongest fears, and scatter the thickest dark-
ness, and cheer up the saddest spirits, &c.

Again, tell me, O despairing souls, do you not do infinite wrong to
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus? Three things are called precious
in the Scripture : the blood of Christ is called 'precious blood,' I Peter
i. 19 ; and faith is called 'precious faith,' 2 Peter i. 1 ; and the pro-
mises are called 'precious promises?,' 2 Peter i. 4. Now, what a reproach
is it to this precious blood, ' that speaks better things than the blood of
Abel,' Heb. xii. 24, for you to faint and sink under the power of despair;
what doth this speak out ? Oh ! doth it not proclaim to all the world
that there is no such worth and virtue, no such power and efficacy in
the blood of Christ, as indeed there is ? Oh ! how will you answer this
to Christ in that day wherein his blood shall speak and plead, not only
with the profane that have trodden it under their feet, but also with
despairing souls that have undervalued the power, virtue, and merit of
it ? Heb. X. 29.' Hath not the blood of Jesus Christ washed away the
sins of a world of notorious sinners, and is it not of virtue to wash away
the sins of one sinner ? Hath it had that power in it as to bring many
thousands to glory already, and is there not so much virtue left in it
as to bring thy soul to glory ? 1 John i. 7-9. Hath it actually de-
livered such a multitude from wrath to come as cannot be numbered,
and is the virtue of it so far spent as that it cannot reach to thy
deliverance ? Are there not yet millions of thousands that shall here-
after be actually saved and justified by this blood V Why, then,
shouldst thou despair of being justified and saved from wrath to come
by the virtue and power of this precious blood? There were five monks
that were studying what was the best means to mortify sin. One said,
to meditate on death ; the second, to meditate on judgment ; the third,
to meditate on the joys of heaven ; the fourth, to meditate on the tor-
ments of hell ; the fifth, to meditate on the blood and sufferings of
Jesus Christ: and certainly, the last is the choicest and strongest motive
of all to the mortifying of sin. despairing souls, despairing souls !
if ever you would cast off your despairing thoughts and get out of your
present hell, then dwell much, muse much, and apply much this pre-
cious blood to your own souls. So shall ' sorrow and mourning flee
away, and everlasting joy shall rest upon you,' and the Lord shall give
you ' an everlasting name,' and be ' everlasting light and glory to you,'
and * you shall be no more called Forsaken ;' for ' the Lord will re-
joice over you,'^ and be a well-spring of life unto you, and make his
abode with you, and turn your sighing into singing, your trembling into
rejoicing, and your prison into a paradise of pleasure ; so that your
souls shall be able to stand up and say. Oh, blessed be God for Jesus
Christ ; blessed be God for that precious blood that hath justified our
persons, and quieted our consciences, and scattered our fears, and
answered our doubts, and given us to triumph over sin, hell, and death.
' Who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died,' Rom. viii. 33-38.

^ Una guttula plus valet quam caelum et terra. — Luther.

* Sanguu Christi clavis ccelt. The blood of Christ is the key of heaven that hath let
in millions, Rev. vii. 9, Isa. Ixvi. 8. ' A nation shall be born in a day;' when the Jews
shallf be converted, a very glorious converting power shall accompany the means of
salvation, that Christ may reign from sea to sea, &c.

3 Isa. Iv. 11, Ivi. 5, Ix. 19, 20, and Ixii. 4, 5 ; John iv. 21, 23.

380 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

The apostle, upon the account of Christ's death, of Christ's blood, cries
out. Victory, victory ; he looks upon all his enemies and sings it
sweetly out, 'Over all these we are more than conquerors,' or 'above
conquerors.'*

O despairing souls, to all your former sins do not add this, of mak-
ing light and slight of the blood of Christ. As there is no blood- that
saves soul.s like the blood of Christ, so there is no blood that sinks souls
like the blood of Christ. A drop of this blood upon a man's head at
last will make him miserable for ever ; but a drop of it upon a man's
heart at last will make him happy for ever. In the day of vengeance,
the destroying angel will spare you if this blood be found upon the
door-posts of your hearts, otherwise you are lost for ever, Exod. xii. 7.

Lastly, I can tell you, O despairing souls, that God hath brought
some out of the very gulf of despair, out of the very belly of hell ; and
therefore thou mayest hope that thy sins, that are thy present burden,
shall not be thy future ruin. Doth not Asaph resemble the despairing
soul to the life ? ' My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered
God, and was troubled ; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.
Thou boldest mine eyes waking ; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.'
' Will the Lord cast off for ever ? and will he be favourable no more ?
Is his mercy clean gone for ever? and will his promise fail for ever-
more? Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shiit up
his tender mercies V Ps. Ixxvii. 2-9. Now, out of this gulf God de-
livers him: ver. 10, 'And I said. This is my infirmity;' or ' this maketh
me sick,' as it is in the original, ^m'?n "i^Ni. Here Asaph checks him-
self for casting the cordials, the comforts of the Spirit against the wall,
and for his having such hard, sad, and black thoughts of God. And in
the thirteenth verse he speaks like one dropped out of heaven : ' Thy
way, O God, is in the sanctuary : who is so great a God as our God V
Formerly, the thoughts of God troubled him and overwhelmed him ;
but now, at last, the thoughts of the greatness of God, and of his in-
terest in God, is matter of admiration and consolation to him. So Ha-
man sighs it out thus : ' My soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth
nigh unto the grave.' 'Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in dark-
ness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast
afflicted me with all thy waves.' ' Lord, why casteth thou off my soul?
why hidest thou thy face from me ? I am afflicted, and ready to die
from my youth up ; while I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. Thy
fierce wrath goeth over me ; thy terrors have cut me off,' Ps. Ixxxviii.
3, 6, 7, 14)-16.* And yet, for all this, Heman's state was good ; his
soul was safe and happy : he calls God in the same psalm ' the God of
his salvation,' ver. 1. So Jonah, when he was in the belly of hell, con-
cludes, * that he was cast out of the sight of God,' Jonah ii. 4.' The
sense of his sin, and of God's anger and wrath, was so eminent and
transcendent upon him, that it even distracts him, and makes him speak
like a despairing soul : ' I am cast out from the presence of the Lord ;

' irip*ixifif is super vincimus, we do over-overcome.

• All 'conclude that he was very holy, and his soul very happy, even while he was in
this KwU of misery.

3 \^\, G'lrask signifies to expulse and cast out, as Adam was ezpulsed out of paradise,
Gen. iii. 24. It signifiea an ignominious expulsion.

Rom. VIII. 32--34.] heaven on earth. 381

I am expulsed out of God's sight/ as Moses was expulsed out of Egypt.
God hath cast me out as one in whom he can take no pleasure nor de-
light, as a husband doth a wife that hath been false and unfaithful to
him ; and yet God's heart and love is so set upon Jonah that he will save
him by a miracle rather than he shall not be saved. Jonah was much
in the heart of God, and God made his faith at last victorious. To
these I shall add some other famous instances. In king James his time
there was one Mistress Honiwood of Kent, an ancient and religious gentle-
woman, who lived many years in much horror and terror of conscience, for
want of assurance of the favour of God, and of her eternal well-being.
She would very often cry out, 'She was damned, she was damned.' Several
men of eminent piety and parts, left no means unattempted, whereby her
doubts might be answered, her conscience pacified, and her soul satisfied
and cheered ; yet she being strongly under the power of despair, per-
sisted in crying out, 'Oh! she was damned, she was damned.' When
these gentlemen were about to depart, she called for a cup of wine for
them, which being brought, she drank to one of them a glass of the
wine, and as soon as she had done, in an extreme passion she threw
the Venice glass against the ground, saying, 'As sure as this glass will
break, so surely am I damned.' The glass rebounded from the ground
without any harm, which one of the ministers suddenly caught in his
hand, and said, * Behold, a miracle from heaven to confute your unbelief.
Oh ! tempt God no more, tempt God no more.' Both the gentlewoman
and all the company were mightily amazed at this strange accident,
and all glorified God for what was done ; and the gentlewoman, by the
grace and mercy of God, was delivered out of her hell of despair, and
was filled with much comfort and joy, and lived and died full of peace
and assurance.'

Take another instance. There lived lately at Tilbury, in Essex, a
gentleman who was a long time under such an eminent degree of
despair, that he rejected all comfort that was tendered to him by any
hand, and would not suffer any to pray with him ; nay, he sent to the
ministers and Christians that lived near him, and desired them, that as
they would not increase his torments in hell, they would cease praying
for him. He would not suffer any religious service to be performed in
his family, though formerly himself was much in the use of them ; yet
God gave him at last such inward refreshings, and by degrees filled
him with such abundance of heavenly comforts, as he told all that came
to him that it was impossible for any tongue to utter, or heart to ima-
gine, that did not feel them. At last God gave him ' the new name,
and the white stone, that none knows but he that hath it,' Rev. ii. 17.
He lived about three quarters of a year, enjoying heaven upon earth,
and then breathed out his last in the bosom of Christ.

Poor I, that am but of yesterday, have known some that have been
so deeply plunged in the gulf of despair, that they would throw all the
spiritual cordials that have been tendered to them against the walls.
They were strong in reasoning against their own souls, and resolved
against everything that might be a comfort and support unto them.

*< The truth of this whole story is notoriously known. [Brooks quotes this also in his
' Ark for all God's Noahs,' but there spells the name Hony wood. See Index, sub nomine.
-G.]

382 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34'.

They have been much set against all ordinances and religious services ;
they have cast off holy duties themselves, and peremptorily refused to
join with others in them ; yea, they have, out of a sense of sin and
wrath, which hath lain hard upon them, refused the necessary comforts
of this life, even to the overthrow of natural life. And yet out of this
horrible pit, this hell upon earth, hath God delivered their souls, and
given them such manifestations of his grace and favour, that they would
not exchange them for a thousand worlds.

O despairing souls, despairing souls, you see that others, whose con-
ditions have been as bad, if not worse than yours, have obtained mercy.
God hath tiirned their hell into a heaven ; he hath remembered them
in their low estate; he hath pacified their raging consciences, and quieted
their distracted souls; he hath wiped all tears from their eyes; and he
hath been a well-spring of life unto their hearts. Therefore be not
discouraged, O despairing souls, but look up to the mercy-seat; remem-
ber who is your rest, and kick no more, by despair, against the bowels
of divine love.

(2.) The second impediment to assurance is, men's entering into
the lists of dispute with Satan about those things that are above their
reach, as about the decrees and counsel of God. Oh by this Satan
keeps many precious souls off from assurance. Since God hath cast
him out of paradise, and bound him in chains of darkness, he will make
use of all his skiU, power, and experience to draw men into the same
misery with himself ; and if he cannot prevent their entering at last
into paradise above, he will labour might and main to make their life
a wilderness here below;' and to this purpose he will busy their thoughts
and hearts about the decrees of God, and about their particular elec-
tions ; as, whether God hath decreed them to eternal happiness, or
chosen them to everlasting blessedness, &c., that so by this means he
may keep them from that desirable assurance that may yield believers
two heavens, a heaven of joy and comfort here, and a heaven of felicity
and glory hereafter.^

It is said of Marcellus, the Roman general, that he could not be quiet,
nee victor, nee victus, neither conquered, nor conqueror. Such a one
is Satan: if he be conquered by faith, yet he will be essaying; if he
conquers, yet he will be roaring and triumphing. Satan's great design
is eternally to ruin souls ; and where he cannot do that, there he will
endeavour to discomfit souls by busying them about the secret decrees
and counsels of God. If the soul break through his temptations, as
David's worthies did break through the hosts of the Philistines, 1 Sam.
xxiii. ] 6, and snap his snares in sunder, as Samson did his cords, Judges
XV. 13, 14, then his next shift is to engage them in such debates and
disputes that neither men nor angels can certainly and infallibly deter-
mine, that so he may spoil their comforts when he cannot take away
their crown.

Now thy wisdom and thy work, O doubting soul, lieth not in disput-
ing, but in believing, praying, and waiting on God. No way to heaven,

' 2 Sam. xiv. 19, ' Is not the hand of Joah with thee in all this ?' You know how to
apply it.

* Eorum qua scire nee datur, rue fat est, doeta est iffnorarUia; scientiae appctentia insanice
tpedes. — Augustine.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eakth. 383

no way to assurance, like this. Adam disputes with Satan, and falls,
and loses paradise ; Job believes, and resists Satan, and stands, and
conquers upon the dunghill. When Satan, O trembling soul, would
engage thee in disputes about this or that, say to him, ' Satan, revealed
things belong to me,' but ' secret things belong to the Lord,' Deut.
xxix. 29. It is dangerous to be curious in prying into hidden matters,
and careless and negligent in observing known laws; say to him, Satan,
thou hast been ' a liar and a murderer from the beginning,' John viii.
44 ; thou art a professed enemy to the saints' confidence and assurance,
to their consolation and salvation. If thou hast anything to say, say it
to my Christ ; he is my comfort and crown, my joy and strength, my
redeemer and intercessor, and he shall plead for me. Ah, Christians !
if you would but leave disputing, and be much in believing and obey-
ing, assurance would attend you ; and you should ' lie down in peace,
and take your rest, and none should make you afraid,' Job xi. 13-20.

(3.) The third iTnpediment ihaX keeps poor souls from assurance, is,
The want of a thorough search and examination of their oivn souls,
and of what God hath done and is a-doing in them} Some there be
that can read better in other men's books than in their own, and some
there be that are more critical and curious in observing and studying
other men's tempers, hearts, words, works, and ways, than their own.
This is a sad evil, and causes many souls to sit down in darkness, even
days without number. He that will not seriously and frequently
observ^e the internal motions and actings of God, in and upon his noble
part, his immortal soul, may talk of assurance, and complain of the want
of assurance, but it will be long before he shall obtain assurance. O
you staggering, wavering souls, you tossed and disquieted souls, know
for a certain, that you will never come to experience the sweetness of
assurance, till your eyes be turned inward, till you live more at home
than abroad, till you dig and search for the mines that be in your own
hearts, till you come to discern between a work of nature and a work
of grace, till you come to put a difference between the precious and the
vile, between God's work and Satan's work. When this is done, you
will find the clouds to scatter, and the Sun of righteousness to shine
upon you, and the day-star of assurance to rise in you. Doubting,
trembling souls, do not deceive yourselves ; it is not a careless, slight,
slender searching into your own hearts, that will enable you to see the
deep, the secret, the curions, the mysterious work of God upon you.
If you do not ' seek as for silver,' and search for Christ and grace ' as
for hid treasures,' you will not find them, Prov. ii. 3-5. Your richest
metals lie lowest, your choicest gems are in the bowels of the earth, and
they that will have them, must search diligently, and dig deep, or else
they must go without them.** Doubting souls, you must search, and
dig again and again, and you must work and sweat, and sweat and
work, if ever you will find those spiritual treasures, those pearls of price
that are hid under the ashes of corruption, that lie low in the very bowels
of your souls.

Tell me, O doubting souls, hath that sweet word of the apostle been

•Conradus's motto was a notable rule, Omnium mores, tuos imprimis observato, observe
all men's carriages, but especially thy own. [Query, Conradus Alfonsus Mantuanus,
1574 ? G.] * So saith Pliny, Seneca, and others.

384« HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

ever made to stick in power upon you : 2 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Examine your-
selves, whether you be in the faith ;' or, whether faith be in you, ' prove
you' selves,' &c.' The precept is here doubled, to shew the necessity,
excellency, and difficulty of the work ; to shew that it is not a super-
ficial, but a thorough, serious, substantial examination that must enable
a man to know whether he hath precious faith or no; whetlier he be
Christ's spouse or the devil's strumpet. All is not gold that glisters ; all
is not faith that men call faith ; therefore, he that would not prove a
cheater to his own soul, must take some pains to search and examine
how all is within. Climacus^ reports, that the ancients used to keep in
a little book a memorial of what they did in the day against their
night reckoning. But ah ! how few be there in those days that keeps a
diary of God's mercies and their own infirmities, of s|)iritual experi-
ences and the inward operations of heavenly graces I Seneca reports
of a heathen man that every night asked himself these three questions :
first. What evil hast thou healed this day ? secondly. What vice hast
thou stood against this day ? thirdly. In w^hat part art thou bettered
this day ? And shall not Christians take pains with their own hearts,
and search day and night to find out what God hath done, and is a-doing
there ? God hath his doing hand, his working hand in every man's
heart; either he is a-working there in ways of mercy or of wrath;
either he is building up or a-plucking down ; either he is a-making all
glorious within, or else he is a-turning all into a hell. Well ! doubting
souls, remember this, that the soundest joy, the strongest consolation,
flow from a thorough examination of things within. This is the way to
know how it is with you for the present, and how it is like to go with
you for the future. This is the way to put an end to all the wranglings
of your hearts, and to put you into a possession of heaven on this side
heaven.

(4.) Tlte fourth impediTnent that keeps many precious souls from
assurance is. Their mistakes about the work of grace. Look, as many
hypocrites do take a good nature for grace, and those common gifts and
graces that may be in a Saul, a Jehu, a Judas, for a special distinguish-
ing grace, &c., so the dear saints of God are very apt to take grace for
a good nature, to take pearls of price for stones of no value, to take
special grace for common grace. Many trembling souls are apt to call
their faith unbelief, with the man in the Gospel, Mark ix. 24-, and their
confidence presumption, and their zeal passion, &c. ; and by this means
many are kept off from assurance. Now, the way to remove this im-
pediment is, wisely and seriously to distinguish between renewing grace
and restraining grace, betwixt common grace and special grace, betwixt
temporary grace and sanctifying grace. Kow, the difference betwixt
the one and the other I have shewed in ten particulars in my treatise
called ' Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices,' from page 217 to
page 230; and to that I refer thee for full and complete satisfaction.

* vruoaltri, from «ri/»(w to pierce through, &c., S«*(^a|sTi, to prove and try, as goldsmiths
try tlieir metal by the fire and the touchstone. God brings not a pair of scales to weigh
our grace, but a touchstone to try our graces. If our gold be true, though it be never
so little, it will pass current with him. He will not ' quench the smoking flax,' &c.
[Mat. xii. 20.]

» Climacus, Joannes, sumamed the Learned, called Climacus on account of a work
written by him, entitled *X/jMa|. — G.

Rom. VIII. 82-34.] heaven on eakth. 385

If thou wilt cast thy eye upon the particulars, I doubt not but thou
wilt find that profit and content that will recompense thee for thy
pains. And this I thought more convenient to hint to thee, than to
write over the same things that there thou wilt find to thy delight and
settlement.'

(5.) The fifth impediment to assurance is, Their grieving and vex-
ing the Spirit of grace by not hearkening to his voice, by refusing his
counsel, by stopping the ear, by throwing water upon that fire he
kindles in their souls, and by attributing that to the Spirit that is to
be attributed to men's own passions and distempers, and to the prince
of darkness and his associates.^ By these and such like ways, they
sad that precious Spirit that alone can glad them, they set him
a-mourning that alone can set them a-rejoicing, they set him a-grieving
that alone can set them a-singing ; and therefore it is that they sigh it out
with Jeremiah, Lam. i. 16, ' Behold, he that should comfort our souls,
stands afar off.'^ Ah, doubting souls ! if ever you would have assur-
ance, you must observe the motions of the Spirit, and give up your-
selves to his guidance ; you must live by his laws, and tread in his
steps ; you must live in the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit ; you must
let him be chief in your souls. This is the way to have him to be a
sealing Spirit, a witnessing Spirit to your hearts. Believe it, souls, if
this be not done, you will be far off from quietness and settlement.
The word that in 1 John iii. 19 is rendered ' assure,' signifies to per-
suade : to note to us that our hearts are forward and peevish, and apt to
wrangle and raise objections against God, against Christ, against the
Scripture, against our own and others' experiences, and against the sweet
hints and joyings of the Spirit; and this they will do, especially when
we omit what the Spirit persuades us to.* Omissions raises fears and
doubts, and makes work for hell, or for the Spirit and physician of souls.
Or else, when we do that which the Spirit dissuades us from. If you
be kind and obedient to the Spirit, it will not be long night with your
souls ; but if you rebel and vex him, he will make your life a hell, by
withholding his ordinary influences, by denying to seal you to the day
of redemption, and by giving you up to conflict with horrors and terrors,
&c., Isa. Ixiii. 10. Therefore, be at the Spirit's beck and check, and
assurance and joy will ere long attend you.

(6.) The sixth impediment to assurance is. Doubting souls making
their sense, reason, and feeling the judges of their spiritual conditions.
Now so long as they take this course, they will never reach to assurance.
Reason's arm is too short to reach this jewel assurance. This pearl of
price is put in no hand but that hand of faith that reaches from earth
to heaven. What tongue can express or heart conceive the fears, the
doubts, the clouds, the darkness, the perplexities that will arise from
the soul's reasoning thus : — I find not that the countenance of God is

* The same man sells that, that sells this ; more to that point I cannot easily say.

* Nil nisi sanctum a sancto Spiritu prodire potest, nothing can come from the Holy Spirit
but that which is holy.

' Smoke drives away bees, and an ill-savour drives away doves. Sin is such a smoke,
such an ill-savour, as drives away this dove-like Spirit.

* fl-s/VoitJv. The soul will not quite leave wrangling, till it be quiet in the bosom of
Christ.

VOL. II. B b

386 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

towards me as before, Gen. xxxi. 5 ; therefore, surely my condition is
bad ; I feel not those quickenings, those cheerings, those meltings as
before ; I am not sensible of those secret stirrings and actings of the
Spirit and grace in my soul as before ; I do not hear such good news
from heaven as before ; therefore certainly God is not my God, I am
not beloved, I am not in the state of grace, I have biit deceived
myself and others ; and therefore the issue will be that I shall die in
my sins. To make sense and feeling the judges of our spiritual con-
ditions, what is it but to make ourselves happy and miserable, right-
eous and unrighteous, saved and damned in one day, ay, in one hour,
when sense and reason sit as judges upon the bench ? Hath God made
sense and feeling the judges of your conditions ? No. Why, then, will
you ? Is your reason Scripture ? Is your sense Scripture ? Is your
feeling Scripture ? No. Why, then, will you make them judges of
your spiritual estate ? Is not the word the judge, by which all men
and their actions shall be judged at last ? ' The word that I have
spoken,' says Christ, ' shall judge you in the last day/ John xii. 48.
' To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light, or no morning in them,' Isa. viii.
20 [1?"i''** inK'j. Why, then, doubting souls, will you make your
sense and feeling the judge, not only of your condition, but of the truth
itself ? What is this but to dethrone God, and to make a god of your
sense and feeling ? What is this, but to limit and bind up the Holy
One of Israel ? What is this but to toss the soul to and fro, and to ex-
pose it to a labyrinth of fears and scruples ? What is this but to cast
a reproach upon Christ, to gratify Satan, and to keep yourselves upon
the rack ? Well ! doubting souls, the counsel that I shall give you is
this, be much in believing, and make only the Scripture the judge of
your condition ; maintain the judgment of the word against the
judgment of sense and feeling ; and if upon a serious, sincere, and im-
partial comparing of thy heart and the word together, of thy ways and
the word together, the word speaks thee out to be sincere, to be a
Nathanael, to be a new creature, to be born again, to have an immortal
seed in thee, &c., cleave to the testimony of the word, joy in it, rest
upon it, and give no more way to fears and doubts. Let thy counte-
nance be no more sad ; for nothing can speak or make that soul miserable,
that the word speaks out to be happy,' Ps. cxix. 24, '•tfJN ^n^y

Constantino would have all differences and disputes in the Nicene
Council endBd by the Bible.'^ doubting souls, look cheerfully to this,
that all differences and controversies that arise in your hearts be ended
by the word. There is danger in looking beside the Scripture, or
beyond the Scripture, or short of the Scripture, or upon sense and feeling,
so much as upon the Scripture ; therefore let the word be always the
man of thy counsel : no way to assurance and joy, to settlement and
establishment, like this. If you are resolved to make sense and feeling
the judge of your conditions, you must resolve to live in fears, and lie
down in tears.

' Inclinauit Deus Scripturas ad infantium et lactantium capacitatem, saith one. God
hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacity even of babes and sucklings. Id agit
tola scriptura, et credimus Deum esse misericordem. — Luther.
* See ' Lives' of the Emperor, and all accounts of the Council of Nice. — G.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 387

(7.) Tlie seventh impediment to assurance is, Men's remissness,
carelessness, laziness, and overliness^ in religious services, and in the
exercise of their gra^es."^ Ah, how active and lively are men in pursuing
after the world ! but how lifeless and unactive in the ways of grace and
holiness ! Ah, doubting Christians ! remember this, that the promise of
assurance and comfort is made over, not to lazy but laborious Christians;
not to idle but to active Christians ; not to negligent but to diligent
Christians :' John xiv. 21-23, ' He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be
loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to
him.^ Now ' Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), liord ! how is it that
thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world 1 Jesus an-
swered and said unto him, 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.' So 2 Peter i. 10, 11, ' Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure : for if
you do these things, ye shall never fall : for so an entrance shall be
ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.*

A lazy Christian shall always want four things, viz., comfort, content,
confidence, and assurance. God hath made a separation between joy
and idleness, between assurance and laziness ; and therefore it is im-
possible for thee to bring these together that God hath put so far
asunder. Assurance and joy are choice donatives that Christ gives only
to laborious Christians. The lazy Christian hath his mouth full of com-
plaints, when the active Christian hath his heart full of comforts. God
would have the hearts of his children to be hot in religious services.
' Be fervent' (or seething hot, as it is in the original) ' in spirit, serving
the Lord,'* Rom. xii. 11.

That service that hath not heavenly heat, that hath not divine fire in
it, is no service, it is lost service. A lazy spirit is always a losing spirit.
Oh ! remember, lazy Christians, that God is a pure act, therefore he
loves activeness in religious services. Remember the angels, those
princes of glory, are full of life and activity, and they always behold the
Father's face in glory. Mat. xviii. 10. Remember, he that will find rich
minerals must dig deep, he that will be rich must sweat for it, he that
will taste the kernel must crack the shell, he that will have the marrow
must break the bone, he that will wear the garland must run the race,
he that wiU ride in triumph must get the victory ; so he that will get
assurance must be active and lively in duty, Prov. ii. 4-6. It is only
fervent prayer that is effectual prayer, it is only the working prayer
that works wonders in heaven, and that brings down wonderful assur-
ance into the heart.^ Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers ;
God will suit his returns to our requests ; lifeless services shall have

' Overly, i.e. slightly, superficially. — Q.

* The active Christian goes to heaven, alacri animo ac plena fiducia.
' Labor omnia vincit.

* Non amat qui non zelat — Augustine, ff-rouiairart is a significant word ; it signifies
all manner of earnestness, seriousness, and continuance in doing. Also it signifies a
speedy and swift putting of things in execution.

^ Z'ioyrts signifies seething hot.

^ James v. 16. in^you/iUn, the working prayer.

388 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

lifeless answers ; when men are dull, God will be dumb. Elias prayed
earnestly, or as it is in the Greek, ' He prayed in prayer,' and God
answered him." Many there be that pray, but they do not pray in
prayer, they are not lively and earnest with God in prayer ; and there-
fore justice shuts out their prayers. When one desired to know what
kind of man Basil was, there was, saith the history, presented to him
in a dream, a pillar of fire with this motto, Talis est Basilns, Basil is
such a one, all on a-light fire for God. Ah ! lazy, doubting Christians,
were you all on a-light fire, in hearing, in praying, &c. ; it would not be
long before the windows of heaven would be open, before God would
rain down manna, before he would drop down assurance into your
bosoms.^

My advice to you, lazy Christians, is this, cease complaining of the
want of assurance, and be no more formal, slight, and superficial in
religious services, but stir up yourselves, and put out all 3'our might
and strength in holy actions, and you shall experimentally find that it
will not be long before you shall have such good news from heaven, as
will fill you with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.^

(8.) The eighth impediment to assurance is. Men's living in the
neglect of some ordinance, or in the omission of some religiovs duties*
They seek Christ in some of his ways, but not in all ; they wait upon
him in this and that ordinance, but not in every ordinance. Are there
not many doubting souls that wait upon God, in hearing the word of life,
and yet neglect, and make light of waiting upon Christ, in breaking the
bread of life ? Are there not many that are very careful daily to per-
form family duties, and yet are very rarely found in closet services ?
Some there be that are all ear, all for hearing ; and others there be that
are all tongue, all for speaking and praying ; and others there be that
are all eye, all for believing, all for searching, all for inquiring into this
and that ; and others there be that are all hand, all for receiving the
Lord's supper, &c. And seriously, when I consider these things, I cease
wondering that so many want assurance, and do rather wonder that any
obtain assurance, considering how few there be that are conscientious
and ingenuous in waiting upon God in every way and service wherein
he is pleased to manifest his grace and favour to poor souls.

Well ! doubting souls, remember this, God will give assurance in one
ordinance, when he will deny it in another, that you may seek his face
in all. God loves as well that you should wait on him as that you should
wrestle with him. He that will not give God the honour of attending
him in every duty, in every ordinance, may long enough complain of
the want of assurance, before God will give him the white stone and the
new name, that none knows but he that hath it, Rev. ii. 17. Many of
the precious sons of Zion have found God giving assurance in one

' irffonv^^, T^affnv^aro, he prayed in prayer.

' Most men have more heat in their hrains than in their hearts and services ; and
therefore it is that they walk in darkness, that they want assurance.

3 God shot Anastasius the emperor to death with a thunderbolt for his lukewarmness,
eaith the historian. [Evagrius, iii. 29, tcq. ; Cedremis, pp. 354-365. — G.]

* Omission of diet breeds diseases, and makes the life uncomfortable, yea, sometimes
a burden to a man. So the omission of holy duties and services breeds many fears,
doubts, and questions in the soul, about its own sincerity, about its interest in Christ,
about its finding audience and acceptance with God ; and so makes the life of a Chri8>
tiau very uncomfortable, yea, a burden to him.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 389

ordinance, others have found him giving assurance in another ordinance.
God speaks peace to some in such and such services, and comfort to
others in such and such duties. Therefore, as you would have assur-
ance, doubting souls, seek the Lord in every way and service, where-
in he ia pleased to make known his glory and goodness. In hearing,
Christ opens his box of ointments to some, and in praying and breaking
of bread, he lets his sweet myrrh fall upon the hearts of others. Some
have seen the glory of the Lord in the sanctuary, that have been clouded
in their closets ; others have heard a sweet still voice in their closets,
that have sat long trembling in the sanctuary. Remember, doubting
souls, Moab and Ammon were banished the sanctuary to the tenth
generation, for a mere omission, because they met not God's Israel in
the wilderness with bread and water, Deut. xxiii. 3, 4.^ And I verily
believe, that God doth banish, as I may say, many from his favourable
presence, as Absalom did David, for their sinful omissions, for their non-
attendance upon him in all his ways. Therefore, if ever you would
have assurance, seek the Lord, not only while he may be found, but
also in every gracious dispensation where he may be found. ' Then shall
the joy of the Lord be your strength,' and his ' glory shall rest upon
you.' ' The days of your mourning shall be ended,' and ' you shall lie
down in peace, and none shall make you afraid.'^ I would earnestly
desire you, O doubting souls, seriously to consider, that all the ways of
Christ are ways of pleasantness ; as Solomon speaks, Prov. iii. 17, not
only this way or that way, but every way of Christ is a way of pleasant-
ness ; every way is strewed with roses, every way is paved with gold,
every way is attended with comfort and refreshing. So the psalmist,
'Thy paths drop fatness,' Ps. Ixv. 11, 12 ; not only this or that path,
but all the paths of God drops fatness. Oh then, walk in every way,
tread in every path of God, as you would have your souls filled with
marrow and fatness, Ps. Ixiii. 5 ; and never forget that choice saying of
the prophet Isaiah, * Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and worketh
righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways,' Isa. Ixiv. 5.'
They that would have God to meet with them in a way of peace and
reconciliation, in a way of grace and favour, must remember God in all
his ways ; not only in this or that particular way, but in every way
wherein he is pleased to cause his glory to shine. Therefore, doubting
souls, cease complaining, and be more conscientious and ingenuous in
waiting upon God in all his appointments, and it will not be long night
with you.

(9.) The ninth impediment that keeps Christians from assurance is
An imTYioderate love of the world} Their thoughts and hearts are so
busied about getting the world and keeping the world, that they neither
seek assurance as they should, nor prize assurance as they should, nor
lament the want of assurance as they should, nor study the worth and

• Here the proverb is most false that says, Modicum non noeet, a little hurts not. Ah I
this or that little omission, as you call it, may expose men to a great deal of wrath, Mat.
XXV. 41-46. They did not rob the saints, but omitted the relieving of them, which was
their ruin. » Neh. viii. 9 ; Isa. Ix. 20 ; Levit. xxvi. 6. — G.

^ ny33, to run and meet the soul, as the father of the prodigal ran and met him afar
off *with bowels of love and pity.

* Multi a mando res noxias sunt miseri, habendo miseriores, many are miserable by loving
hurtful things, but are more miserable by having them.

390 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

excellency of assurance as they should; and therefore it is no wonder,
that such are without assurance. As it is very hard for a rich man to
enter into heaven, Mat. xix. 23, 2-4, so it is very hard for a worldly
Christian to get assurance of heaven. The ' thick clay,' Hab. ii. 6, of
this world doth so affect him, and take him, so satisfy him, and sink
him, that he is not able to pursue after assurance, with that life and
love, with that fervency and frequency, as those must do that will
obtain it. It is said. Gen. xiil 2, 'That Abraham was very rich in
cattle, in silver, and in gold ; according to the Hebrew '?^^, Abraham
was very heavy; to shew, saith one, that riches are a heavy burden,
and a hindrance many times to a Christian's comfort and confidence,
to his happiness and assurance.^ Solomon got more hurt by his wealth,
than he got good by his wisdom.^ Such a fire rose out of his worldly
enjoyments, as did even consume and bum up his choicest spirits and
his noblest virtues ; under all his royal robes, he had but a thread-bare
soul. Sicily, saith one, is so full of sweet flowers, that dogs cannot
hunt there, the scent of the sweet flowers diverteth their smell.^ And
ah ! what doth all the sweet delights and contents of this world, but
make men lose the scent of heaven, but divert men from hunting
after assurance, and from running after Christ, in the sweetness of his
ointments.*

The creature is all shadow, and vanity of vanities. Vanity is the
very quintessence of the creature, and all that can possibly be ex-
tracted out of it. It is Jilia noctis, like Jonah's gourd. A man may
sil under its shadow for a while, but it soon decays and dies. ' Why
shouldst thou set thy heart upon that which is not ? ' Prov. xxiii. 5.
Were ever riches true to them that tnisted them? As the bird hops
from twig to twig, so doth riches hop from man to man, &c. Worldly
Christians, cease complaining of the want of assurance, and sincerely
humble and abase your souls before the Lord; for that you have so
eagerly pursued after lying vanities; for that you have in so great a
measure forsaken the fountain of living water ; for that with Martha you
have been busied about many things, when Christ and assurance, the
two things necessary, have been so much neglected and disregarded by
you. Get this world, this moon, under your feet; take no rest till you
have broken through this silken net, till you have got off' these golden
fetters.*^ A heart that is full of the world, is a heart full of wants.
Ah ! the joy, the peace, the comfort, the confidence, the assurance, that
such hearts wants. The stars which have least circuit, are nearest the
pole; and men whose hearts are least entangled with the world, are
always nearest to God, and to the assurance of his favour. Worldly
Christians, remember this, you and the world must part, or else assur-
ance and your souls will never meet. When a worldly Christian is
saved, he is saved as by fire; and before ever he shall be assured of

^ Divitibus ideo pietat deest, quia nihil deest, rich men's wealth proves an hindrance to
their happiness.

* Divitio) corporales pauperiatis plena sunt. — Augustine. . . . Earthly riches are full of
poverty. ^ Diodonts Siculus. The same saith Aristotle.

* Quam tordet mihi terra cum ccelum intueor f — Adrian.

* Hi terrain amas terra et ; si Deum amas, quid vis ul dicam, Deuses. — Augustine. . . .
If thou lovest the earth, thou art earthly ; but if thou lovest God, thou shalt have whatever
thou wilt ask of Ood.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 391

his salvation, he must cry out, OTnves humancB consolationes, aunt
desolationes, all human consolations are but desolations. God will not
give the sweetmeats of heaven, to those that are gorged and surfeited
with the delicates of the earth. The cock upon the dunghill prefers a
barley-corn above the choicest pearl ; such dunghill Christians that
prefer a little barley-corn above this pearl of price, assurance; that,
with Esau, prefer a morsel of meat before this blessing of blessings ; that
prefer Paris above Paradise,' God's coin above his countenance, may at
last with Esau seek, and seek with tears, this heavenly jewel assurance,
and yet, as he, be rejected and repulsed, Heb. xii. 16, 17.'

(10.) The tenth impediment that keeps Christians from assurance,
is, The secret cherishing and running out of their hearts to sonfie
bosom, darling sin. It is dark night with the soul, when the soul will
cast a propitious eye upon this or that bosom sin, and secretly say,
*Is it not a little one, and my soul shall live V Gen. xix. 20, though
God and conscience hath formerly checked and whipped the soul for
so doing. Ah ! how many be there that dally and play with sin, even
after they have put up many prayers and complaints against sin, and
after they have lamented and bitterly mourned over their sins. Many
there be that complain of their deadness, barrenness, frowardness, con-
ceitedness, censoriousness, and other baseness ; and yet are ready at
every turn to gratify, if not to justify, those very sins that they com-
plain against. No wonder that such want assurance. After the
Israehtes had ate manna in the wilderness, and drunk ' water out of
the rock,' after God had been to them a ' cloud by day, and a pillar of
fire by night,' after he had led them by the arms, and kept them as the
apple of his eye, after he had made them spectators of his wonders,
they hankered after * the flesh-pots of Egypt;' so when, after God hath
given a man a new name and a white stone, after he hath made a report
of his love to the soul, after he hath taken a man up into paradise, after
he hath set a man upon his knee, and carried him in his bosom, after
he bath spoke peace and pardon to the soul, Ps. Ixxxv. 8, for the soul
to return to folly, oh ! this cannot but prove a woful hindrance to
assurance, this will provoke God to change his countenance, and to
carry it not as a friend, but as an enemy. When love is abused,
justice takes up the iron rod. God will strike hard and home, when
men kick against the bowels of mercy. God hath made an everlasting
separation betwixt sin and peace, betwixt sin and joy, and betwixt sin
and assurance. God will be out with that man, that is in with his sin.
If sin and the soul be one, God and the soul must needs be two. He
that is resolved to dally with any sin, he must resolve to live in many
fears. Never forget this; he that savoureth any one sin, though he
foregoeth many, doth but as Benadab, recover of one -disease, and die of
another ; ^ yea, he takes pains to plunge himself into two hells, a hell
here, and a hell hereafter. Therefore, as ever thou would st have assu-
rance, offer up thy Isaac, part with thy Benjamin, pull out thy right

1 Probably the allusion is to the saying of the Duke of Bourbon : ' Give me but a
palace in Paris, and I care not for a place in paradise.' See Epistle Dedicatory to * An
Ark for all God's Noahs.' — G.

• {Mundus cadaver est, et petenUs eum sunt eanes, is an Arabic proverb ; that is, the
world is a carcase, and those that hunt after it are dogs. This proverb makes a great
many of our glistering professors to be but dogs. ^ Query, Benhadad ? — G.

392 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

eye, cut off thy right hand ; otherwise assurance and joy will not be thy
portion.

Now that I may remove this impediment, which is of such dangerous
consequence to Christians' souls, and keep Christians for ever from
smiling upon any bosom sin, I shall first lay down a few considerations
to provoke them to dally and play no more with sin, but to put off
that sin that does so easily beset them, that sticks so close unto them,
Heb. xii. 1 (ivvspieraTov)-^ and then in the second place, I shall propound
some means that may contribute to the bringing under of bosom sins,
that so it may be no longer night with the soul.

The first irnotive to provoke you to put out all your strength and
might against bosom sins, that you are so apt to play withal, is seriously
to consider, that this ivill be a strong and choice demonstration and
evidence of the sincerity and uprightness of your hearts: Ps. xviii. 23,
' I was also upright with him,^ and I kept myself from mine iniquity.*
I kept a strict and diligent watch upon that particular sin that I found
myself most inclined unto. And this, says David, is a clear evidence to
me of the uprightness of my heart with God. The truth is, there is no
hypocrite in the world but doth dandle and dally with some bosom sin
or other ; and though at times, and upon carnal accounts, they seem to
be very zealous against this and that sin, yet at the very same time
their hearts stand strongly and affectionately engaged to some bosom
sin, as might be shewed in Saul, Judas, and Herod, Job xx. 12, 13.
Therefore, as ever you would have a sure argument of your uprightness,
trample upon your Delilahs. This very evidence of thy uprightness
may yield thee more comfort and refreshing in a day of trouble and
darkness, than for the present thou dost apprehend, or hast faith to
believe. Some there be that can tell thee, that the joy of the bride-
groom, nor the joy of the harvest, is not to be compared to that joy that
arises in the soul from the sense and evidence of a man's own upright-
ness, 2 Cor. i. 12. Sincerity is the very queen of virtues ; she holds the
throne, and will be sure to keep it. Yea, the very sight of it in the soul
makes a man sit cheerful and thankful, Noah-like, in the midst of all
tempests and storms. Look, as the playing with a bosom sin speaks
out hypocrisy, so the mortifying of a bosom sin speaks out sincerity.

The second motive to provoke doubting souls to trample upon their
bosom sins, is solemnly to consider, that the conquest of their darling
sins will render the conquests of other sins easy.

When Goliah was slain, the rest of the Philistines fled, 1 Sam. xviL
51, 52. When a general in an army is cut off, the common soldiers are
easily routed and destroyed. Ah ! complaining, doubting souls, did you
but take the courage and resolution to fall with all your might and
spiritual strength upon those particular sins that stick so close unto you,
and that do so easily captivate you, you would find, that the great
mountains that are before you would soon be made a plain, Zech. iv. 7.
Other sins will not be long-lived, when justice is done upon your bosom
sins. Thrust but a dart through the heart of Absalom, and a complete
conquest will folio w,^ 2 Sam. xviii. 14.

' "iDy, gnimmo, with him.

* The Lacedaemonians, in all battles, resolved to go home conquerors, or to die con-
quered.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 393

The third motive to provoke you to crucify your bosom sins, be they
what they will, is, seriously to consider the very great damage that
your souls have already sustained by your bosom sins.

Saul, by casting an amorous eye upon Agag, lost his crown and king-
dom ; Samson, by dallying with his Delilah, lost his strength, sight,
hght, liberty, and life. But what are these losses to thy loss of spiritual
strength, to thy loss of communion with God, to thy loss of the Spirit
of light, life, liberty, and glory ; to thy loss of joy unspeakable, and
peace that passes all understanding ; and to thy loss of those fresh and
sparkling hopes of glory that were once sparkling in thy breast ?^

Mark Antony was so far bewitched with his Cleopatra, that in the
heat of the battle of Actium, when the empire of the world, his life,
and all lay at stake, that he fled from Augustus to pursue her, to the
ruin and loss of all.^ So many there are bewitched to some Cleopatra,
to some darling sin or other, that they pursue the enjoyment of them
to the loss of God, Christ, heaven, and their souls for ever.

Ah ! Christians, that the sense of what you have formerly lost, and of
what you daily lose by your playing witli sin, might provoke you to
set upon some effectual course for the mortifying of them !

It was a blasphemous speech of Henry the Second, who said, when
Mentz, his city, was taken, ' That he should never love God any more,
who suffered a city so dear to him to be taken from him.' But it will
be a blessed and happy thing for you, in uprightness to say. Oh, we wiU
never love, we will never favour, we will never dally with our bosom
sins more ; for they have damnified us in our spiritual enjoyments, and
in our spiritual returns from heaven. Shall the sense of outward losses
by this and that instrument, work us out of love with them ? And shall
not the sense of our spiritual losse.=? by bosom sins, work us much more
out with them. Ah, Lord ! of what iron mettle is that heart that can
look upon those sad losses that hath attended playing with bosom sins,
and yet still dally with those Delilahs 1^

The fourth Tnotive to provoke you to be the death of your darling
sins, is, solemnly to consider, that the conquest and effectual mortify-
ing of one bosom sin, will yield a Christian more glorious joy, com-
fort, and peace, than ever he hath found in the gratifying and com-
miMing of all other sins* The pleasure and sweetness that follows
victory over sin, is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetness
that is in the gratifying of sin. The joy that attends the subduing of
sin is a noble joy, a pure joy, a peculiar joy, an increasing joy, and a
lasting joy ; but that joy that attends the committing of sin is an ig-
noble joy, a corrupt joy, a decreasing joy, a dying joy. The truth is,
were there the least real joy in sin, there could be no perfect hell,
where men shall most perfectly sin, and be most perfectly tormented
with their sin.

I Some there be that had rather lose their hearts than their conceits ; others had
rather lose their souls than their sins : these shall be chronicled in hell for fools and
bedlams.

» Dion. Cassius, lib. xii. leq., and xxxi. seq. ; and Antony and Cleopatra of Shake-
speare, iii. 7. — G.

3 Nay, how many in these days are mad against public instruments for seeming losses?

*<The heathens, as many professors now, had not the right art of mortifying sin.
Sapientia eornm pkrumgne abseondit vitia, non abscindit, all their wisdom was to hide a
lost, not to quench it ; therefore their joy was like the crackling of thorns under a pot.

394 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Ah ! doubting Christians, as ever you would have good days, as ever
you would walk in the light, as ever you would, like the angels, have
always harps in your hands, and hallelujahs in your mouths, be rest-
less, till in the spirit and power of Jesus, you have brought under the
sin that sticks so close unto you. Remember this, nothing below the
conquest of bosom sins can make a jubilee in the heart. It is not a
man's whining and complaining over sin, but his mortifying of sin, that
will make his life a paradise of pleasure.

If, notwithstanding all that hath been said, you are still resolved to
dally with sin, then you must resolve to live as a stranger to God, and
as a stranger to assurance and peace ; you must expect sad trials with-
out, and sore troubles within ; you must expect to find Satan playing
his part both as a lion and as a serpent, both as a devil and as an angel
of light. You must dxpect either no news from heaven, or but bad news
from heaven ; and you must expect that conscience will play the part
both of a scolding wife and of a lion that wants his prey ;' and this shall be
your just reward for playing with sin. If you like the reward, then take
your course, and dally with sin still; if otherwise, then sacrificeyour Isaac.''

Tlie fifth motive to work you to trample upon your bosom sins is,
wisely to consider, that it is your duty and glory to do that every
day, that you would willingly do upon a dying day. Ah ! how would
you live and love upon a dying day ? How would you admire God,
rest upon God, delight in God, long for God, and walk with God upon
a dying day ? How would you hate, loathe, and abhor your bosom sins
upon a dying day ? How would you complain of your bosom sins, and
pray against your bosom sins, and mourn over your bosom sins, and
watch against your bosom sins, and fly from all occasions that should
tend to draw you to close with your bosom sins upon a dying day ?^

Ah! doubting souls, would you not for all the world gratify your bosom
sins upon a dying day, and wiU you gratify them on other days, which,
for anything you know to the contrary, may prove your dying day ?
Thrice happy is that soul that labours with all his might to do that at
first that he would fain do at last ; that doth that on every day, that
he would give a thousand worlds to do on a dying day. No way to
assurance like this ; no way to joy and comfort like this ; no way to
rest and peace like this ; no way to the kingdom, to the crown, like this.

I earnestly beseech you, trembling souls, when you find your spirits
running out to bosom sins, that you would lay your hands upon your
hearts, and thus expostulate the case : O our souls, would you thus
dally and play with sin upon a dying day ? would you thus stroke and
hug sin upon a dying day ? would you not rather shew all the dislike
and hatred that is imaginable against it ? would you not tremble at sin
more than at hell ? and abhor the very occasions of sin more than the
most venomous serpent in all the world ? would you not rather suffer the

1 Conscience is index, judex,, vindex.

' The leper under the law was still to keep his hair shaven, Lev. xiv. 6. So shcnld
we be still a-cutting and shaving, that though the roots of sin remain, yet they may not
grow and sprout.

' Some heathens and many profane persons have earnestly desired that they had done
that at first that they would fain have done at last, but could not. The worst would be
good, and do good at last ; but at last they will be found the best and wisest, [who] have
made it their business to do that every day that every one would do upon a dying day.

EOM. VIII. 32-34] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 395

worst and greatest punishments, than to smile upon a darling sin upon
a dpng day ? Yes ; oh would you fain do this upon a dying day ? Why
not then every day ? Why not then every day, O our souls ?

The sixth motive to provoke you to fall with all your might upon
bosom sins is, seriously to consider, that till this be done, fears and
doubts will still hau7it the soul ; the soul will still be fearing that
surely all is naught, and that that work that is wrought upon it is not
a real but a counterfeit work ; that it is not a peculiar and special
work, but a coTnmon work, that a man may have and perish. Till
this be done, the soul can never be able to see grace in his own native
beauty and glory.' The hugging of sin in a corner, will raise such a
dust in the soul, that it cannot be able to see these pearls of glory
sparkling and shining. Till this be done, doubting souls, you will be
but babes, and shrubs,^ and dwarfs in Christianity. The hankering of
the soul after sin, is the casting of water upon the Spirit ; it is the lam-
ing of grace, it is the clipping the wings of faith and prayer ; so that
the soul can neither be confident, nor fervent, frequent nor constant in
religious services; so that it will unavoidably follow, such souls wiU be
like Pharaoh's lean kine, poor and starveling.^ Look, as many men are
kept low in their outward estates, by having a back door to some He-
rodians ;* so many doubting souls are kept low in spirituals, by their
hankering after some particular sins.

Kemember, Christians, sin is the soul's sickness, the soul's weakness.
If the body be weak and diseased, it grows not. Sin is poison that
turns all nourishment into corruption, and so hinders the growth of the
soul in grace and holiness. Ah ! Christians, as ever you would be rid
of your fears and doubts, as ever you would see the beauty and glory of
grace, as ever you would be eminent and excellent in grace and hoHness,
see that effectual justice be done upon that Achan, that Jonah, that
darling sin, that hath occasioned storms within and tempests without.

It was a grievous vexation to King Lysimachus, that his staying to
drink one draught of water lost him his kingdom. Ah ! Christians, it
will grievously vex you, when you come to yourselves, and when you
come to taste of the admirable pleasure that attends the conquest of
sin, to consider that your hankering after this or that particular sin,
hath been the loss of that joy and comfort, that peace and assurance,
that is infinitely more worth than all the kingdoms of the world.*

Quest. But you may say to me, Oh we would fain have our bosom-
sins subdued, we desire above all that they may be effectually mortified.
These sons of Zeruiah we would have slain to choose ; but what course
must we take to bring under our darling sins, to get off our golden
fetters, to get out of these silken snares ?

To this question I shall give these answers :

The first means. If ever thou wouldst have mastery over this or that

^ One flaw in a diamond doth not only take away the beauty, glory, and price of it,
but it puts men to question whether it be a diamond. Pa. xl. 12, mSv, I am not able
to see ; sin had put out David's eyes. * Qu. ' scrubs' ? as before, p. 271. — O.

3 Gideon had seventy sons, and but one bastard ; and yet that one bastard destroyed
all the rest. You may easily apply it. [Judges viii. 30, seq. — G ]

* Qu. Herodiases? Cf. Mat. xiv. 3.-6.

■^ If there be but one crack in the honey-glass, there the wasp will be buzzing ; and
where there is but some one sin favoured, there Satan will be tempting and upbraiding.

396 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-.34).

bo.som sin, then engage all thy 'power and might against thy bosom
sin, draw up thy spiritual forces, and engage them wholly against
the sin that doth so easily beset thee. As the king of Syria said to his
captains, * Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king
of Israel,' 2 Chron. xviii. 30 ; so say I, your wisdom and your work, O
doubting souls, liethnot in skirmishing with this or that sin, but in com-
ing up to a close sharp fight with the king of Israel, with that darling
sin that hath a kingly interest in you, and a kingly power over you.

Constantine the Great his symbol w^as, Immedicabile vulniis ense
rescindendum est, when there is no hope of curing, men must fall
a-cutting. Believe it, souls, you must fall n-cutting your bosom sins in
pieces by the sword of the Spirit, as Samuel cut Agag in pieces in Gilgal
before the Lord, or else you will never obtain a perfect cure, 1 Sam.
XV. 33. Slight skirmishes will not do it ; you must pursue your bosom
sins to the death, or they will be the death of your souls.

The second means to bring under a bosom sin, is, to labour to he most
eTTiinent a7id excellent in that particular grace that is most opposite to
a Tnan's bosom sin.^ As it is a Christian's glory to be eminent in every
grace, so it is a Christian's special duty to excel in that particular grace
that is most contrary to his darling sins. Is it pride, is it the world, is it
hypocrisy, &c., that is thy bosom sin, that is the chief favourite in thy
soul ? Oh then, labour above all to be clothed with humility, to abound
in heavenly-mindedness, to transcend in sincerity, &c., I know no surer,
no choicer, no sweeter way, effectually to crucify a bosom sin, than this.
He that comes up to this counsel, will not be long held in golden fetters,
it will not be long before such a soul cries out. Victory, victory!

The third means to help us to trample upon bosom sins, is, to look
upon bosom sins now, as they will appear to us at last ; to look upon
them in the time of health, as they will appear to us in times of sick-
ness ; to look upon them in the time of our life, as they will appear
to us in the day of our death. Ah ! souls, of all unpardoned sins, your
bosom sins will be presented by God, conscience, and Satan at last, as
the most filthy and ugly, as the most terrible and dreadful. Your
bosom sins at last will appear to be those monsters, those fiends of hell
that have most provoked God against you, that have shut up Christ's
bowels of love and compassion from you, that have armed conscience
against you, that have barred the gates of glory against you, that have
prepared the hottest place in hell for you, and that have given Satan
the greatest advantage eternally to triumph over you.'^ Ah ! souls, at
last your bosom sins will more press and oppress you, more sad and sink
you, more terrify and amaze you, than all your other transgressions.
Those sins that seem most sweet in life, will prove most bitter in death.
Job XX. 1 1-29. Those pleasant morsels will prove thy greatest hell,
when there is but a short step between thy soul and eternity. Ah !
Christians, never look upon bosom sins, but with that eye which within
a few hours you must behold them ; and this, you will find by expe-
rience, will be a singular means to bring under your bosom sins.

' As when one bucket of a well goes up, the other goes down ; as when one of the two
laurels in Rome flourishes, the other withers ; so when grace gets up, sin goes down ;
when grace flourishes, sin withers.

' Many there be that have found these things hj woful experience. Woe, woe, to
that soul that shall put it to the trial.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 397

The fourth imeans to subdue bosom sins is, to apply yourselves to
extraordinary means, as fasting and prayer, &c. Ordinary physic
will not remove extraordinary distempers, nor ordinary duties will not
remove bosom sins, who, by long and familiar acquaintance with the
soul, are exceedingly strengthened and advantaged. You read of some
devils in the Gospel that could not be cast out but by prayer and fast-
ing, Mat. xvii. 14-22. So bosom sins are those white devils that will not,
that cannot be cast out but by fervent and constant prayer, joined with
fasting and humiliation. Souls that are serious and conscientious in
observing of this rule will find such a divine power to attend their en-
deavours as will give them to ' lead captivity captive,' Eph, iv. 8, and to
triumph over those white devils within, as Christ triumphed over prin-
cipalities and powers upon the cross. Col. ii. 14, 15.

The fifth mean^. As you would have victory over bosom sins, keep
off from all those occasions that tend to lead thee to the gratifying
of them. He that shuns not the occasions of sin, tempts two at once,
Satan and his own heart ; he tempts Satan to tempt him to taste of
forbidden fruit, and he tempts his own heart to feed upon forbidden
fruit. ' Abstain from all appearance of evil,' 1 Thes, v. 22 ; ' hate the
garment spotted by the flesh,' Jude 23. Whatever can-ies with it an
ill show or shadow, favour or suspicion, that abstain from, that you may
neither wound God nor the gospel, your own consciences nor others. If
there be any fuel to feed thy bosom sin in thy house, remove it ; or be-
fore thine eye, remove it ; or in thy hand, remove it, put it far away.
Thy soul cannot be safe, it cannot be secure, so long as the occasions of
sin are thy companions. Wouldst thou have a clear evidence of the
truth of thy grace, then shun the occasions of sin; wouldst thou imitate
the choicest saints, then shun the occasions of sin; wouldst thou stand
in shaking times, then keep off from the occasions of sin ; wouldst thou
keep always peace with God, and peace with conscience, then keep off
from the occasions of sin ; wouldst thou frustrate Satan's greatest de-
signs, and countermine him in his deepest plots, then keep off from the
occasions of sin ; wouldst thou keep thy bones from breaking, and
thy heart from bleeding, then keep off from the occasions of sin ;
wouldst thou keep down fears and doubts, and keep up faith and hope,
then keep off from the occasions of sin ; wouldst thou have assurance
in life, and joy and peace in death, then keep off from the occasions
of sin. Do this, and you do all ; if you do not this, you do nothing
at all.^

And thus I have done with the impediments that hinder souls from
assurance, as also with the moans to remove those impediments.

CHAPTER IV.

Containing several rnotives to provoke Christians to he restless till
they have obtained a well-grounded assurance of their eternal
happiness and blessedness.

*(1.) The first motive. Now, the first motive that I shall lay down to
^ Gen. zxsiz. 10 ; Job xzxi. 1 ; Ps. xxvi. 4-6.

S98 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

provoke you to get a well-grounded assurance, is, solemnly to consider,
That many are now dropped into hell that have formerly presumed
of their going to heaven : as those that came bouncing at heaven-
gate, crying out, ' Lord, Lord, open to us, for we have prophesied in thy
name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done
many wonderful works ;' and yet that direful and dreadful sentence is
passed upon them, ' Depart from me, ye workers of iniquities,' Mat. vii.
22, 26, 27/

The foolish virgins were in a golden dream that they were as happy
as the best, and yet, when they were awakened, they found the bride-
groom entered into his glory, and the door of mercy shut against them.
Mat. XXV. 10-12.^ Men are naturally prone to flatter themselves that
their sins are not sins, when indeed they be ; and that they are but
small sins, when they are great and grievous, Isa. xl. 27, Deut. xxix. 19;
and they are apt to flatter themselves that they have grace when they
have none ; and that their grace is true, when it is but counterfeit ; and
that their condition is not so bad as others, when it is worse ; and, with
Agag, that the bitterness of death is past, when God hath his sword in
his hand ready to execute the vengeance written.^

I have read of a madman at Athens that laid claim to every rich ship
that came into the harbour, whenas he was poor, and had no part in
any. Ah ! this age is full of such mad souls, that lay claim to God and
Christ, and the promises and gospel privileges, and all the glory of
another world, when they are poor, and blind, and miserable, and
wretched, and naked, when they are Christless and graceless, &c. Ah,
Christians ! doth it not therefore stand you much upon to labour for a
well-grounded assurance, that so you may not miscarry to all eternity,
but may at last be found worthy to receive a crown of glory and to
enter into your Master's joy, which is a joy too great and too glorious
to enter into you, and therefore you must enter into it. Mat. xxv. 21, 23.
(2.) The second motive to provoke Christians to get a well-grounded
assurance is this, consider. That there he a great many soul-flatterers,
soul-deceivers, and soul-cheaters in the world. The devil hath put
his angelical robes upon many of his chief factors,* that they may the
more easily and the more effectually deceive and delude the souls of
men. This age affords many sad testimonies of this.^ Ah ! v/hat mul-
titudes be there, that to some blear eyes appear as angels of light, and
yet in their principles and practices are but servants to the prince of
darkness, labouring with all their might to make proselytes for hell.
Mat. xxiii. 15, and to draw men to those wild notions, opinions, and
conceits that will leave them short of heaven, yea, bring them down to
the hottest, darkest, and lowest place in hell, if God do not by a miracle
prevent it. Therefore you had need look about you, and see that you
get a well-grounded assurance, and suffer not Satan to put a cheat upon
your immortal souls. Christ hath foretold us, ' That in the last days
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, that shall say, Lo,

' So, few in the old world feared an eternal miscarriage.

* So were the Jews that cried out, ' The temple of the Lord ! the temple of the Lord !'

3 Prov. XXX. 12 ; Rev. iii. 17, 18 ; Micah iii. 11. I judge as in this world, so in hell :
the most self-flattering souls will be the most miserable souls. ^ ' Agents.' — G.

^ Leo the emperor used to say, Occulti inimici pessimi, a close enemy is far worse than
an open.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 399

here is Christ, and lo, there is Christ/ Mat. xxiv. 23, 24. And verily
this scripture is this day fulfilled in your ears. Ah, how many blas-
phemous wretches have there been in these days, that have asserted
themselves to be the very Christ ! And it is to me no little miracle,
that the very earth hath not opened her mouth and swallowed up such
monsters, such firebrands of helL

The apostle tells you of some that * lie in wait to deceive, by such
sleights' as cheaters and false gamesters use at dice ; he tells you of
cunning crafty men that do diligently watch all advantages to work,
draw, and win weak and unstable souls to those opinions, principles,
and practices, that tend to droAvn them in everlasting perdition.'
Satan's disciples and agents are notable method-mongers [/Ji'Sdodeix
crXav?]?], they have a method of deceiving, they are doctors in all the
arts of cozenage, and they will leave no means unattempted whereby
they may draw men to buUd upon hay and stubble, upon this opinion and
that notion, &c., that so men and their works may bum for ever to-
gether, 1 Cor. iii. 15.

It is reported of king Canutus, that he promised to make him the
highest man in England, who should kill king Edmund Ironside, his
co-rival; which, when one had performed, and expected his rewarc^,
he commanded him to be hung on the highest tower in London. So
Satan and his factors, they promise poor souls that such and such
opinions, and notions, &c., will thus and thus advantage them, and ad-
vance them; but in the close, poor souls shaU find the promised crown
turned into a halter, the promised comfort turned into a torment, the
promised glory turned into ignominy, the promised exaltation turned
into desolation, the promised heaven turned into a hell. This age is
full of soul-flatterers, of soul-undoers, who, like evil chirurgeons, skin
over the wound, but kill the patient. Flattery undid Ahab, and Herod,
and Nero, and Alexander.^

Those flatterers that told Dionysius, that his spittle was as sweet as
honey, undid him ; and those flatterers that told Cassar, that his
freckles in his face were like the stars in the firmament, ruined him.
And ah! how many joung and old in these days have been lost and un-
done by those soul flatterers, that lie in wait to ensnare and deceive the
souls of men.' Oh that this very consideration might be set home by
the hand of the Spirit, with that life and power upon your souls, as
effectually to stir and provoke you to get a well-grounded assurance of
your happiness and blessedness, that so you may stand fast, like the
house built upon the rock, in the midst of all tempests and storms, that
nothing may unsettle you, nor disquiet you, and that none may take
away your crown, Mat. vii. 24, 25, Rev. iii. 11.

(3.) The third motive to stir you up to get a well-grounded assurance is
this, consider, That a weU-grouTided assurance of your happiness and
blessedness will ea^e you, and free you of a threefold burden. It will
free you,

1. From a burden of cares.

^ Eph. iv. 14. Kujiiix siojnifies cogging with a die, *aiav^yi».

* Valerian's word waa, Non acerba sed blanda, not bitter, but flattering words, do all
the mischief. This many have found true by woful experience.

' Anastasius his motto was, Mellitum venenum blanda oratio, smooth talk often proves
sweet poison. Many in these days have found it so. [Cf. references, ante. — G,]

400 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

2. From a burden of fears.

3. From a burden of doubts.

Now the burden of cares, ah Christians ! causes thee to sit down
sighing and groaning ; ah ! how doth the cares of getting this and that,
and the cares of keeping this and that worldly content, disturb and
distract, vex and rack the souls of men that live under the power of
carking cares, Mat. xiii. 22. Oh, but now assurance of better things
makes the soul sing care away, as that martyr said, ' My soul is turned
to her rest ; I have taken a sweet nap in Christ's lap, and therefore I
will now sing away care, and will be careless according to my name.''
Assurance of a kingdom, of a crown, is a fire that burns up all those
cares that ordinarily fill the head and distract the heart. There is no
way to get off the burden of cares but by getting assurance.

Again, assurance will free you from the burden of fears, as well as
from the burden of cares.^ Now, your hearts are filled with fears of
possessing the creature, with fears of wanting the creature, with fears
of losing the creature, &c. And these fears make men turn, like the
chameleon, into all colours, foims, and fashions, yea, they make their
lives a hell. Oh, but now assurance will scatter all these fears, as the
sun doth the clouds ; it will extinguish these fears, as the sun doth the
fire. Assurance made David divinely fearless, and divinely careless :
' Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil ; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me,' Ps. xxiii. 3. Ah ! how full of fears and perplexities was Hagar, till
the Lord opened her eyes to see the well of water that was near her,
Gen. xxi. 16. So the soul will be full of fears and perplexities till it
comes to see assurance, to enjoy assurance. Christians, when all is said
that can be, this will be found at last a most certain truth, that there
is no way to be effectually rid of your fears, but by obtaining a well-
grounded assurance of your happiness and blessedness.

Again, assurance wiU rid you of your burden of doubts.' Now you
are still a-doubting. Sometimes you doubt whether that you are a
thorough Christian, and not an Agrippa, an almost Christian, an half
Christian, as most professors are. Sometimes you doubt of your son-
ship, and that leads you to doubt of your heirship. Sometimes you
doubt of your acquaintance with God, and that leads you to doubt of
your access to God, and acceptance with God. Sometimes you doubt
of your union with God, and those doubts lead you to doubt of the truth
of your communion with God, &c. The truth is, your whole life is a
life of doubting, and so it will be, till you reach to a well-grounded
assurance.

Though the two disciples had Christ for their companion, yet their
hearts were full of fears and doubts, whilst their eyes were held that
they should not know him, Luke xxiv. 14, 15, &c. Till a Christian's

* John Careless, in a letter to Mr Philpot. Acts et Mon., folio, 1743. [Foxe, by
Townsend, viii. pp. 171-201 ; and Clarke, as before, pp. 441, 473.— G.")

* And men are apt to make elephants of flies, and giants of pigmies. Till men reach
assurance, they will still create fears rather than want them.

' Remember, Christians, (1.) that doubts are bred and fed by ignorance and unbelief,
and therefore are siiiful ; (2.) that they rob the soul of all joy, comfort, and content ;
(8.) they render men babes in Christianity ; (4.) they throw reproach upon God, Christ,
and the promises ; (5.) they give Satan the greatest advantage against us.

KOM. VIII. 32-34-.] HEAVEN ON EAETH. 401

eyes be open to see his assurance, his heart will be full of doubts and
perplexities. Though Mary Magdalene was very near to Christ, yet she
stands sighing, mourning, and complaining that they had stolen away
her Lord, because she did not see him, John xx. 13-16. Christians!
though you may be very near and dear to Christ, yet till you come to
see your assurance, you will spend your days in doubting, mourning,
and complaining. The sum of all is this, as you would be rid of your
burden of cares, your burden of fears, and your burden of doubts, get
a well-grounded assurance of your happiness and blessedness ; but if
you are in love with your burdens, then neglect but the making of your
calling and election sure, and you shall certainly make sure your bur-
dens ; they shall rise with you, and walk with you, and lie down with
you, till they make your lives a hell.

(4.) The fourth motive to provoke you to labour after a well-grounded
assurance is, To consider that Satan will labour with all his art and
craft, with all his power and might, to keep you from attaining a
well-grounded assurance of your happiness and blessedness. Such is
Satan's envy and enmity against a Christian's joy and comfort, that he
cannot but act to the utmost of his line to keep poor souls in doubts
and darkness.^ Satan knows that assurance is a pearl of that price that
will make the soul liappy for ever ; he knows that assurance makes a
Christian's wilderness to be a paradise ; he knows that assurance begets
in Christians the most noble and generous spirits ; he knows that assur-
ance is that which will make men strong to do exploits, to shake his
tottering kingdom about his ears; and therefore he is very studious and
industrious to keep souls off from assurance, as he was to cast Adam out
of paradise.

It is no wonder that Satan, who envied the first seeds of grace that
divine love sowed in thy soul, that he should envy the increase of thy
grace, yea, thy assurance, which is the top and royalty of grace. When
thou wast a babe, Satan cast water upon thy smoking flax, that it might
not flame forth into assurance ; and now thou art grown up to some
more maturity, he is raised in his enmity, so that he cannot but put out
his power and policy to keep thee from assurance of felicity and glory.
Satan envies thy candle-light, thy torch-light, thy star-light, how much
more that the sun should shine upon thee ! Satan envies thy eating of
the crumbs of mercy under the table, how much more that, as a child,
thou shouldst sit at Wisdom's table, and eat and drink abundantly of
Wisdom's delicates ! Satan envies thy feeding on husks among the
swine, how much more that thou shouldst eat of the fatted calf! Satan
envies thy sitting with Mordecai at the king's gate, how much more
that thou shouldst wear the king's robes I Satan envies thy tasting of
the least drop of comfort, how much more thy swimming in those plea-
sures that be at God's right hand for evermore ! He envies thy sitting
upon God's knee, how much more, then, thy lying in his bosom ! He
envies thy being admitted into his service, how much more that thou
shouldst be of his court and council !

* It is said of Marcellus, the Roman general, that he could not be quiet, Nee victor,
nee victus, neither conquered, nor conqueror. Satan's envy is such against the joy and
coraSort of the saints, that lie cannot rest, nor cease from making use of all his wiles,
whereby poor souls may be kept off from assurance, and their lives made a burden to them.

VOL. II. C C

402 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Some say of the crystal, that it hath such a virtue in it, that the very
touching of it quickens other stones, and puts a lustre and beauty upon
them. Assurance is that heavenly crystal that quickens souls, and that
casts a beauty and a glory upon souls ; and this makes the devil mad.

Satan knows that assurance is manna in a wilderness, it is water out
of a rock, it is a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He knows
that assurance is a salve for all sores, and physic for all diseases, and a
remedy against every malady. He knows that assurance is a Christian's
anchor at sea, and his shield upon land ; and that it is a staff to support
him, and a sword to defend him, and a pavilion to hide him, and a cor-
dial to cheer him ; and therefore it is that he labours, both as a lioa
and as a serpent, to keep poor souls from a well-grounded assurance.
This son of the morning is fallen from the top of glory to the bottom of
misery, and therefore he strives to make all as miserable and unhappy
as himself

Ah ! Christians, have not you need to seek assurance with all your
might, who have to do with so mighty an adversary, who cares not what
torments he heaps upon himself, so he may prove your tormentor, by
keeping your souls and assurance asunder ? Oh that this very consider-
ation might make you restless, till you have got this ' white stone' in
your bosoms !

(5.) The fifth motive to provoke you to get a well grounded assurance
is this, consider that a well grounded assurance is a jewel of that in-
comparable value, it is such a pearl of price as will abundantly
recompense the soul for all the cost and charge it shall be at to enjoy
it. Aye, the enjoyment of assurance in that hour, when the soul shall sit
upon thy trembling lips, ready to take her leave of thee, and all tl^e
world, will richly recompense thee for all those prayers, tears, sighs and
groans that thou hast breathed out in one place or another, in one
service or another.* Surely the gold in the mine will recompense the
digger ; the crown, in the end, will recompense the runner ; the fruit in
the vineyard will recompense the dresser ; the corn in the bam will re-
compense the reaper ; and the increase of the stock will recompense the
shepherd ; so assurance at last will abundantly recompense the soul for
all its knocking, weeping, and waiting at mercy's door. God will never
suffer ' the seed of Jacob to seek his face in vain,' Isa. xlv. 19. There
is a reward not only in keeping, but also for keeping of his commands,
Ps. xix. 11. Joseph, for his thirteen years' imprisonment, had the
honour to reign fourscore years like a king ; David, for his seven years'
banishment, had a glorious reign of forty years' continuance ; Daniel,
for his lying a few hours among the lions, is made chief president over
a hundred and twenty princes ; the three children, for taking a few turns
in the fiery furnace, are advanced to great dignity and glory. Ah !
doubting souls, pray hard, pull hard, work hard for assurance ; the pay
will answer the pains. Christ will, sooner or later, say to thee, as the
king of Israel said to the king of Syria, ' I am thine, and all that I
have/ 1 Kings xx. 4. I am thine, O doubting souls, says Christ, and

' It is a true maxim, He finds' his enemy strong at a dear rate, who contemns him aa
weak.

' Hvjntmodi lucri dulcis odor, the smell of this gain is sweet to many ; then what is
assurance itself? &c.

Rom. VIII 32-34.] heaven on earth. 403

assurance is thine, and joy is thine ; my merit is thine, my Spirit is
thine, and my glory is thine ; all I am is thine, and all I have is thine.
Oh this is alveariuTTh divini mellifi, an hive full of divine comfort ; oh
this will recompense thee for all thy wrestling and sweating to obtain
assurance, Mat. xxv. 34-41 ; Rev. iii. 11, 12.

Augustine, in his Confessions, hath this notable expression, 'How sweet
was it to me of a sudden to be without those sweet vanities ; and
those things which I was afraid to lose with joy I let go, for thou who
art the true and only sweetness, didst cast out those from me, and in-
stead of them didst enter in thyself, who art more delightful than all
pleasure, and more clear than all light.' Ah ! Christians, do but hold
up and hold on, and assurance and joy will come, and thou shalt, after
thy working and waiting, sit down and sing it out with old Simeon, 'Mine
eyes have seen thy salvation ;' my heart hath found the sweetness of
assurance, and ' now. Lord, let thy servant depart in peace,' Luke ii. 30.

(6.) The sixth Tnotive to provoke you to get assurance, is this, Consider
what labour and paiois ivorldlings take to make sure the things of
this life to them and theirs.^ Ah ! what riding, running, plotting, lying,
swearing, stabbing, and poisoning is used by men of this world, to make
sure the poor things of this world, that are but shadows and dreams,
and mere nothings ! How do many with Samson lay heap upon heap,
to make their crowns and kingdoms sure, to make the tottering glory of
this world sure to themselves ! what bloody butchers do they prove !
they will have the crown, though they swim to it through blood. Men
will venture life and limb to make sure these things that hop from man
to man, as the bird hops from twig to twig. Oh ! how should this stir
and provoke us to be up and doing, to labour as for life, to make sure
spiritual and eternal things ! Is earth better than heaven ? Is the glory
of this world greater than the glory of the world to come ? Are these
riches more durable than those that corrupt not, that ' are laid up in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
do not break through, nor steal ?' Mat. vi. 19, 20. No. Oh then be
ashamed, Christians, that worldlings are more studious and industrious
to make sure pebbles, than you are to make sure pearls ; to make sure
those things that at last will be their burden, their bane, their plague,
their hell, than you are to make sure those things that would be your
joy and crown in life, in death, and in the day of your account.'

Pambus,* in the ecclesiastical history, wept when he saw a harlot
dressed with much care and cost, partly to see one take so much pains
to go to hell, and partly because he had not been so careful to please
God, as she had been to please a wanton lover. Ah, Christians ! what
great reason have you to sit down and weep bitterly, that worldlings
take so much pains to make themselves miserable, and that you have
taken no more pains to get assurance, to get a pardon in your bosoms,
to get more of Christ into your hearts !

* Confessions, b. viii. et alibi — G.

* Scripture and histories abound with instances of this kind, aa all know that know
anything of the one or of the other.

* The laborious, the active Christian, is tempted but by one devil ; but the idle, sloth-
ful Christian, is tempted by all, saith one. It is very sad, when worldlings are a-reaping,
that saints as to spirituals should be slumbering and sleeping.

* Qu. ' Bembus' ?— G.

404) HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

(7.) The seventh motive to provoke you to get assurance, is to con-
sider, That assurance luill enable you to hear a burden without a
burden, as in Heb. x. 34, ' For ye had compassion of me in my bonds,
and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that
ye have in heaven a better and an everlasting substance.' Here you
see that assurance of heavenly things makes these worthies patiently
and joyfully bear a burden without a burden. So the apostles, know-
ing that they had ' a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,
went through honour and dishonour, evil report and good report,' 2 Cor.
V. 8, and vi. 8-11. They went through many weaknesses, sicknesses,
wants, and deaths ; they had nothing, and yet possessed all things ;
they had burden upon burden cast upon them by the churches, by false
apostles, and by an uncharitable world, and yet they cheerfully bore all
burdens without a burden, through the power of a well-grounded assur-
ance.^ Assurance makes heavy afflictions light, long afflictions short,
bitter afflictions sweet, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. Where a man wants assur-
ance, there the shadow of a burden frights him, and the weight of the
least burden sinks him. Such a man is still a-crying out. No man's
burden to my burden ; my burden is greater than others, my burden
is heavier than others. The want of assurance oftentimes makes men's
very mercies a burden, their comforts a burden, their relations a burden,
yea, their very lives a burden unto them. Ah ! Christians, you will
never bear burdens without a burden, till you come to attain an assur-
ance of better things. This will enable you to leap under the weight
of any cross, to rejoice under the weight of any mountain, Job vii. 20.
Assurance fits a man's heart to his condition, and when a man's heart
is fitted to his condition, nothing proves a burden to him. Assurance
of better things to come takes away the sting, the poison that attends
these lower things ; and the sting and the poison being taken away,
the very worst of these things are so far from being a burden to a man,
that they become rather a pleasure and a delight unto him. When the
sting is taken out of this or that venomous creature, a man may play
with it and put it in his bosom.^ Ah ! assurance pulls out the sting
that is in every cross, loss, &c., and this makes the assured soul to sit
down singing, when others under far less crosses and losses, sit down
sighing, mourning, and complaining, Our burdens are greater than we
are able to bear. If there were but more assurance of better things
among Christians, there would be less complaints among them of this
burden, andthat mole-hills then would be no longer mountains. Chris-
tians, it is not new notions, new opinions, new nothings, as I may say,
in your heads, but the gaining of a well-grounded assurance in your
hearts, that will enable you to bear all kinds of burdens without a
burden.

(8.) The eighth motive to provoke you to get assurance, is drawn
from those i^aiiicular commands of God, u-Jtereby he engages Chris-
tians to get assurance,^ as that in 2 Peter i. 10,' Wherefore the rather,

> So Moses, and all those worthies in the 11th chapter.

" I have read of Albas Paulus, who handled serpents and scorpions, and cut them in
pieces without any hurt, and said, If a man be holy, all things are subject to him as to
Adam, before his sin in paradise. Surely assurance will enable a man to do much this way.

3 The saints in heaven have Jelix necessilas, an happy necessity of obeying God alway ;
but we infelix necessitat, an unhappy necessity of disobeying continually.

Rom. V^III. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 405

brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure : for if
ye do these things ye shall never fall.' So 2 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves : know
ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates or unapproved,' as the Greek imports. So Heb. vi. 11,
' And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to
the full assurance of hope unto the end.' Ah ! you dull, doubting,
drowsy Christians, you should take all these commands of God, and
press them with all the power and authority you can upon your hearts,
to awaken them and provoke them to get assurance of your eternal well-
being.' Take one command, and charge that upon the heart ; if the
heart be stout and will not yield, then take another command, and press
it upon your heart ; if that will not do, then take another, and lay that
home upon the heart ; and never leave this work till your souls be
effectually stirred up to labour for assurance with all your might.
Christians ! you should tell your souls that the commands of God bind
directly and immediately, that they bind absolutely and universally.
You must obey God intuitu voluntatis, upon the bare sight of his will,
and in one thing as well as another. Christians ! if I am not much mis-
taken, you should make as much conscience of those commands of God
that require you to get assurance of your future happiness, as you do of
those commands that requires you to pray, to hear, &c. It is very sad
to consider that many that complain much of the want of assurance,
should make no more care and conscience of those commands of God
that require them to get assurance than some of the heathens have
done of the commands of their gods; v/ho, when they have called
for a man, have offered a candle ; or as Hercules, who offered a painted
man instead of a living. Verily, Christians ! while you make light
of any of God's commands, God will make as light of your com-
forts. Did you make more conscience to act answerable to the fore-
mentioned commands, I am very apt to believe that the Sun of right-
eousness would certainly and speedily cause his love and glory to beam,
out upon you. Mind God's commands more than your own wants and
complaints, and light will break in upon you. By obeying Christ's
commands, you will gain more than you can give ; by kissing the Son,
you will even command him, and make him and assurance yours.

(9.) The ninth motive to provoke you to get assurance is this, Tou
cannot gratify Satan more, nor injure yourselves more, than by living
without assurance. By living without assurance, you lay yourselves
open to all Satan's snares and temptations ; yea, you do instigate and
provoke Satan to tempt you to the worst of sins, to tempt you to the
greatest neglects, to tempt you to the strangest shifts, and to reduce
you to the saddest straits. Ah, Christians ! in what, in what hath Satan
so gratified you, that you should thus gratify him ? Hath he not robbed
you of your glory in innocency ? Hath he not kept your souls and your
Saviour long asunder ? When with Joshua you have been standing before

1 The precepts of God, saith Lactantius, do so change the whole man, and make him
new, that you can hardly know him to be the same. — Lactantius, De Falsa Sapient, lib.
iii. cap. 27 : a thing which philosophy hath much laboured in, but could never achieve.
Christians ! the pressing of those very commands last cited upon your hearts, may pro-
duce that comfort and peace, and make such a blessed change in your inward condition,
as may bespeak much admiration.

406 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

the Lord, Zech. iii. 1, 2, hath not he stood at your right hand as an
adversary to resist you ? Hath he not often set the glory of the world
before you, that he might bewitch you and ensnare you ? Mat. iv. 8.
Hath he not often cast water upon those divine motions that have been
kindled in you ? Have you not often found him a lion and a serpent,
a tempter and a deceiver, a liar and a murderer? 1 Thes. ii. 18. Yes.
Oh, then, never gi-atify him any longer by living without assurance.
He that lives without assurance, lives without a comfortable fruition of
God, and so gratifies Satan. He that lives without assurance, lives
upon some creature enjoyment more than upon God, and so gratifies
Satan, He that lives without assurance, lives not like the beloved of
God, and so gratifies Satan. He that lives without assurance is very
apt to gratify Satan, sometimes by complying with him, sometimes by
following after him, and sometimes by acting his part for him, &c.
Verily, Christians ! there is no way effectually to prevent this sore evil,
but by getting a well-grounded assurance of your everlasting happiness
and blessedness. Assurance will make a man stand upon terms of de-
fiiance with Satan, it will make the soul constant in resisting, and happy
in overcoming, the evil one. An assured soul will fight it out to the death
with Satan; an assured soul will not fly like a coward, but will stand and
triumph like a David.

And as you gratify Satan by living without assurance, so you wrong
your own souls by living without assurance.

(1.) In the point of comfort and joy, you wrong your own souls.

(2.) In the point of peace and content, you wrong your own souls.

(3.) In the point of boldness and confidence, you wrong your own
souls.

A man that lives without assurance, lays his precious soul open to
many blows and knocks, to many frowns and wounds, from God, from
the world, from carnal friends, from hypocrites, and from Satan ; there-
fore as you would not, Christians, gratify Satan, and wiong your own
souls, and exercise over yourselves spiritual cruelty and tyranny, which
is the very worst of all cruelty and tyranny,^ give God no rest till he
hath made known to you the sweetness of his love, and the secrets of
his bosom, till he hath gathered you up into himself, till he hath set
you as 'a seal upon his heart, as a seal upon his arm,' Cant. viii. 6.

(10.) The tenth motive, to provoke you to get a well-grounded assur-
ance is this, Consider the sweet 'profit and glorious advantage thai
will redound to you by gaining assurance ; and if the gain that will
certainly redound to you by assurance will not provoke you to get assur-
ance, I know not what will.

[1.] The first advantage. It wUl bring down heaven into your
bosoms; it will give you a possession of heaven, on this side heaven,
Heb. xi. 1. An assured soul lives in paradise, and walks in paradise,
and works in paradise, and rests in paradise ; he hath heaven within
him, and heaven about him, and heaven over him ; all his language is
Heaven, heaven ! Glory, glory !

[2.] The second advantage. Assurance will exceedingly sweeten
all the changes of this life. This life is full of changes. Assurance
will sweeten sickness and health, weakness and strength, wants and
> Rapil animam tuam, he plundereth Ms own soul.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 407

abundance, disgrace and honour, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, &c. While a man
lives in the sense of unchangeable loves, no outward changes can make
any considerable change in his spirit. Let times change, let men
change, let powers change, let nations change, yet a man under the
power of assurance will not change his countenance, nor change his
master, nor change his work, nor change his hopes. Though others
under changes turn, like the chameleon, into all colours to save their
little all, yet the assured soul under ail changes is semper idem,
always the same.^

Antistines, a philosopher,^ to make his life happy, desired only that
he might have the spirit of Socrates, who was always in a quiet temper
of spirit, whatever wrongs, injuries, crosses, losses, &c., befell him. Let
the trials be what they would that did attend him, yet he continued
one and the same. Ah, Christians ! the want of assurance hath made
many changelings in these days ; but if ever you would be like Socrates,
if ever you would be like the philosopher's good man, that is, rtr«a-
yuvo;, Tetragonos, four square, that cast him where you will, like a die,
he falls always sure and square, then get assurance of everlasting
happiness.

Assurance will make your souls like the laws of the Medes and
Persians, that alter not; it will sweeten the darkest day, and the
longest night; under variety of changes, it will make a man sit down
with Habakkuk, and rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of his
salvation, Hab. iii. 17-19.

[3.] Tlie third advantage. Assurance will keep the heart from an
inordinate running out after the world, and the glory thereof.
Moses having an assurance of the recompence of reward, and of his love
and favour that is invisible, could not be drawn by all the honours,
pleasures, and treasures of Egypt. He slights all, and tramples upon
all the glory of the world, as men trample upon things of no worth,
Heb. xi. 24-27. So after Paul had been in the third heaven, and had
assurance that nothing should separate him from the love of God in
Christ, he looks upon the world as a crucified thing : ' The world is
crucified to me,' saith he, 2 Cor. xii. 1-3, and Rom. viii. 38 ; 'and I am-
crucified unto the world,' Gal. vi. 14. The world is dead to me, and I
am dead to it : the world and I am well agreed ; the world cares not a
pin for me, and I care not a pin for the world.

The loadstone cannot draw the iron when the diamond is in pre-
sence ; no more cannot the vanities of this world draw the soul after
them, when assurance, that choice pearl of price, is in presence.

I have read of Lazarus, that after he was raised from the grave,
he was never seen to smile. The assurance that he had of more
glorious things, did deaden his heart to the things of this world ; he saw
nothing in them worthy of a smile. Ah ! were there more assurance
among Christians, there would not be such tugging for the world, and
such greedy hunting and pursuing after it, as is in these days, to the
dishonour of God, the reproach of Christ, and the shame of the gospel.

* Souls that want assurance are like liim in ./Esop, that blew hot and cold with the
Bame breath. The wind is not more subject to change and shift from one quarter to
Another, from one corner to another, than they are subject to change and shift in chang-
ing times.

' Autisthenes. Gf. Plato, Phsedo, sec. 69, &nd Diog. Laert vi. 10. — Ot.

408 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Get but more assurance, and less money will serve your turns ; get but
more assurance, and less places of honour and profit will serve your
turns ; get but assurance, and then you will neither transgress for
a morsel of bread, nor yet violently pursue after the golden wedge, &c.^

[4.] The fourth advantage. Assurance will exceedingly heighten
you in your communion with God, and it will exceedingly sweeten
your communion with God. Assurance of a man's propriety in God
raises him high in his fellowship with God, 1 John iii. 2. There are
none that have such choice and sweet communion with God as those
that have the clearest assurance of their interest in God, as may be seen
throughout the whole book of Solomon's Song. ' My beloved is mine,
and I am his,' saith the spouse, Cant. ii. 16. I am assured of my pro-
priety in him, says she, and therefore he shall lie all night betwixt my
breasts ; and upon this account it is that she holds king Jesus in the
galleries, that she is sick of love, that she is raised and ravished with
his kisses and embraces : ' His left hand is under my head, and his
right hand doth embrace me,' chaps, i. 13, vii. 5, ii. 6. None had more
assurance of her interest in Christ than she, and none higher and
closer in communion with Christ than she. The wife's assurance of her
interest in her husband, sweetens and heightens her communion with
her husband. The child's assurance of his interest in his father,
sweetens his commerce and fellowship with his father. So the believer's
assurance of his interest in God, will exceedingly heighten and sweeten
his communion and fellowship with God. Assurance of a man's interest
in God sweetens every thought of God, and every sight of God, and
every taste of God, and every good word of God. God is as sweet to
the assured soul when he hath a sword in his hand as when he hath a
sceptre ; when he hath the rod of indignation as when he hath the
cup of consolation ; when his garments are rolled and dyed in blood
as when he appears in his wedding robes ; when he acts the part of
a judge as when he acts the part of a father, &c.*

[5.] The fifth advantage. Assurance will he a choice preservative
to keep you from backsliding from God and his xvays. Ah ! assur-
ance will glue the soul to God and his ways, as Buth was glued to
her mother Naomi. It will make a man ' stand fast in the faith, and
quit himself like a good soldier of Christ,' Gal. v. 1, 2 Tim. ii. 3.
2 Peter i. 10, 11, 'Wherefore, the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure : for if ye do these things, ye shall
never fall' Stumble ye may, and he that does but stumble gets ground
by his stumbling. Assurance will keep a man from falling foully and
from falling utterly. Verily, the reason why there is so many apostates
in these days is, because there are so few that have a well-grounded
assurance in these days.'

' So when God gave Galeacius, that Italian marquis, an assurance of everlasting happi-
ness, he withstood many golden temptations, and cried out, Cursed be he that prefers all
the glory of the world to one day's communion with Christ, &c. Justice would not be
sold and bought, as it is in these days, were there more assurance in the world.

* llabet omnia qui habet habentem omnia, he hath all that hath the owner of all.

3 Luther, writing to his friend Melancthon, troubled with fears, saith, Si nos ruimut
ruit et Christus, if we fall, saith he, Christ falls. Pulchrior in prcelio occisus miles quam
fuga salvuf, better be slain in the bed of honour, than be safe by running away. [Cor-
respondence during Diet of Augsburg.— G.]

KOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 40^

Pliny speaks of some fishes that swim backward.* Ah ! many pro-
fessors in these days swim backward ; they swim from God, and Christ,
and conscience; yea, they swim from the very principles of morality and
common honesty. Beheve it, friends ! it is not high notions in the
brain, but sound assurance in the heart, that will keep a man close to
Christ when others backslide from Christ. An assured Christian will
not exchange his gold for copper ; he knows that one old piece of gold
is worth a thousand new counters ; one old truth of Christ is worth
a thousand new errors, though clothed with glistering robes; and there-
fore he will prize the truth, and own the truth, and keep close to the
truth, when others that want a sound assurance make merchandise of
Christ, precious truths, and of their own and others' immortal souls.
Get assurance, and thou wilt stand when seeming cedars fall ; want
assurance, and thou canst not but fall, to the breaking of thy bones,
if not to the utter loss of thy precious soul, 2 Peter ii. 3.

[6.] The sixth advantage. Assurance will very much embolden the
$oul with God. It will make a man divinely familiar with God ; it
will make a man knock boldly at the door of free grace ; it will make
a man come boldly before the mercy-seat ; it will make a man enter
boldly within the holy of holies. Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw near with
a true heart, in full assurance^ of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.'
Assurance makes the soul top and top-gallant ; it makes the soul con-
verse with God as a favourite with his prince, as a bride with her
bridegroom, as a Joseph with a Jacob.

Luther, under the power of assurance, lets fall this transcendent i-ap-
ture of a daring faith, Fiat mea voluntas, let my will be done ; and
then falls off sweetly, Mea voluntas, Domine, quia tua, my will. Lord,
because thy will. It is the want of assurance that makes the counte-
nance sad, the hands hang down, the knees feeble, and the heart full
of fears and tremblings, Heb. xii. 12. Oh therefore get assurance, and
that will scatter your fears, and raise your hopes, and cheer your spirits,
and give wings to faith, and make you humbly bold with God. You will
not then stand at the door of mercy with a Tnay I knock ? with a nnay I
go in ? with a Tnay I find audience and acceptance? but you will,
with Esther, boldly adventure yourselves upon the mercy and goodness
of God. ' Now verily, I think,' saith one, speaking of Christ, ' he can-
not despise me, who is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh ; for if he
neglect me as a brother, yet he will love me as a husband : that is my
comfort.' Assurance will remove all strangeness from between Christ
and the soul ; of two, it will make Christ and the soul one.

[7.] The seventh advantage. Assurance will sweeten the thoughts
of death, and all the acJies, 'pains, weaknesses, sicknesses, and diseases,
that are the fore-runners of it ; yea, it will make a man look and long
for that day.^ It will make a man sick of his absence from Christ. It
makes a man smile upon the king of terrors ; it makes a man laugh at
the shaking of the spear, at the noise of the battle, at the garments of

1 Nat. Hist., lib. ix. c. 87. ^

' !r^>jjoip»j/a. Such full assurance as fills all the sails of the sotil.
* Hemo ante funera fdix, — Solon. Nazianzen said of the king of terrors, Devour me,
devour me. Death cures all diseases, the aching head, and the unbelieving heart.

4.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIIT, 32-34.

the warriors rolled in blood. It made the martyrs to compliment with
lions, to dare and tire their persecutors, to kiss the stake, to sing and
clap their hands in the flames, to tread upon hot burning coals, as upon
beds of" roses.*

The assured soul knows that death shall be the funeral of all his sins
and sorrows, of all afflictions and temptations, of all desertions and
oppositions. He knows that death shall be the resurrection of his joys ;
he knows that death is both an outlet and an inlet ; an outlet to sin,
and an inlet to the soul's clear, full, and constant enjoyment of God ;
and this makes the assured soul to sing it sweetly out, ' O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory ? * I desire to be dissolved.'
* Make haste, my beloved.' ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.'^ Now
death is more desirable than life. Now says the soul, Ejus est timere
mortem, qui ad Christum, nolit ire, let him fear death that is loath
to go to Christ, ^o I may be with Christ, though I go in a cloud, I
care not, says the assured soul ; so I may be with Christ, I care not
though I go in a fiery chariot, .says the a.ssured souL

The Persians had a certain day in the year, in which they used to
kill all serpents and venomous creatures. The assured Christian knows,
that the day of death will be such a day to him, and that makes death
lovely and desirable. He knows that sin was the midwife that brought
death into the world, and that death shall be the grave to bury sin ;
and therefore death is not a terror, but a delight unto him.^ He
fears it not as an enemy, but welcomes it as a friend ; as crook-back
Richard the Third in his distress cried, 'A kingdom for a horse, a king-
dom for a horse !'* So souls that want assurance, when they come to
die, will cry out, A kindgom for assurance, a kingdom for assurance !
and as Severus said, ' If I had a thousand worlds, I would now give
them all for Christ.''* So a soul that wants assurance, when he comes to
enter upon a state of eternity, will cry out. Oh, had I now a thousand
worlds, I would give them all for assurance, whereas the assured soul
would not for a thousand worlds but die. When his glass is out, and
his sun is set, he cries not out, as that lady did,^ ' A world, a world for
an inch of time !' but rather, Why is it, why is it, Lord, that thy cha-
riots be so long a-coming V

[8.] The eighth advantage. Assurance will very much sweeten thai
little oil that is in the cruse, and that handful of m^eal that is iii the
barrel,' 1 Kings xvii. 12, &c. Assurance will be sauce to all meats, it
will make all thy mercies to taste like mercies. It will make Daniel's
pulse to be as sweet as princes' delicates, Daniel i. 8, 12. It will
make Lazarus's rags as pleasurable as Dives's robes, Luke xvi. 20. It
will make Jacob's bed upon the stones, to be as soft as those beds of
down and ivorj', that sinful great ones stretch themselves upon. Gen.
xxviii. 18 ; Amos vi. 4.

^ Ullimus morborum medicut mart,

« 1 Cor, XV. 55-57 ; Philip, i. 23 ; Cant. viii. 14; Rev. xxii. 20.

' Morimur dum non morimur. ,

* See Index under Richard III. for former quotation and note. — (x.

* Query, Serenus, martyr. — G.

® Queen Elizabeth. See Index under Elizabeth. — G.

" Ambrose said to his friends about liim, when ho was dying, I have not so lived that
I am ashamed to live ; nor yet feai I death, because 1 have a good Lord^ &c.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 411

Look, as the want of assurance embitters all a sinner's mercies, that he
cannot taste the sweetness and goodness of them ; so the enjoyment of
assurance casts a general beauty and glory upon the believer's meanest
mercy. And hence it is, that assured souls live so sweetly, and walk so
cheerfully, when their little all is upon their backs and in their hands ;
whereas the great men of the world, that have the world at will, but
want this assurance, that is more worth than the world, live as slaves
and servants to these mercies. Job xx. 22. In the midst of all their
abundance they are in straits and perplexities, full of fears and cares ;
nothing pleases them, nor is sweet unto them, because they want that
assurance that sweetens to a believer the ground they stand on, the air
he breathes, the seat he sits on, the bread he eats, the clothes he wears,
&c. Ah ! were there more assurance among Christians, they would not
count great mercies small mercies, and small mercies no mercies ; no,
no ; then every mercy on this side hell would be a great mercy, then
every mercy would be a sugared mercy, a perfumed mercy. Look, as
the tree that Moses cast into the waters of Marah made those bitter
waters sweet, Exod. xv. 23-25, so assurance is that tree of life that makes
every bitter sweet, and every sweet more sweet.^

(9.) The ninth advantage. Assurance will make a man very
angelical.' It will make him full of motion, full of action ; it will
make him imitate the angels, those princes of glory, that are always busy
and active to advance the glory of Christ. They are still a-singing the
song of the Lamb ; they are still pitching their tents about them that
fear the Jjord, Ps. xxxiv. 7 ; they are ministering spirits sent forth for
the good of them that are heirs of salvation, Heb. i. 14. Assurance will
make a man fervent, constant, and abundant in the work of the Lord,
as you may see in Paul. The assured Christian is more motion than
notion, more work than word, more life than lip, more hand than
tongue. When he hath done one work, he is a-calling out for another;
What is the next. Lord, says the assured soul, what is the next ? His
head and his heart is set upon his work, and what he doth, he doth it
with all his might, because there is no working in the grave.* An
assured Christian will put his hand to any work ; he will put his shoulder
to any burden ; he will put his neck in any yoke for Christ ; he never
thinks that he hath done enough, he always thinks that he hath done
too little ; and when he hath done all he can, he sits down sighing it
out, ' I am but an unprofitable servant.'*

In a word, assurance will have a powerful influence upon thy heart.
In all the duties and services of religion, nothing will make a man love
like this and live like this ; nothing will make a man humble and
thankful, contented and cheerful, like this. Nothing will make a man
more serious in prayer, nor ingenuous in praises, than this ; nothing will

* A believer knows, (1.) that his little mercies are from great love ; (2.) that they are
pledges of greater; (3.) that his blessings are blessed unto him : (4.) that they shall not
at last be witnesses against him.

' The Rabbins say, that the angels attend in all judicatories.

• Assurance makes a saint all fire ; it makes him like the burning seraphims. Isa. vi. 2-4.
<* Bellarmine is of opinion that one glimpse of hell were enough to make a man not

only turn Christian, but a monk, to live after the strictest rules, to be abounding in well-
doing. Surely assurance of heaven will make a man do more.

412 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34-.

make a man more cheerful and joyful than this ; nothing Avill make a
man fit to live and more willing to die, than this.

Ah, Christians ! if ever you would act as angels in this world, get an
assurance of another world ; then you shall be dumb no more, nor dull
no more, but be active and lively, like those whose hopes and whose
hearts are in heaven.

(10.) The tenth advantage. Assurance will sweeten Christ, and the
precious things of Christ, to thy souL^ Ah ! how sweet is the person of
Christ, the natures of Christ, the aims of Christ, the oflfices of Christ,
the benefits of Christ, the blood of Christ, the word of Christ, the
threatenings of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the ordinances of Christ, the
smiles of Christ, the kisses of Christ, to an assured soul. Now thy
meditations on Christ will be no more a terror, nor a horror to thee ;
nay, now thy heart will be always best, when you are most in ponder-
ing upon the sweetness and goodness, the kindness and loveliness, of the
Lord Jesus. Now all the institutions and adminstrations of Christ
will be precious to thee. Upon everything where Christ hath set his
name, there thou wilt set thy heart. Now thou wilt call things as
Christ calls them, and count things as Christ counts them ; that shall
not be little in thy eye, that is great in the eye of Christ ; nor that shall
not be great in thy eye that is but little in the eye of Christ.'

Assurance will also exceedingly sweeten your carriage to all that bear
the image of Christ. Nothing will make men bear with those weak
saints whose light is not so clear as yours, whose parts are not so strong
as yours, whose enjoyments are not so high as yours, whose j,udgments
are not so well informed as yours, whose consciences are not so well
satisfied as yours, and whose lives are not so amiable as yours.

Assurance makes men of a God-like disposition, easy to pardon, ready
to forgive, abundant in goodness, admirable in patience. It makes men
to study the good of others, and joy in all opportunities wherein they
may strengthen the feeble, and comfort the dejected, and enrich the
impoverished, and recover the seduced, and enlarge the straitened, and
build up the wasted. Verily, the reason why men are so bitter and
sour, and censorious, is because God hath not given into their bosoms
this sweet flower of delight, assurance.'

Ah ! were their souls fully assured that God had loved them freely,
and received them graciously, and justified them perfectly, and par-
doned them absolutely, and would glorify them everlastingly, they
could not but love where God loves, and own where God owns, and em-
brace where God embraces, and be one with every one that is one with
Jesus. Were there more assurance among Christians, there would be
more of David's and Jonathan's spirit among Christians, than there is
this day.

Were there more assurance among Christians, there would be more
life and more love, more sweetness and more tenderness. Were there

' Ipse Deus sufficit ad prcemium — Bernard. It is heaven enough to see your interest
in Christ.

* Assurance is like fire, very operative. Si rum operaiur non eat, if it do not work, it is
an argument it is not at all.

' Rom. XV. 1. We are united in the same head and hope, eodem sanguine Christi
ghitinari, we are cemented with the same hlood of Christ, as Augustine said of his friend
Alypius and himself. [Epist., tvh nomine. — G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-84.] heaven on earth. 413

more assurance, there would be less noise, less contention, less division,
less distraction, less biting, and less devouring among the saints.'

Assurance will make the lion and the calf, the wolf and the lamb,
the leopard and the kid, the bear and the cow, lie down together, and
feed together, Isa. xi. 6-8. Men that want assurance love their brethren
as flies love the pot. So long as there is any meat in the pot, the flies
love it ; so those men will love as long as there is an external motive
to draw love, but when that ceases, their love ceases.

Dionysius loved his bottles when they were full, but hurled them
away when they were empty. So many that want assurance love the
saints while their bags are full, and their houses full of the good things
of this life ; but when they are empty, then they throw them away, then
they cast them off, as Job's friends did him.

Ah ! but assurance will make a man love as God loves, and love as
long as God loves. The assured Christian will not- cease to love so
long as the least buds and blossoms of grace appear. Lazarus in his
rags is as lovely to an assured Christian as Solomon in his robes. Job
is as delightful to him upon the dunghill as David is upon his throne.
It is not the outward pomp and bravery, but the inward beauty and
glory of saints that takes the assured Christian.

(11.) Ihe eleventh motive to provoke you to get a weU-grounded
assurance of your everlasting happiness is this, consider that as there
is a great deal of counterfeit knowledge, counterfeit faith, counterfeit
love, counterfeit repentance, <&c. in the world, so there is a great deal
of counterfeit assurance in the world. Many there be that talk high,
and look big, and bear it out bravely that they are thus and thus, and
that they have such and such glorious assurance, whereas, when their
assurance comes to be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, it is
found too light ; and when it comes to withstand temptations, it is found
too weak; and when it should put the soul upon divine action, it is
found to be but a lazy presumption. Shall the counterfeit gold that is
in the world make men active and diligent to get that which is current,
and that will abide the touchstone and the fire ? and shall not that
counterfeit assurance that is in the world provoke your hearts to be so
much the more careful and active to get such a well-grounded assurance
that God accounts as current, and that will abide his touchstone in the
day of discovery, and that will keep a man from shame and blushing
when the thrones shall be set and the books shall be opened ?

I have been the longer upon these motives to provoke your souls to
get a well-grounded assurance, because it is of an eternal concernment
to you, and a work to which men's hearts are too backward.

Though assurance carries a reward in its own bosom, yet few look
after it ; though the pains of getting it be nothing to the profit that
accompanies it, yet few will sweat to gain it.

If the inducements laid down will not awaken and provoke you to be
restless till you have got the ' white stone ' and ' new name,' till you
have got the assurance of your pardon in your bosoms, I know not
what will.

' { ' Magnea amoris eat amor, love is the attractive loadstone of love.

414 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

CHAPTER V.

Shewing the several ways and means of gaining a well-grounded

assurance.

(1.) The first means. If ever you will attain to assurance, then h6
much in the exercise and actings of grace. As the believing Ephesians,
Eph. i. 13, were in the very exercise and actings of grace, the Spirit of
the Lord ' sealed them up to the day of redemption.' Assurance flows
in upon the actings of grace. Assurance is bred and fed, it is raised
and maintained in the soul, by the actings of graca Grace is most
discernible when it is most in action, and grace is made more and more
perfect by acting. Neglect of your graces is the ground of their de-
crease. Wells are the sweeter for drawing ; you get nothing by dead
and useless habits ; talents hid in a napkin gather rust ; the noblest
faculties are embased when not improved ; grace in the habit is no more
discernible than fire under the ashes, than gold in the ore, than a dead
man in the grave ; but grace, in its lively actings and operations, is as
a prince upon his throne, sparkling and shining.^

Ah, Christians ! were your grace more active, it would be more visible ;
and were your grace more visible, your assurance would be more clear
and full. As St Paul once spake to Timothy, * Stir up the gift of God
that is in thee,'^ 2 Tim. i. 6, so say I to you, If ever you would have
assurance, stir up the grace of God that is in you, blow up that heavenly
fire, raise up those noble spirit.s, never cease believing nor repenting,
till it be clearly given into your bosoms, that you are sure that you do
believ?, and that you do repent, as you are sure that you live, as you
are sure that God rules in Jacob, and dwells in Zion.

Remember, Christians, all the honour that God hath from you in this
life, is from the actings and exercise of your grace, and not from the
habits of grace. Remember, Christians, that all your consolations flow,
not from the habits, but from the acts of grace. Remember, Christians,
that the want of the exercise of grace is the reason why you do not
discern your grace, and why you have no more assurance of your future
happiness. He that will be rich, must still be turning the penny; and
he that will attain unto the riches of assurance, must still be acting his
graces, Col. ii.^. There are none but lively, active Christians, that
know and feel those joys, comforts, and contents that attend the exer-
cise of grace. If thou wouldst not be always a babe in grace, and a
stranger to assurance, then see that thy lamp be always burning, see
that thy golden wheels of grace be always going.

(2.) The second means. If you would. Christians, attain unto assur-
ance, then you must mind your work more than your wages ; you
must he better at obeying than disputing; at doing, at walking, than
at talking and wrangling.^ Assurance is heavenly wages that Christ

'A Christian that would have assurance, must never leave blowing his little spark till
he hath blowed it into a flame.

» The words are an allusion to the fire in the temple, which was always to be kept
burning. Vide Calvin on the text.

' Non enim passibua ad Deum sed affecHbua currimus. Amhulas si amas, thou walkest
if thou lovest to walk.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 415

gives, not to loiterers, but to holy labourers. Though no man merits
assurance by his obedience, yet God usually crowns obedience with
assurance. John xiv. 21-23, ' He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be
loved of my Father, and I will love him. and manifest myself to him.
Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? Jesus answered
and said unto him, 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.' In these words you see, that doing Christians,
working Christians, are the only Christians that shall have most of the
love of the Father and the Son, and that shall have the choicest mani-
festations of grace and favour, and that shall have most of their pre-
sence and company. So in Ps. 1. 23, * Unto him that ordereth his con-
versation aright, will I declare the salvation of God/^ That is, I will
declare myself to be his Saviour, I will shew him salvation, and I will
shew him his interest in salvation ; I will save him, and I will make
him see that I have saved him. He shall see the worth of salvation,
and test the sweetness of salvation. So Gal. vi. 16, ' And as many as
walk according to this rule ' (that is, the rule of the new creature),
'peace be on them, and mercy upon the Israel of God.' The Greek
word that is here rendered ' walk,' signifies not simply to walk, but to
walk by rule, in order, and measure, without treading aside, but
making straight steps to our feet.* Now those choice souls that thus
walk according to the law of the new creature, shall have peace and
mercy in them, and peace and mercy with them, and peace and mercy
on them. ' As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy
be on them,' Assurance is a jewel of too high a price to be cast into
any of their bosoms that walk contrary to the laws of the new creature.
Such may talk of assurance, and make a stir'and a noise about assur-
ance, but it is the close walking Christian that shall be crowned with
assurance. Assurance is a choice part of a believer's happiness, and
therefore God will never give it out of a way of holiness. ' The Lord
hath set apart for himself the man that is godly,' Ps. iv. 3. None are
favourites in God's court, nor none are admitted to be of his counsel,
but those who are all glorious within, and whose raiment is of em-
broidered gold. That is, such whose principles are full of spiritual
glory, and whose practices are amiable and answerable in purity and
sanctity. These are the persons that shall have the honour to have
God's ear, and the happiness to know his heart.'

(3.) The third means. To gain assurance, is to be kind to the SpiHt,
hear his voice, follow his counsel, live up to his laws. The Spirit is
the great revealer of the Father's secrets, he lies in the bosom of the
Father, he knows eVery name that is written in the book of life ; he is
best acquainted with the inward workings of the heart of God towards
poor sinners ; he is the great comforter, and the only sealer up of souls
to the day of redemption.* If you set him a-mourning by your wilful

1 y)"] U\i^, that disposeth his way, as God hath prescribed.
** rroix^ravm. Vide Bezam and Pareus on the text.

' Vis nunquam esse tristis ? Bene vtve, wouldst thou never be sad ? Then live well, sajrs
Bernard. * Rom. viii. 26 ; John xiv. 26: Eph. i. 13.

416 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34«.

sinnings, that alone can glad you, by whom will you be gladded?
Verily, Christians, when you turn your back upon the Spirit, he will not
turn his face upon your souls. Your vexing of the Spirit will be but
the disquieting of yourselves, Isa. Ixiii. 10. Look, as all lights cannot
make up the want of the light of the sun, so all creatures cannot make
up the want of the testimony of the Spirit. Let me speak to you, as
God once spake to his people in Exod. xxiii. 20-23, ' Behold, says God,
I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in thy way, and to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his
voice ; provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for
my name is in him,' &c.^ So say I, behold the Spirit of the Lord, that
is your guide and guard, he also is only able to make a soul-satisfying
report of the'love and favour to you ; therefore, as ever you would have
assurance, beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not; for if
you do by wilful transgressions, he will neither comfort you nor counsel
you; he will neither be a sealing nor a witnessing Spirit unto you ;
nay, he will raise storms and tempests in your souls ; he will present
to you the Father frov/ning, and your Saviour bleeding, and himself as
grieving ; and these sights will certainly rack and torture your doubt-
ing souls. The Spirit of the Lord is a delicate thing, a holy thing, a
blessed guest, that makes every soul happy where he lodges. ' There-
fore grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption,'^ Eph. iv. 30. You will not grieve your guests, your
friends, but courteously and friendly entertain them ; why then do
you make so little conscience of grieving that Holy Spirit that alone
can stamp the image of the Father upon you, and seal you up to life
and glory ?

Ah, Christians ! the way to assurance is not to sit down sighing and
complaining of the want of assurance, but it lies in your eyeing of the
Spirit, in your complying with the Spirit, in your cleaving to the Spirit,
in your following of the Spirit, in your welcoming of the Spirit, and in
your honouring and obeying of the Spirit. As he said of the sword of
Goliah, ' None like to that,' 1 Sam. xxi. 9 ; so say I, no means like to this,
to gain a well-grounded assurance of a man's happiness and blessedness.
And as he said, ' If there be any way to heaven on horseback, it is by
prayer ;' so say I, if there be any way in the world to assurance, it is
by being fearful to offend, and careful to please the Spirit of the Lord,
whose office it is to witness to poor souls the remission of their sins,
and the salvation of their souls.

(4.) The fourth means. If you would obtain assurance, then he sin-
cere, be diligent and constant in assuring ordinances. He that will
meet the king, must wait on him in his walks, Isa. Ixiv. 5. Christ's
ordinances are Christ's walks; and he that would see the beauty of
Christ, and taste of the sweetness of Christ, and be ravished with the
love of Christ, must wait at wisdom's door, they must attend Christ in
his own appointments and institutions. Rev ii. 1 ; Prov. viii. 34, 35. That

^ This angel is the Lord Jesus, as expositors do generally agree. ^3S?D, Malachi,
which Hebrew word is here rendered angel, is by transposition of letters Michael, au
some of the Rabbins have observed.

* This phrase is tropically to be understood. The Greek cannot be fully expressed in
our tongue, t« -jfyiZfjia,, to clytey, Tou ^laD,, i. e. the Spirit, the holy of that God. To shew
the transcendent excellency and glory of the Holy Spirit.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eakth. 417

comfort and assurance that flows not in through the golden pipes of the
sanctuary, will not better the soul, nor long abide with the soul ; it will
be as the morning dew, and as the flowers of the field that soon fade
away, Hosea vi. 4 ; 1 Peter i. 24.

I have in the former discourse shewed at large how the Lord is gra-
ciously pleased to cause his love and glory to beam forth upon souls
in ordinances ; and therefore I shall say no more unto this particular at
this time.

(5.) The fifth rrheans to obtain assurance is, wisely and seriously to
observe what gift of God there is in thee, that brings thee within the
compass of the promises of etei^nal mercy. Now, let the gift be this or
that, if it be a gift that brings thee within the compass of the promise
of eternal mercy, that gift is an infallible evidence of thy salvation.

For the better and further opening of this truth, premise with me
these two thinofs :

[1.] First, No man can have any sure evidence to himself of his
happiness and blessedness from absolute promises.^ Absolute promises do
not describe to whom salvation and all eternal blessings do belong. The
promise of giving Christ, of giving the Spirit, of giving a new heart,
and of pardoning and blotting out sin, are all absolute promises. Now
God is free to make good these to whom he pleases ; therefore he often
steps over the rich and chooses the poor ; the learned, and chooses the
ignorant ; the strong, and chooses the weak ; the noble, and chooses the
ignoble ; the sweet nature, and chooses the rugged nature, &c., that no
flesh may glory, and that all may shout out Grace, grace \ 1 Cor. i.
25-29.

[2.] Secondly, Though no man can have any sure evidence of his
happiness and blessedness from absolute promises, because absolute pro-
mises do not describe the persons to whom salvation and all eternal
blessings do belong ; yet absolute promises are of most choice and
singular use.

(1.) In that they discover to us that our salvation is only from free
grace, and not from anything in us or done by us.

(2.) They are a most sure and glorious foundation for the very worst
of sinners to stay their filthy, guilty, wearied, burdened, perplexed souls
upon. Seeing that God looks not for any penny or pennyworth, for any
portion or proportion in the creature to draw his love, but he will
justify, pardon, and save for his name's sake, Isa. Iv. 1, 2 ; seeing all the
motives that move God to shew mercy are in his own bosom ; seeing
they are all within doors, there is no reason why the vilest of sinners
should sit down and say. There is no hope, there is no help, Deut. vii,
7, 8 ; Ps. Ixviii. 18.

[3.] Thirdly, Absolute promises may, and doubtless often are, choice
cordials to many precious souls, who happily have lost the sense and
feeling of divine favour. Absolute promises are watei*s of life to many
precious sons of Sion. They are a heavenly fire at which they can sit
down and warm themselves when they cannot blow their own spark
into a flame, and when all candle-light, torch-light, and star-light fails

' Isa. xlii. 6, xlix. 8 ; Joel ii. 28 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27 ; Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Heb. viii. 10-
12;' Isa. x.xxii. 16.

VOL. H. D d

418 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

them. When all other comforts can yield a perplexed, distressed soul
no comfort, yet then absolute promises will prove full breasts of con-
solation to the distressed soul.'

These things being premised, see now what gift of God there is in thee
that brings thee within the compass of the promise of everlasting happi-
ness and blessedness ; and to help you a little in this, I shall put you
in mind of these following particulars.

1. The first gift. Faith is a gift of God that brings the soul within
the promise of everlasting blessedness, as the Scripture doth everywhere
evidence : ' He that believes shall be saved ;' ' he that believes shall not
come into condemnation ;' ' he shall not perish ;' ' he shall have eternal
life,' &c.^ Now believing is nothing else but the accepting of Christ for
thy Lord and Saviour, as he is offered to thee in the gospel ; and this
accepting is principally, if not only, the act of thy will ; so that if thou
art sincerely and cordially willing to have Christ upon his own terms,
upon gospel terms, that is, to save thee and rule thee, to redeem thee
and to reign over thee, then thou art a believer. Thy sincere willing-
ness to believe is thy faith ; and this gift brings thee within the compass
of the promise of eternal happiness and blessedness.

Chi'istian reader, in the following discourse thou wilt find the nature,
the properties, and the excellencies of a sound saving faith clearly and
largely laid open before thee ; and therefore I shall say no more to it in
this place, but refer thee to what follows.

2. The second gift. Waiting 'patiently on God is a gift that brings
thee within the promise of everlasting happiness and blessedness. And
he that hath but a waiting frame of heart, hath that that God will
eternally own and crown : Isa. xxx. 18, 'And therefore will the Lord
wait that he may be gracious unto you ; and therefore will he be exalte'd
that he may have mercy upon you ; for the Lord is a God of judgment:
blessed are all they that wait for him.' Verily, it is no iniquity to pronounce
them blessed that God pronounces blessed. It is no piety, but cruelty
and inhumanity, for any not to be as merciful to themselves as God is
merciful to them ; not to have as sweet and precious thoughts of their
present condition as God hath. If God says the waiting soul is blessed,
who dares judge, who dares say it is not blessed? ' Let God be true, and
every "man a liar,' Rom. iii. 4 ; Isa Ixiv. 4, ' For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither •hath the eye
seen, O God, besides thee, what he [hath] prepared for him that waiteth
for him '; Prov. viii. 34, ' Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching
daily at my gates, and waiting at the posts of my doors' ; Isa. xlix. 23,
' They shall not be ashamed that wait for me'; that is, I will never fail
the waiting soul ; I will never put him to blushing by frustrating his
patient waiting on me. The waiting soul shall bear the belt, and carry
away the crown at last. Verily, glorious love and power is as much
seen in keeping up a poor soul in a patient waiting on God, as it was
in raising Christ from the grave, and as it is in bringing souls to glory.
Nothing can make the waiting soul miserable. Hold out faith and

' Bilney was much comforted in a great conflict by that promise, 1 Tim. i. 15 ; and
Ursine by that in John x. 29 ; another by that in Isa. Ivii. 15 ; another by that in Isa.
xxxi. 3 ; Mr Wheatley with that in Heb. x. 87, &c. [See Index, sub nominibus, for other
references to these worthies. — G.]

* Mark xvi. 16; John iii, 15, 16, &c. ; John i. 12.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 419

patience but a little, ' and he that shall come will come, and bring his
reward with him,' Rev. xxii. 11, 12.

3. The third gift. HungeHng and thirsting after righteousness is
a gift that brings the soul within the compass of the promise of ever-
lasting happiness and blessedness : Mat. v. 6, ' Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled '; or as
it runs in the Greek, ' Blessed are they that are hungering and thirsting,'
<!tiivtZvTsg xai di-^iZfrsg, intimating that wherever this is the present dis-
position of men's souls, they are blessed, and may expect spiritual
repletions.

Considerable to this purpose is that of Isa. xliv. 2-5 : ' Thus saith the
Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help
thee : Fear not, O Jacob my servant ; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I
have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my
blessing upon thy offspring. And they shall spring up as among the
grass, as willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's;
and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shaL
subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the
name of Israel.'^

Of the like consideration is that of Isa. xxxv. G, 7, ' Then shall the
lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing ; for in the
wilderness shall waters break forth, and streams in the desert. And the
parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of
water : in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass, with
reeds and rushes.'

To the like purpose is that in Ps. cvii. 9, * For he satisfieth the
longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.'

But that none may mistake nor miscarry in this business, that is of
an eternal concernment to them, I shall desire them to premise with me
these following things, for a better and fuller clearing of this particular
truth that is under our present consideration.

First, Premise this with me : All real hungerings and thirstings
after righteousness are earnest and vehement thirstings and longings.
They are like Rachel's longing for children, and like Samson's longing
for water : Ps. xlii. 1, 2, ' As the hart panteth after the water-brook, so
panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the
living God : when shall I come and appear before God V Philosophers
observe, that of all the beasts, the hart is most thirsty by nature, but
most of all thirsty when she is hunted and pursued by dogs. Says
David : As the hunted hart, as the wounded hart, yea, as the she-hart,
in whom the passions of thirst are strongest, panteth after the water-
brooks, so doth my soul pant after thee, O God. A gracious soul
panteth and fainteth, it breatheth and breaketh, for the longing it hath
at all times after the righteousness of Christ imputed and infused, Ps.
cxix. 20. The Greeks derive their word for desire from a root that
signifies to hum.^ Ah, Christians ! real desires are burning desires ;
they set the soul all in a holy flame after God and Christ. If they are

^ By water is meant the Spirit, say some ; others understand it of the spiritual waters
of grace, that God will pour out upon those that thirst and long after an abundance
of grace, &c. * See Index under • Desire.' — G.

420 HEAVEN ON EAETH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

not vehement, if they do not put an edge upon thy affections, if tliey do
not make thee like a burning seraphim, Christ will take no pleasure in
them ; they shall return into thy own bosom without working any
wonders in heaven, as those desires do that flow from the soul's being
touched with a coal from the altar.

Secondly, Premise this with me. All real hungerings in the soul
after inghteousness,ari8efTom spiritual and heavenly consideration^;^
they spring in the soul from some convictions, some apprehensions,
some persuasions that the soul hath, of a real worth, of a real beauty,
gloiy, and excellency that is in Christ, and in his righteousness, imputed
and imparted. Such desires after righteousness that flow from external
considerations, are of no worth, weight, or continuance, but those desires
after righteousness that flow from spiritual considerations, are full of
spirit, life, and glory ; they are such that God will not only observe but
accept, not only record but reward, Ps. cxlv. 19.

Thirdly, Real hungerings and thirstings after Christ and his right-
eousness, <&€.., ivill put the soul upon lively endeavours. If they are
true-born desires, they will not make the soul idle but active ; not
negligent but diligent, in the use of all holy means, whereby the soul
may enjoy Christ and his righteousness : Isa. xxvi. 9, ' With my soul
have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I
seek thee early.' Real desires will make us earnest and early in seek-
ing to obtain the thing desired, as the Hebrew word imports.^ A
thirsty man will not only long for drink, but labour for it ; the con-
demned man will not only desire his pardon, but he will write, and
entreat, and weep, and set this friend and that to solicit for him ; the
covetous man doth not only wish for wealth, but will rise early and go
to bed late, he will turn every stone, and make attempts upon all
hopeful opportunities, whereby he may fill his bags and fill his bams.
Even so, all holy desires will put souls upon the use of the means,
whereby the mercy desired may be gained. And thus to run, is to
attain ; thus to will, is to work ; thus to desire, is to do the will of our
Father, who accepts of pence for pounds, of mites for millions.

The Persian monarch was not so famous for accepting a little water
from the hand of a loving subject, as our God is for accepting a handful
of meal for a sacrifice, and a gripe^ of goat's hair for an oblation ; for
accepting of that little we have, and for accounting our little much.
Lev. ii, 2 ; Exod. xxxv. 6 ; 2 Cor. viii. 12.

Noah's sacrifice could not be great, and yet it was greatly accepted
and highly accounted of by God. Such is God's condescending love to
weak worms, that he looks more at their will than at their work ; he
minds more what they would do, than what they do do ; he always
prefers the willing mind before the worthiest work, and where desires
and endeavours are sincere, there God judges such to be as good as
they desire and endeavour to be.

Fourthly, Spiritual hungerings and thirstings are only satisfied
with spiHtual things. John xiv. 8, 'Shew us the Father, and it

> Ps. Ixiii. 1-4, xxvii. 4 ; Philip, iii. 7-10.

* "linK'S from IPIK', which signifies 1o seek in the morning, when it is but dim and
dusky, scarce twilight; for of darkness it hath its name, and it notes both an earnest
aud an early seeking. * Seo Glossary, tub voce. — G.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. '421

sufficeth us.* All things in the world cannot suffice us, but a sight of
the Father, that will satisfy us : Ps. Ixiii. 5, 6, ' My soul shall be satisfied
as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee
in the night-watches.' Ps. Ixv, 4, ' We shall be satisfied with the good-
ness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.' It is only God, and the
precious things of his house, that can satisfy a thirsty soul.*

It was a sweet saying of one, ' As what I have, if offered to thee,
pleaseth thee not, O Lord, without myself; so the good things we have
from thee, though they may refresh us, yet they cannot satisfy us,
without thyself.' The rattle without the breast will not satisfy the
child, the house without the husband will not satisfy the wife, the
cabinet without the jewel will not satisfy the virgin, nor the world
without Christ will not satisfy the soiil.

Luther, in a time of wants, receiving unexpectedly a good sum of
money from the elector of Germany, at which being somewhat amazed,
he turned himself to God and protested, that God should not put him
off with such poor low things.^ The hungry soul will not be put off with
any bread but with the bread of life ; the thirsty soul will not be put
off with any water but with the well-springs of life. As the king of
Sodom said once, ' Take you the goods, give me the persons,' Gen. xiv.
21 ; so says the hungry soul. Take you the goods, take your honours,
and riches, and the favour of creatures, take you the corn, the oil, and
the wine ; give me Christ, give me the light of his countenance, give
me the joy of his Spirit, &c. Oh the answering of spiritual breathings
is very sweet to the soul : Prov. xiiL 19, ' The desire accomplished is
sweet to the soul.' Returns from heaven make a paradise in the soul.

I have read of Darius, that when he fled from his enemy, and being
in great thirst, he met with a dirty puddle of water, with carrion
lying in it, and he sucked in and drank very heartily of it, and pro-
fessed, ' That it was the sweetest draught that ever he drunk in his
life.'' Ah, how sweet then are those waters of life that be at God's
right hand ! How sweet are the droppings of God's honeycomb upon
the hungry soul ! Water out of the rock, and manna in the wilderness,
was not so sweet to the hungry, thirsty Israelites, as spiritual answers
and spiritual returns are to those that hunger and thirst after spiritual
things.

(6.) TJie sixth means to obtain a well-grounded assurance of your
everlasting happiness is, to be much, yea, to excel in those choice par-
ticular things that mxiy clearly and fully difference and distinguish
you, not only from the profane, hut also from the highest and most
glistering hypocrites in all the world* It is nothing to be much in
those duties and performances wherein the worst of sinners may equalize,
yea, go beyond the best of saints. Oh ! but to excel in those things that
the most refined hypocrites cannot reach to, this cannot but much help

' Christus estmihipro omnibus, saith one,

' Valde protestatus sum, me nolle sic satiari ab eo. — Luther.

* Quintus Curtius? — Gr,

f Many may be much in and for church ordinances, whose hearts are very carnal, and
whose lives aro very vain, Ezek, xxiv. 21, 32. You have seven expressions of carnal hearts
prizing church privileges: so Jer. iv. 3 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 30-33 ; laa. i. 11-14; Zech. vii.
4-7 ; Isa. Iviii. 1-3, &c

422 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 82-34.

you on to assurance. He that hath those jewels in his bosom that God
gives only to his choicest favourites, needs not question whether he be
a favourite, &c. If he doth it, it is his sin, and will hereafter be his
shame.

But you may say to me, What are those choice particular things that
may difference and distinguish Christ's true Nathanaels from all other
persons in the world ?

Now, to this question I shall give these following answers :

[1.] The first distinction. A true Nathanael, in his constant course,
labours in all duties and sei^vices to he apjyroved and accepted of
God. He is most studious and industrious to approve his heart to God
in all that he puts his hand to. So David, ' Search me, God, and
know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be
any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting,' Ps. cxxxix.
23, 24.^ So Peter approves his heart to Christ three several times to-
gether : * Lord, thou knowest that I love thee ; Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee ; Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I
love thee,' John xxi. 15-17. Thou knowest the sincerity and reality of
my love, and therefore to thee I do appeal. To the same purpose the
apostle speaks : 2 Cor. v. 9, ' Wherefore we labour, that, whether pre-
sent or absent, we may be accepted of him.' The Greek word [p/Xor;/Aou-
fji'iSa] that is here rendered labour, is a very emphatical word ; it signifies
to labour and endeavour with all earnestness and might, to endeavour
with a high and holy ambition to be accepted of God, judging it the
greatest honour in the world to be owned and accepted of the Lord.
Ambitious men are not more dUigent, earnest, studious, and laborious
to get honour among men, than we are, saith the apostle, to get accept-
ance with God. Ah ! but your most refined hypocrites labour only to
approve themselves to men in their praying, fasting, talking, hearing,
giving, &c.^ Let them have but man's eye to see them, and man's ear
to hear them, and man's tongue to commend them, and man's hand to
reward them, and they will sit down and bless themselves, saying it is
enough ; aha ! so would we have it.

They say of the nightingale, that when she is solitary in the woods,
she is careless of her note ; but when she conceives that she hath any
auditors, or is near houses, then she composes herself more quaintly
and elegantly. Verily, this is the frame and temper of the best of
hypocrites. Oh ! but a sincere Nathanael labours in all places, and in
all cases and services, to approve himself to God ; he labours as much
to approve himself to God in a wood, where no eye sees him, as he doth
when the eyes of thousands are fixed upon him.^ The sun would shine
bright though all men were asleep at high noon, and no eyes open to see
the glory of his beams : so a sincere heart will shine, he will labour to do
good ; though all the world should shut their eyes, yet he will eye his
work, and eye his God. He knows that God is totus oculus, all eye, and
therefore he cares not though others have never an eye to observe

> *31pn, to make a strict search and inquisition.

* Mat. vi. and xxiii. Also it is Chrysostom's observation, that she that paints tears
and blubberings, is worse than a wanton woman that paints to seem fair. Horn. vi. in
Mat.

3 Koli peecare ; Deus videt, angeli attant, take heed what thou doest, God beholds thee,
angels observe thee, saith one.

Rom. VIII, 32-34.] heaven on earth. 423

him, to applaud him. Let God but secretly whisper him in the ear,
and say, ' Well done, good and faithful servant !' and it is enough to his
soul, enough to satisfy him, enough to cheer him, and enough to encour-
age him in the ways and the work of his God.

[2.] The second distinction. He labours to get up to the very top
of holiness ; he labours to live up to his oivn principles. He cannot
be satisfied with so much grace as will bring him to glory, but he labours
to be high in grace, that he may be high in glory: Philip, iii. 11, * I de-
sire if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,
that is, to that perfection that the dead shall attain to in the morning
of the resurrection.^ Verily, that man is ripe for heaven who counts it
his greatest happiness to be high in holiness ; that man shall never be
low in heaven, a door-keeper in heaven, that cannot be satisfied till he
be got up to the very top of Jacob's ladder, till he hath attained to the
highest perfection in grace and holiness. Ps. xlv. 13, * The king's
daughter is all glorious within ; her clothing is of wrought gold.' Her
inward principles are all glorious, and her outward practice echoes to
her inward principles : ' her clothing is of wrought gold.'

It was the honour and glory of Joshua and Caleb, that they followed
the Lord fully. Num. xiv. 24, that is, they lived up to their own princi-
ples. So those virgins in Rev. xiv. 4, 5, that were without spot before
the throne of God, they followed the Lamb wheresoever he went, that
is, they lived up to their profession ; there was a sweet harmony be-
twixt their principles and practices. And thus the apostles lived : 2
Cor. i. 12, 'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by
the grace of God, we had our conversation in the world, and more
abundantly to you-wards.' 1 Thes. ii. 10, ' Ye are witnesses, and God
also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably, we behaved ourselves
among you that believe.' Thus we see these worthies living up to
their own principles.^ Blessed Bradford and Bucer lived so up to their
principles, that their friends could not sufficiently praise them, nor their
ibes find anything justly to fasten on them.

Believers know,

(1.) That their living up to their own principles, doth best evidence
Christ living in them, and their union with him, Gal, ii. 20.

(2.) They know that it is not their profession, but living up to their
principles, that will effectually stop the mouths, and convince the
consciences of vain men : 1 Peter ii. 15, ' For so is the will of God, that
by well-doing,' that is, by living up to your own principles, ' you may
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.' There is no such way in
the world to still and silence wicked men, to make them dumb and speech-
less, to muzzle and tie up their mouths, as the Greek word notes, <pt(ioZv, as
by living up to your own principles. The lives of men convince more
strongly than their words ; the tongue persuades, but the life com-
mands.

(3.) They know by living up to their principles, they cast a general

< < * He cannot be satisfied with so much grace as will keep him from dropping into hell ;
Dut he must have so much grace as will make him shine gloriously in heaven.

* Vivimua prceceptis, non factis, we live by precepts, not by deeds ; legibut Dei, rum
exemplis hominum, by the laws of God, not by the examples of men.

424 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

glory upon Christ and his ways. This makes Christ and his ways to be
well thought on and well spoke on, Mat v. IG ; 1 Peter ii. 11, 12 ; 2
Peter i. 5-13.

(4.) They know that the ready way, the only way to get and keep
assurance, joy, peace, &c., is to live up to their principles.

(5.) They know that by living below their own principles, or contrary
to their own principles, they do but gratify Satan, and provoke wicked
men to blaspheme that worthy name by which they are called, they
know that by their not living up to their own principles they do but
multiply their own fears and doubts, and put a sword into the hand of
conscience, and make sad work for future repentance.

Now these and such like considerations do exceedingly stir and pro-
voke believers to labour with all their might to live up to their own
principles, to get to the very top of holiness, to be more and more
a-pressing towards the mark, and to think that nothing is done till they
have attained the highest perfections that are attainable in this life.
It is true, many hypocrites may go up some rounds of Jacob's ladder,
such as make for their profit, pleasure, applause, and yet tumble down
at last to the bottom of hell, as Judas and others have done. Hypocrites
do not look, nor like, nor love to come up to the top of Jacob's ladder. Gen.
xxviii. 12, to the top of holiness, as you may see in the Scribes and
Pharisees, and all other hypocrites that the Scripture speaks of/

[3.] The third distinction. It is their greatest desire and endeavour
that sin may he cured, ratfier than covered. Sin most afflicts a gracious
soul. David cries out, not Peril, but Peccavi, not I am undone, but I
have done foolishly, Ps. li. 3. Daniel complains not, we are reproached
and oppressed, but w« have rebelled, Dan. ix. 5. Paul cries not out of
his persecutors, but of the law in his members rebelling against the
law of his mind, Rom. vii. 23. A gracious soul grieves more that God
by his sin is grieved and dishonoured, than that for it he is afflicted
and chastened.

The hart feeling within her the operation of the serpent's poison,
runs from the thorns and thickets, and runs over the green and pleasant
pastures, that she may drink of the fountain and be cured.* So gracious
souls, being sensible of the poison and venom of sin, runs from the
creatures, that are but as thorns and thickets, and runs over their own
duties and righteousness, which are but as pleasant pastures, to come
to Christ the fountain of life, that they may drink of those waters of
consolation, of those wells of salvation that be in him, and cast up and
cast out their spiritual poison, and be cured for ever. Believers know
that their sins do most pierce and grieve the Lord, they lie hardest and
heaviest upon his heart, and are most obvious to his eye, Amos ii. 18.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a
diamond, Jer. xvii. 1 ; their sins are against beams of strongest light,

* James ii. 7. The very heathen, as Salvian observes, did thus reproach Christians
that walked contrary to their principles. Where is that good law which they do believe ?
They read and hear the holy Scriptures, and yet are drunk and unclean ; they follow
Christ, and yet disobey Christ ; they profess a holy law, and yet do lead impure lives.

* If a snake should sting thy dearly beloved spouse to death, wouldst thou preserve it
alive, warm it at the fire, hug it in thy bosom, and not rather stab it with a thousand
wounds ? You are wise, and know how to apply it.

EOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 425

they are against the bowels of tenderest mercy, they are against the
manifestations of greatest love, they are against the nearest and dearest
relations, they are against the choicest and highest expectations ; and
this makes believing souls cry out. Oh, a cure. Lord ! a cure, Lord ! Oh
give me purging grace, give me purging grace ; though I should never
taste of pardoning mercy, yet give me purging grace.^

It was a notable speech of Cosmus, duke of Florence, ' I have read,'
saith he, ' that I must forgive my enemies, but never that I must for-
give my friends.' The sins of God's friends, of God's people, provoke
him most, and sad him most, and this makes them sigh and groan it
out, ' Who shall deliver us from this body of death ?' Rom. vii. 24. Oh !
but now wicked men labour, not that sin may be cured, but only that
sin might be covered, Hosea vil 10-16; and that the consequents of
sin, viz., affliction and the stinging of conscience, may be removed, as
you may see in Cain, Saul, Judas, and divers others : ' Hosea v. 14, 15,
* In their affliction they will seek me early,' saith God ; they will then
seek to be rid of their affliction, but not to be rid of their sins that hath
brought down the affliction upon them. Like the patient that would
fain be rid of his pain and torment, under which he groans, but cares
not to be rid of those evil habits that have brought the pain and tor-
ment upon him. Ps. Ixxviii. 34-37, ' When he slew them, then they
sought him ; and they returned and inquired early after God : and they
remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their Redeemer.
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto
him with their tongues. For their heart was not upright with him,
neither were they stedfast in his covenant.'^ In these words you see
plainly, that these people are very early and earnest in seeking God,
to take off his hand, to remove the judgments that were upon them,
but not that God would cure them of those sins that provoked him to
draw his sword, and to make it drunk with their blood ; for, notwith-
standing the sad slaughters that divine justice had made among them,
they did but flatter and lie, and play the hypocrites with God ; they
would fain be rid of their sufferings, but did not care to be rid of their
sins. Ah ! but a gracious soul cries out, Lord, do but take away my sins,
and it will satisfy me and cheer me, though thou shouldst never take
off thy heavy hand. A true Nathanael sighs it out under his greatest
affliction, as that good man did, A me, 7ne salva domine, deliver me,
O Lord, from that evil man myself.' No burden to the burden of sin.
Lord I says the believing soul ; deliver me from my inward burden, and
lay upon me what outward burden thou pleasest.

(4.) The fourth distinction. Are not your souls taken loith Christ
as chief? is he not in your eye the chief est of ten thousand ? is he not
altogether lovely ? Cant. v. 10, 16. Yes, have you any in heaven but he,
and is there any on earth that you desire in comparison of him ? Prov.

' "When Brutus went to stab Julius Csesar, he cried out, What, thou my son Brutus,
&c. [The memorable El tu quoque, &c — G.] So may God well cry out, What, thou
my son ! What, wilt thou stab me with thy sins ? is it not enough that others stab my
honour ? but wilt thou, my son ?

• Sin doth ill in the eye, worse in the tongue, worser in the heart, but worst of all in
the life. Ah, England, England, as face answers face, so doth thy carriage towards God
answer the carriage of these people, whoso baseness and falseness God hath put upoii
record to this very day, &c. ' Augustine, Confessions. — G.

426 HEAVEN ON EAKTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34).

iii. 1 5 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26 ; Philip, iii. 7, 8. No. Do not you lift up Jesus
Christ as high as God the Father lifts him? God the Father lifts
up Christ above all principalities and powers, Eph. i. 21, Philip, ii. 9 ; he
lifts up Christ above all your duties, above all your privileges, above all
your mercies, above all your graces, above all your contentments, above
all your enjoyments ; do not you thus lift up Jesus Christ 1 Yes.^ As
he is the Father's chiefest jewel, so he is your choicest jewel, is he not?
Yes. Verily none can lift up Christ as chief, unless Christ have their
hearts, and they dearly love him, and believe in him, for Christ is only
precious to them that believe, 1 Peter ii. 7. Luther had rather be in
hell with Christ, than in heaven without him ; is not that the frame of
thy heart ? Yes. Why then dost thou say thou hast no grace, thou
hast no Christ. Surely none but those that have union with Christ,
and that shall eternally reign with Christ, can set such a high price
upon the person of Christ. The true believer, aTYiat Christum propter
Christum, loves Christ for Christ ; he loves Christ for his personal
excellencies, Cant. v. J 0-1 6.^ .

What Alexander said of his two friends, is applicable to many in our
day ; says he, 'Haephestion loves me as I am Alexander, but Craterus
loves me as I am King Alexander.'* One loved him for his person, the
other for the benefits he received by him. So some Nathanaels there
be that love Christ for his person, for his personal excellenc}', for his
personal beauty, for his personal glory ; they see those perfections of
grace and holiness in Christ, that would render him very lovely and
desirable in their eyes, though they should never get a kingdom, a
crown by it.* But most cif those that bear any love and good-will to
Christ, do it only in respect of the benefits they receive by him.

It was Augustine's complaint of old, vix deligitur Jesus propter
Jesum, that scarce any love Christ but for his rewards. Few follow
him for love, but for loaves, John vi. 26 ; few follow him for his in^
ward excellencies, many follow him for their outward advantages ; few
follow him that they may be made good by him, but many follow him
that they may be great by him. Certainly, you are the bosom friends
of Christ, you are in the very heart of Christ, who prize Christ above
all, who lift up Jesus Christ as high as God the Father lifts him, and
that because of his rich anointings, and because all his garments smell
of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, Ps. xlv. 6-8. This is a work too high and
too hard, too great and too noble, for all that are not new-born, that
are not twice born, that are not of the blood-royal, that are not par-
takers of the divine nature.

[5.] The fifth distinction. Are not your greatest and your hottest
conflicts against inward pollutions, against those secret sins that are
only obvious to the eye of God and your oivn souls .?* The light of
nature's education, and some common convictions of the Spirit, may put

' ' None but Christ, none but Christ !' cries the martyr. [Sanders ? — G.]

* Amat Deus, non aliunde hoc hahet, sed ipse est unde amat — Augustine.
' See Index under Hsephestion. — G.

* When one asked Gate's daughter why she would not marry again, she being young
when her husband died, answered. Because she could not find a man that loved her
more than her goods. Few there are that love Christ more than his goods, &c.

. * It was a good prayer of him that said, Lord, Libera me a malo homine, a meipso. [Aug-
ustine, as before.— G.]

Rom. VIII 32-34.] heaven on earth. 427

men upon combating with those sins that are obvious to every eye, but
it must be a supernatural power and principle that puts men upon con-
flicting with the inward motions and secret operations of sin, Rom. vii.
23. The apostle complains of a law in his members warring against
the law of his mind. The war was within doors, the fight was inward.
The apostle was deeply engaged against a law within him, which made
him sigh it out, ' O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death f So David cries out, ' Who can understand his
errors ? cleanse thou me from secret faults,' Ps. xix. 12. So Hezekiah
humbled himself for the pride of his heart, or for the lifting up of his
heart, as the Hebrew hath it, 2 Chron. xxxii. 26 [sin u"? mil]. His
recovery from sickness, his victories over his enemies, and his rich
treasures, lifted up his heart. Oh ! but for those outward risings and
vauntings of heart Hezekiah humbles himself, he abases and lays him-
self low before the Lord. A sincere heart weeps and laments bitterly
over those secret and inward corruptions that others will scarce acknow-
ledge to be sins. Many a man there is that bleeds inwardly, and dies
for ever ; many a soul is. eternally slain by the inward workings of sin,
and he sees it not, he knows it not, till it be too late.*

Oh ! but a true Nathanael mourns over the inward motions and first
risings of sin in his soul, and so prevents an eternal danger. Upon
every stirring of sin in the soul the believer cries out, O Lord, help; O
Lord, undertake for me ; oh dash these brats of Babylon in pieces ; oh stifle
the first motions of sin, that they may never conceive and bring forth,
to the wounding of two at once, thy honour and my own conscience !

[6.] The sixth distinction. Are you itwt subject to ChHst as a head ?
Yes ; devils and wicked men are subject to Christ as a Lord, but those
that are by faith united to him, and that have a spiritual interest in
him, are subject to him as a head.

I shall open this particular thus unto you.

First, The members are willingly and sweetly subject to the head ;
their subjection is voluntary, not compulsory .^ It is so with a believing
soul : Ps. xxvii. 8, ' When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said
unto thee, Thy face. Lord, will I seek.' So Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness.' So Paul
cries out, ' What wilt thou have me to do V Acts ix. 6, and professes
that he is willing not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem
for the name of Christ, Acts xxi. 13. A gracious soul is in some mea-
sure naturalised to the work of Christ, and Christ's work is in some
measure naturalised to the souL

Secondly, The members are subject to the head universally, they do
all the head enjoineth f so the real members of Christ do in sincerity
endeavour universally to subject to all that Christ their head requires,
without any exception or reservation : Luke i. 5, 6, ' Zacharias and
Elizabeth walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord

* The Persian kings reign powerfully, and yet are seldom seen in public. Secret sins
reign in many men's souls powerfully and dangerously, when least apparently.

* Every true Nathanael's motto is. Omnia ex voluntate Dei, all must be as God will
have it.

* Their obedience is universal, (1.) in respect of the act of eschewing all evil, doing all
good ; (2.) in respect of the rule, the whole word of God ; (3.) in respect of their general
and particular calling.

428 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

l)lamele.ss.' • They walked without halting or halving of it with God ;
they fell in with every part and point of God's revealed will, without
prejudice or partiality, without tilting the balance on one side or another:
Acts xiii. 22, ' I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own
heart, which shall fulfil all my will,' or rather ' all my wills,' as the
Greek hath it [^sX^/tara], to note the universality and sincerity of his
obedience.

Thirdly, The members are subject to the head constantly, unwea-
ried ly. The members are never weary of obeying the head ; they obey
in all places, cases, and times ; so are the real members of Christ : Acts
xxiv. 16, ' And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience
void of offence toward God and toward men.'' I use all diligence, skill,
cunning, and conscience, to be sincere and inoffensive in all my motions
and actions towards God and towards men. So David, Ps. cxix. 112,
* I have inclined my heart' (or rather, as the Hebrew word signifies,
' I have stretched out my heart,' as a man would do a piece of parch-
ment) ' to do thy statutes' (the Hebrew word signifies to do accurately,
exactly, perfectly) ' alway, even unto the end.'* A gracious soul is not
like a deceitful bow, nor like the morning dew, but he is like the sun,
that rejoiceth to nm his race ; he is like the stone in Thracia, that
neither burneth in the fire nor sinketh in the water.' Now tell me,
pray tell me, O you doubting souls, whether you do not,

(].) Labour in all duties and services to approve your hearts to God?

(2.) Whether you do not endeavour to get up to the very top of
holiness, and to live up to your own principles ?

(3.) Whether it be not your greatest desire and endeavour that sin
may be cured rather than covered ?

(4.) Whether you are not taken with Christ as chief? whether you
do not, in vour judgments and affections, lift up Christ above all, as
God the Father doth?

(5.) Whether your greatest and hottest conflicts and combats be not
against inward pollutions, against those secret stirrings and operations
of sin, which are only obvious to the eye of God and your own souls?

(6.) Whether you do not, in respect of the general bent and frame
of your hearts, subject to Christ as your head ?

[1.] Freely and sweetly.

[2.] Universally, in one thing as well as another, without any ex-
ception or reservation.

[3.] Constantly and unwearily. Yes ; we do these things ; we should
belie the grace of God if we should say otherwise. These things the
Lord hath wrought in us and for us, Isa. xxvi. 12. Well, then,
know,

First, That your estate is good ; you have certainly a blessed in-
terest in the Lord Jesus. None can do these things but souls that have
union with Christ, that are interested in Christ, that are acted by the
peculiar and special influences of Christ, and that are highly beloved
of Christ. Verily, these are such flowers of paradise that cannot be
gathered in nature's garden ; they are pearls of that price that God

* Sja^avTs;, always, or throughout in all cases, or at all times.

» niB^*? ^s"? ^JT-Da, from HK^. » Asbestos.— Q.

Rom, VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 429

bestows upon none but those that are the price of Christ's blood. All
the men in the world cannot prove by the Scripture that these
jewels can be found in any men's breasts but in theirs that have
union and communion with Christ, and that shall reign for ever with
Christ.^

SecoTidly, Know that it is no iniquity, but rather your duty, for you
to suck sweetness out of these honeycombs, and to look upon these
things as infallible pledges and evidences of divine favour, and of your
everlasting happiness and blessedness. Some there be that make the
witness of the Spirit, of which I shall, towards the close of this discourse,
speak at large, the only evidence of our interest in Christ, and deny all
other evidences from the fruit of the Spirit f but this is to deny the
fruit, growing upon the tree, to be an evidence that the tree is alive,
whereas all know, that the fruit growing upon the tree is an infallible
and undeniable evidence that there is life in the tree. Certainly it is
one thing to judge by our graces, and another thing to rest upon our
graces, or to put trust in our graces. When one argues from the beams
of the sun, that there is a sun, one would think that the most cavilling
spirit in the world should lie quiet and still.

(7.) The seventh vneans to get a well-grounded assurance of your ever-
lasting happiness and blessedness is, to grow and increase more and
'more in grace. 2 Pet. i. 5-11, ' Add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue,
knowledge, &c. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abun-
dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'
By entrance into the everlasting kingdom of Christ, is not meant a
local entrance into heaven ; for heaven is nowhere called the kingdom
of Christ, but the Father's kingdom. The opposition, ver. 9, sheweth
clearly that it is meant of assurance. Now, the" way to full assurance is
by adding grace to grace. The Greek word that is here rendered ' add,'
hath a greater emphasis ; it signifies to Hnk our graces together, as
virgins in a dance do link their hands together.' Oh ! we must be still
a-joining grace to grace, we must still be adding one grace to another,
we must still be a-leading up the dance of graces, (ireat measures of
grace carry with them great evidence of truth, little measures carry
with them but little evidence ; great measures of grace carry with them
the greatest evidence of the soul's union and communion with Christ ;
and the more evident your union and communion with Christ is, the
more clear and full will your assurance be.*

Great measures of grace carry with them the greatest and clearest
evidences of the glorious indwellings of the Spirit in you, and the more
you are persuaded of the real indwelUngs of the Spirit in you, the

1 If these things could be found in the most shining hypocrites, or any others but
real saints, they could not possibly be either a first or second evidence. Though a man
could see them in the light of the Spirit, this is carefully to be observed against those
that hold these good second evidences, &c.

2 We have cause enough to keep off doubtings and distress of spirit upon the bare sight
of our evidences. This, coaiplaining, cavilling souls will not understand.

3 Though our graces be our best jewels, yet they are imperfect, and do not give out
their full lustre; they are like the moon, which, when it shineth brightest, hath a dark
spot. Therefore, we should add still grace to grace, iTi^^^o^ny^raTi.

* {If moral virtue, saith Plato, could be seen with mortal eyes, it would soon draw all
hearts to itself. Oh how muclj the more should our hearts be drawn out after tlie higheat
measures of grace 1 the least drain of grace being more worth than all moral virtue.

430 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. "VIII. 32-34.

higher will your assurance rise. Great measures of grace will be a fire
that will consume and burn up the dross, the stubble, the fears and
doubts that perplex the soul, and that cause darkness to surroimd the
souL Now, the more you are rid of your fears, doubts, and darkness,
the more easily, and the more effectually will your hearts be persuaded
that the thoughts of God towards you are thoughts of love ; that you are
precious in his eyes, and that he will rejoice over you, to do you good
for ever, Jer. xxxii. 41, &c.

(8.) The eigMh means to gain a well-grounded assurance of your ever-
lasting happiness and blessedness is, to take your heaHs when they are
in tlie best and most sjpiritual frame and temper God-wards, heaven-
wards, and holiness-wards. Times of temptation and desertion,
&c., are praying times, hearing times, mourning times, and believing
times ; but they are not trying times, they are not seasonable times
for doubting souls to set themselves about so great and so solemn a
work as that is, of searching and examining how things stand, and
are like to stand, between God and them for ever, 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

Be diligent and constant, be studious and conscientious in observing
the frame and temper of your own hearts, and when you find them most
plain, most melting, most yielding, most tender and humble, most
sweetly raised, and most divinely composed, then, oh then, is the time
to single out the most convenient place where thou mayest with greatest
freedom open thy bosom to God, and plead with him as for thy life,
that he would shew thee how things stand between him and thee, and
how it must fare with thy soul for ever.' And when thou hast thus set
thyself before God, and opened thy bosom to God, then wisely observe
what report God and thy own renewed conscience do make concerning
thy eternal condition : ' I will hear what God the Lord will speak,'
saith David ; ' for he will speak peace unto his people, and they shall
not return to folly,' so the Hebrew may be read.^ Oh ! so must thou
stand still, when thou hast sincerely unbowelled thyself before the
Lord, and listen and hearken what God will say unto thee. Surely
he will speak peace unto thee, he will say, * Son, be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee,' thy heart is upright with me ; m}"- soul is
set upon thee ; I have already blessed thee, and I will hereafter glorify
thee.

I have read of one who was kept from destroying of himself, — being
much tempted by Satan thereunto, — by remembering that there was a
time when he solemnly set himself in prayer and self-examination
before the Lord, and made a diligent inquiry into his spiritual condi-
tion ; and in the close of that work, it was evidenced to him that his
heart was upright with God, and this kept him from laying of violent
hands upon himself Oh ! a wise and serious observing what that testi-
mony is that God, conscience, and the word gives in upon solemn
prayer and self-examination may beget strong consolation, and support
the soul under the greatest affliction, and strengthen the soul against

• Our hearts are ponderous, Multum trahit de terra, de came multum, therefore we
had need take them when in the best temper, &c.

2 Ps. Ixxxv. 8, 9, n^D3b 131B'* ^N1.

^ A good conscience is mille testes, a thousand witnesses ; therefore make much of its
testimony.

KOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 431

the most violent temptations, and make the soul look and long for the
day of dissolution, as princes do for their day of coronation.

(9.) The ninth means to gain a -well-grounded assurance is, to make
a diligent inquiry whether thou hast those things that do accom-
pany eternal salvation : Heb. vi. 9, ' But, beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you, and things that accompany salvation ;' or as it
is in the Greek, £%o>£va, ' that have salvation,' as it were in the very
bowels of them, that comprehend salvation and that touch upon salva-
tion.

Oh ! beloved, if you have those choice things that accompany salva-
tion, that comprehend salvation, you may be abundantly assured of
your salvation. ,

But you may say to me,

What are those things that accompany salvation ?
To this question I shall give this answer, viz., that there are seven
special things that accompany salvation, and they are these :

1, Knowledge; % Faith; S, Repentance ; 4i, Obedience ; 5, Love ;
6, Prayer ; 7, Perseverance.

(1.) Knowledge is one of those special things that accompanies salva-
tion : John xvii. 3, ' And this is life eternal, that they may know thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' ' Divine
knowledge is the beginning of eternal life ; it is a spark of glory, it
works life in the soul, it is a taste and pledge of eterual life : 1 John
V. 20, ' And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us
an understanding, that we may know him that is true : and we are in
him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ; this is the true God, and
eternal life.' 2 Peter i. 3, ' According as his divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.'* What this knowledge
is that accompanies salvation, I shall shew you anon.

(2.) Secondly, Faith is another of those special things that accom-
panies salvation : 2 Thes. ii. 13, ' But we are bound to give thanks
alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning cliosen you to salvation, through sanctification of
the Spirit, and belief of the truth.' ^ 1 Peter i. 5, ' You who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation.' Heb. x. 39, ' But
we are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul' John iii. 14-16, * And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so mu.st the Son of man be lifted up,
that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.' Ver. 36, ' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.'
Chap. V. 24, ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.' Chap.
VL 40, ' And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I

1 Vide [John] Piscator on the words. [Com. on Bib. 4 vols, folio. 1643. — G.]

* It is called eternal life, Quia radix et origo vitce ; in legendis libris non quceramvs

leientiam, sed saporem. — Bernard. In reading books, let ua not look so much for science

as a slivouriness of the truth upon our own hearts.
' Vide Parous, Estius, and Gerhard on the text.

432 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34!.

will raise him up at the last day.' Ver. 47, ' Verily, verily, I say unto
you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

(3.) Thirdly, Repentance is another of those choice things that accom-
panies salvation : 2 Cor. vii. 10, 'For godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation, not to be repented of; but the soitow of the world worketh
death.' Jer. iv. 14, ' O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that
thou mayest be saved.' Acts xi. 18, 'When they heard these things, they
held their peace, and gloriKed God, saying, Then hath God also to the
Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' Mat. xviii. 3, ' And Jesus said,
Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little chil-
dren,ye shall notenter into the kingdom of heaven.' Acts iii. 19, 'Repent
ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when
the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.'*

(4.) Fourthly, Obedience is another of those precious things that
accompanies salvation. Heb. v. 9, 'And being made perfect,' speaking
of Christ, ' he became the author of eternal salvatiim unto all them that
obey him.' Ps. 1. 23, ' Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me ; and to him
that ordereth his conversation aright, will I declare the salvation of
God.'

(5.) Fifthly, Love is another of those singular things that accom-
panies salvation. 2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto them also that love hia
appearing.'^ James ii. 5, ' Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God
chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the king-
dom, which he hath promised to them that love him ?' 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' It
is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him.' James i. 12, 'Blessed is the man thatendureth temptation,
for when he is tried he shall receive a crown of life, which the Lord hath
promised to them that love him.' Mat. xix. 28, ' And Jesus said unto
them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the
regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,
ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall
receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.' The whole
is as if Christ had said, Whosoever shall shew love to me, this way or
that, in one thing or another, out of respect to my name, to my honour,
mercy shall be his portion here, and glory shall be his portion hereafter.*

1 Mark xvi. 16 ; Acts xvi. 81 ; Eom. x. 9 ; Isa. xlv. 22 ; Philip, ii. 8 ; John.xj. 25, 26 ;
1 John V. 10. All these and many more scriptures speak out the same truth. This
double asseveration or protestation is used only in matters of weight ; and unhappy are
we that we cannot believe without them.

* The very word repent was very displeasing to Luther till his conversion, but after-
ward he took delight in the work, Pcenitcns depcccato dolet et de dolore gandt, to sorrow
for his sin, and then rejoice in his sorrow. Vide B. Down, of Justification, lib. vii. cap. 7.
[That is, George Downaine, Bishop of Derry : Treatise of Justification, 1623. — G.]

3 Dcus nihil coronal nisi dona sua. — Augustine. When God crowneth us, he doth but
crown his own gifts in us.

* The word crotvn notes to us, (1.) the perpetuity of that life the apostle speaks of, for
a crown hath neither beginning nor ending ; (2.) it notes plenty ; the crown fetches a
compass on every side ; (3.) it notes dignity ; (4.) it notes majesty. Eternal lifo is a

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 433

(6.) Sixthly, Prayer is another of those sweet things that accom-
panies salvation. Rom. x. 10, 13, ' For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Acts
iL 21, *And it shall come to pass, that whovsoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.' That is, saith one, he shall be certainly
sealed up to salvation. Or a.s another saith. He that hath this grace of
prayer, it is an evident sign and assurance to him, that he shall be
saved. Therefore to have grace to pray, is a better and a greater mercy
than to have gifts to prophesy. Mat. vii. 22. Praying souls shall find
the gates of heaven open to them, when prophesying souls shall find
them shut against them.

(7.) Seventhly and lastly, 'perseverance is another of those prime
things that accompanies salvation. Mat. x. 22, * And ye shall be hated
of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end, the
same shall be saved." Chap. xxiv. 12, 13, 'And because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold ; but he that endureth unto the
end, the same shall be saved.' Rev. ii. 10, ' Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer ; behold the devil shall cast some of you into
prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto the death, and I willgivethee a crown of life.' Chap.
ilL 5, ' He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment,
and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will con-
fess his name before my Father, and before his angels. To him that
overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne.'*

Thus you see these seven choice things that accompany salvation.
But for your further and fuller edification, satisfaction, confirmation, and
consolation, it will be very necessary that I shew you,

(1.) What knowledge that is that accompanies salvation, that borders,
that touches upon salvation.

(2.) What faith that is that accompanies salvation.

(3.) What repentance that is that accompanies salvation.

(4.) What obedience that is that accompanies salvation.

(5.) What love that is that accompanies salvation.

(6.) What prayer that is that accompanies salvation.

(7.) What perseverance that is that accompanies salvation.

I hope when I have fully opened these precious things to you, that
you will be able to sit down much satisfied and cheered in a holy con-
fidence and blessed assurance of your everlasting well-being.

I shall begin with the first, and shew you what that knowledge is
that accompanies salvation, that comprehends salvation, that touches
upon salvation ; and that I shall open in these following particulars :

(1.) The first property. That knowledge that accompanies salvation
is a working knowledge, an operative knowledge : 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our

coronation day ; it notes all joys, all delights ; in a word, it notes all good, it notes all
glory.

^ The same words you have in Mark xiii. 13.

* A| crown without cares, fears, co-rivals, envy, end. God turns the crown of thorns
into a crown of glory : Pericula non respicit rr.artyr, coronat respicit. — Basil.

VOL. n. E e

434- HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34;

hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ.' Divine light reaches the heart as well as the head.*
The beams of divine light shining in upon the soul through the glorious
face of Christ are very working ; they warm the heart, they affect the
heart, they new-mould the heart. Divine knowledge masters the heart,
it guides the heart, it governs the heart, it sustains the heart, it re-
lieves the heart : Rom. vi. 6, ' We know that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin.'* Divine knowledge puts a man upon crucifying
of sin ; it keeps a man from being a servant, a slave to sin, which no
other knowledge can do. Under all other knowledge, men remain ser-
vants to their lusts, and are taken prisoners by Satan at his will. No
knowledge lifts a man up above his lusts but that which accompanies sal-
vation. The wisest philosophers and the greatest doctors, as Socrates
and others, under all their sublime notions and rare speculations, have
been kept in bondage by their lusts. That knowledge that accompa-
nies salvation is operative knowledge : 1 John ii. 3, 4, 'And hereby we
do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him.'' By keeping his commandments they did
know that they did know him ; that is, they were assured that they did
know him. To know that we know, is to be assured that we know :
So James iii. 17, ' But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocri.sy.' Ver. 13, ' Who is a
wise man, and endued with knowledge amongst you ? Let him shew
out of a good conversation his works, with meekness of .wisdom.'
Divine knowledge fills a man full of spiritual activity ; it will make a
man work as if he would be saved by his works, and yet it will make a
man believe that he is saved only upon the account of free grace, Eph.ii.8.
That knowledge that is not operative and working, will only serve to
light souls to hell, and to double damn all that have it. Mat. xxiii. 14.

(2.) The second property. That knowledge that accompanies salva-
tion is transforming knowledge, it is metaTnorphosing knowledge. It
is knowledge that transforms, that metamorphoses the soul : 2 Cor.
iii. 18, ' But we with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in
a glass, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory.' Divine
light beating on the heart, warms it, and betters it ; it transforms and
changes it, it moulds and fashions it into the very likeness of Christ, fiira-

The naturalists observe,* that the pearl, by the often beating of the
sunbeams upon it, becomes radiant ; so the often beating and shining
of the Sun of righteousness, with his divine beams, upon the saints,
causes them to glister and shine in holiness, righteousness, heavenly-

> Knowledge that swims in the head only, and sinks not down into thn heart, doth no
more good than rain in the middle region, or than the unicorn's horn in the unicorn's
head.

* 1 John iii. 6. Whosoever sinneth (viz. customarily, habitually, delightfully, hath
not seen him, neither known him.

3 He is a liar in a double respect : (1.) in that he saith he hath tliat knowledge which
ho hath not ; (2.) in that he denies that in his works which he aflBrms in his words.

« Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. vs.. cap. 54-66 ; uElian Hist. Anim., ii.— G.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 435

mindedness, humbleness, &c. Divine light casts a general beauty and
glory upon the soul ; it transforms a man more and more into the glo-
rious image of Christ. Look, as the child receiveth from his parents
member for member, limb for limb, or as the paper from the press re-
ceiveth letter for letter, the wax from the seal print for print, or as the
face in the glass answers to the face of the man, or as indenture answers
to indenture, so the beams of divine light and knowledge shining into
the soul, stamp the lively image of Christ upon the soul, and make it
put on the Lord Jesus, and resemble him to the life.' Notional know-
ledge may make a man excellent at praising the glorious and worthy
acts and virtues of Christ ; but that transforming knowledge that accom-
panies salvation, will work a man divinely to imitate the glorious acts
and virtues of Christ : 1 Peter ii. 9, ' But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew
forth the praises of him' (mj a^erag, the virtues of him) * who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light,' When God causes his
divine light, his marvellous light, to shine in upon the soul, then a
Christian will Q^ayyilXriTs) preach forth the virtues of Christ in an
imitable practice, and till then a man, under all other knowledge, will
remain an incarnate devil. When a beam of divine light shined from
heaven upon Paul, ah, how did it change and metamorphose him ! How
did it alter and transform him ! It made his rebellious soul obedient :
Acts ix, 6, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?' ^ God bids him arise
and go into the city, and it should be told him what he should do ; and
he obeys the heavenly vision, chap. xxvi. 19. Divine light makes this
lion a lamb, this persecutor a preacher, this destroyer of the saints a
builder up of the saints, this tormenter a comforter, this monster an
angel, this notorious blasphemer a very great admirer of God, and the
actings of his free grace, as you may see by comparing Acts ix. and
xxvi. together.

So when a spark of this heavenly fire fell upon the heart of Mary-
Magdalene, Luke vii. 36, 37, oh what a change, what a turn doth it
make in her ! Now she loves much, and believes much, and repents
much, and weeps much. Oh what a change did divine light make in
Zaccheus, and in the jailor ! Verily, if thy light, thy knowledge doth
not better thee, if it doth not change and transform thee, if, under all
thy light and knowledge thou remainest as vile and base as ever, thy
light, thy knowledge, thy notions, thy speculations, will be like to fire,
not on the hearth, but in the room, that will bum the house and the
inhabitant too ; it will be like mettle in a blind horse, that serves for
nothing but to break the neck of the rider. That knowledge that is
not a transforming knowledge, will torment a man at last more than
all the devils in hell; it will be a sword to cut him, a rod to lash him,
a serpent to bite him, a scorpion to sting him, and a vulture, a worm
eternally gnawing him.

When Tamberlain was in his wars, one having found and digged

1 A father stands obliged, not only in point of honour, but also by the law of nature,
to receive his child that bears his image ; so doth Christ to receive those that by divine
lio'ht have his image stamped upon them,

"a Acts ix. 3, &c. Divine light lays upon a man felix necessitas, a happy necessity of
obeying God, &c.

436 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34

up a great pot of gold, brought it to him, Tamberlairi asked whether it
had his father's stamp upon it ; but when he saw it had the Roman
stamp, and not his father's, he would not own it. So God at last will
own no knowledge, but that which leaves the stamp of Christ, the
print of Christ, the image of Christ upon the heart, but that which
changes and transforms the soul, that makes a man a, new man,
another man than what he was before divine light shined upon him.

(3.) The third property. That knowledge that accompanies salva-
tion is experimental knowledge. It is knowledge that springs from a
spiritual sense and taste of holy and heavenly things. Cant. i. 2, ' Let
him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than
wine.'' The spouse had experienced the sweetness of Christ's love;
' his loves,' says she, 'is better than wine,' though wine is an excellent
creature, a useful creature, a, comfortable and delightful creature, a
reviving and restorative creature. And this draws out her heart, and
makes her insatiable in longing, and very earnest in coveting, not a kiss,
but kisses, not a little, but much of Christ. Her knowledge being ex-
perimental, she is impatient and restless, till she was drawn into the
nearest and highest communion and fellowship with Christ. So in
ver. 13, 'A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me ; he shall lie
all night betwixt my breasts.' Myrrh is marvellous sweet and savoury,
' so is my well-beloved unto me, says the spouse ;' I have found Jesus
Christ to be marvellous sweet and savoury to my soul. Myrrh is bitter
to the taste, though it be sweet to the smell ; so is my well-beloved
unto me, says the spouse.^ I have found him to be bitter and bloody
to the old man, to the ignoble and worser part of man ; and I have
found him to be sweet and lovely to the new man, to the regenerate
man, to the noble part of man. I have found him to be a bitter and
a bloody enemy to my sins, and at the same time to be a sweet and
precious friend unto my soul.' Myrrh is of a preserving nature, it is
hot and dry in the second degree, as the naturalists observe ; so is my
well-beloved unto me, says the spouse. Oh ! I have found the Lord
Jesus preserving my soul from closing with such and such temptations,
and from falling under the power of such and such corruptions, and
from fainting under such and such afflictions, &c.* Considerable to the
same purpose is that of Philip, i. 9, ' And this I pray, that your love
may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment.*
The Greek word that is here rendered 'judgment,' properly signifies
sense,' not "a corporal, but a spiritual sense and taste, an inward experi-
mental knowledge of holy and heavenly things. The apostle well knew
that all notional and speculative knowledge would leave men on this
side heaven, and therefore he earnestly prays that their knowledge
might be experimental, that being the knowledge that accompanies
salvation, that will give a man at last a possession of salvation. Verily,
that knowledge that is only notional, speculative, and general, that is

' *im. By loves, his (plural) loves, she means all the fruits of his love, viz. righteous*
ness, holiness, joy, peace, assurance, &c.

2 Ps. xlv. 8 ; Prov. vii. 17. So Pliny, lib. xii. c. 15, 16, &c. [Rather c. 83-35.— G.]

3 Every good man hath in him two men, Rom. vii. 15-25 ; Gal. v. 17.

* Austin thanks God that his heart and the temptation did not meet together.
^ aiffHirii, sense. The soul hath her senses as well as the body, and they must be
exercised, Heb. v. 14.

Rom. VIII. 32-04.] heaven on eaeth. 437

gathered out of books, discourses, and other outward advantages, is
such a knowledge that will make men sit down on this side salvation,
as it did Judas, Demas, the scribes and pharisees, &c.' Christ will at
last shut the door of hope, of help, of consolation and salvation, upon
all those that know much of him notionally, but nothing feelingly, as
you may see in his shutting the door of happiness against the foolish
virgins. Mat. xxv. 11, 12, and against those forward professors, preachers,
and workers of miracles, Mat. vii. 22, who had much speculative know-
ledge, but no experimental knowledge ; who had much outward
general knowledge of Christ, but no spiritual inward acquaintance
with Christ.^

A man that hath that experimental knowledge that accompanies
salvation, will from his experience tell you, that sin is the greatest evil
in the world, for he hath found it so, Rom. vii. ; that Christ is the one
thing necessary, for he hath found him so, Ps. xxvii. 4 ; that the favour
of God is better than life, for he hath found it so, Ps. Ixiii. 3 ; that par-
doning mercy only makes a man happy, for he hath found it so, Ps-.
xxxii. 1, 2 ; that a wounded spirit is such a burden that none can bear,
for he hath found it so, Prov. xviii. 14 ; that an humble and a broken
heart is an acceptable sacrifice to God, for he hath found it so; Ps. li. 17 ;
that the promises are precious pearls, for he hath found them so, 2 Peter
i 4 ; that the smiles of God will make up the want of any outward
mercy, for he hath found it so, Ps. iv. 6, 7 ; that communion with God
can only make a heaven in a believer's heart, for he hath found it so,
Ps. xlviii. 10 ; that if the Spirit be pleased and obeyed, he will be a com-
forter to the soul, for he hath found it so, John xvi. 7 ; but if his motions
and laws be slighted and neglected, he will stand far off from the soul,
he will vex and gall the soul. Lam. i. 16, Isa. Ixiii, 10, 11. Well ! souls,
remember this, that knowledge that is not experimental will never turn
to your account, it will only increase your guilt and torment, as it did
the Scribes' and Pharisees'. What advantage had the men of the old
world, by their knowing that there was an ark, or by their clambering
about the ark, when they were shut out and drowned in the flood !
What doth it profit a man to see heaps of jewels and pearls, and moun-
tains of gold and silver, when he is moneyless and penniless ? It is
rather a torment than a comfort to know that there is a pardon for
other malefactors, but none for me ; that there is bread for such and
such hungry souLs, but none for me ; that there is water and wine to
cheer, comfort, and refresh such and such, but not a sip, a drop, for me ;
my bottle is empty, and I may die for thirst, whilst others are drinking
at the fountain-head ; that there is houses and clothes to shelter such
and such from colds, storms, and tempests, whilst I lie naked with
Lazarus at Dives's door, exposed to the misery of all weathers. This
kind of knowledge doth rather torment men than comfort them, it does
but add fuel to the fire, and make their hell the hotter. The knowledge
that devils and apostates have of God, Christ, and the Scriptures, &c.,
being only notional, is so far from being a comfort to them, that it is
^ What is the scholar's knowledge of the strengtl^, riches, glories, and sweetness o^
far dountries, obtained by maps and books, to their knowledge that daily see and enjoy
those things ?

' Surgunt indoeti et caelum rapiunt, et nos cum doctrinis [nosiris, tine corde, ecce ubi volu-
tatnur in came et sanguinel detrudimur in Gehennam. — Augustine. [Conf. b. viii. c. 8. — G.]

438 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. YIII. 32-34.

their greatest torment ; it is a worm that is eternally gnawing them, it
makes them ten thousand times more miserable than otherwise they
would be.^ They are still a-crying out, Oh that our light, our light
were put out ! Oh that our knowledge, our knowledge were extin-
guished ! Oh that we might but change rooms, change places with the
heathens, with the barbarians, that never knew what we have known !
Oh how happy would damned devils and apostates judge themselves in
hell, if they should escape with those dreadful stripes that shall be
eternally laid upon the backs of fools ! Remember, reader, that a little
heart-knowledge, a little experimental knowledge, is of greater efficacy
and worth than the highest notions of the most acutest wits. He doth
well that discourses of Christ, but he doth infinitely better that, by
experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ. It was not Adam's
seeing, but his tasting, of forbidden fruit that made him miserable ; and
it is not your seeing of Christ, but your experimental tasting of Christ,
that will make you truly happy. As no knowledge will save but what
is experimental, so let no knowledge satisfy you but what is experi-
mental, Ps. xxxiv, 8.

(4.) The fourth 'property. That knowledge that accompanies salva-
tion is a heart-affecting knowledge. It affects the heart with Christ
and all spiritual things. Oh, it doth wonderfully endear Christ and the
things of Christ to the soul : Cant. ii. 5, ' Stay me with flagons, and
comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love.' Oh, saith the spouse,
my heart is taken with Christ, it is raised and ravished with his love ;
my soul is burning, my soul is beating towards Christ. Oh, none but
Christ, none but Christ ! I cannot live in myself, I cannot live in my
duties, I cannot live in external privileges, I cannot live in outward
mercies, I cannot live in common providences ; I can live only in Christ,
who is my life, my love, my joy, my crown, my all in alL^ Oh, the
hearing of Christ affects me, the seeing of Christ affects me, the taste of
Christ affects me, the glimmerings of Christ affects me ; the more I
come to know him in his natures, in his names, in his offices, in his
discoveries, in his appearances, in his beauties, the more I find my
heart and affections to prize Christ, to run after Christ, to be affected
with Christ, and to be wonderfully endeared to Christ, Cant. v. 10.
* He is white and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand,' Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26.
The knowledge that she had of Christ did so affect and endear her heart
to Christ, that she cannot but make use of all her rhetoric to set forth
Christ in the most lovely and lively colours. Oal. vi. 14, 'God forbid
that I should glory in anything, save in Christ Jesus.' Oh, God
forbid that my heart should be affected or taken with anything in
comparison of Christ. The more I know him, the more I like him ;
the more I know him, the more I love him ; the more I know him, the
more I desire him ; the more I know him, the more my heart is knit
unto him. His beauty is taking, his love is ravishing, his goodness is
drawing, his manifestations are enticing, and his person is enamouring.
His lovely looks please me, his pleasant voice delights me, his precious
Spirit comforts me, his holy word rules me ; and these things make

' James ii. 19, (p^igirevfi signifies to roar as the sea, and to tremble and shake horribly.
* Plusquam mea, pluiquam meoa, plutquam me. — Bernard. CJol. iii. 3, 4. Ignatius cried
out Amor meus erucifixus, my love, my love ia crucified, &c.

Rom. VIIL 32-34.] heaven on earth. 439

Christ to be a heaven unto me. Oh, but now all that notional know-
ledge, that speculative knowledge, that leaves a man on this side sal-
vation, never affects the heart ; it never draws it, it never endears the
heart to Christ, or to the precious things of Christ. Hence it is that
such men, under all their notions, under all their light and knowledge,
have no affection to Christ, no delight in Christ, no workings of heart
after Christ.

Well, reader ! remember this, if thy knowledge doth not now affect
thy heart, it will at last with a witness afflict thy heart ; if it doth not
now en^Jear Christ to thee, it will at last the more provoke Christ against
thee ; if it doth not make all the things of Christ to be very precious
in thy eyes, it will at last make thee the more vile in Christ's eyes.
A little knowledge that divinely affects the heart, is infinitely better
than a world of that swimming knowledge that swims in the head, but
never sinks down into the heart, to the bettering, to the warming, and
to the affecting of it. Therefore strive not so much to know, as to have
thy heart affected with what thou knowest ; for heart-affecting know-
ledge is the only knowledge that accompanies salvation, that will pos-
sess thee of salvation.

(5.) The fifth property. That knowledge that accompanies salvation,
is a world-despising, a world-crucifying, and a world-contemning
knowledge} It makes a man have low, poor, mean thoughts of the
world ; it makes a man slight it, and trample upon it as a thing of no
value. That divine light that accompanies salvation, makes a man to
look upon the world as mixed, as mutable, as momentary ; it makes a
man look upon the world as a liar, as a deceiver, as a flatterer, as a
murderer, and as a witch that hath bewitched the souls of thousands
to their eternal overthrow, by her golden offers and proffers. Divine
knowledge put Paul upon trampling upon all the bravery and glory of
the world, Philip, iii. 4-9. I shall only transcribe the seventh and
eighth verses, and leave you to turn to the rest. ' But what things were
jgain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung' (ffxi/CaXa, dog's dung or dog's meat, coarse and con-
temptible), ' that I may win Christ.'^ Divine knowledge raises his heart
so high above the world, that he looks upon it with an eye of scorn and
disdain, and makes him count it as an excrement, yea, as the very worst
of excrements, as dogs' dung, as dogs' meat. Of the like import is that
of Heb. X. 34, 'For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took
joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have
in heaven a better and an enduring substance.' Divine knowledge will
make a man rejoice, when his enemies make a bonfire of his goods. This
man hath bills of exchange under God's own hand, to receive a pound
for every penny, a million for every mite, that he loses for him. And
this makes him to rejoice, and to trample upon all the glory of this
world, as one did upon the philosopher's crown, Mat. xix. 27-30.

It was heavenly knowledge that made Moses to disdain and scorn the

• 2 Cor. V. 16. Divine knowledge made the apostle easily overlook all the world, as' a
man do:h easily overlook other things, that looks to find a jewel, a pearl of price, &c.
> 'if xviat [iaKnf, DicuntuT qyuui', ff»ip>itXa, miccB qux canibus projiciuntur.

440 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

pomp and pleasures, the bravery and glory, the riches and advantages
of Egypt and Ethiopia too, as some writers observe, Heb. xL 24-26.'
So when a beam of divine light had shined upon Zaccheus, Oh, how
doth it work him to part with the world, to cast off the world, to slight
it and trample upon it, as a thing of nought ! ' And Zaccheus stood and
said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord ! the half of my goods I give to the
poor ; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation
come to this house, for so much as he also is the son of Abraham,' Luke
xix. 2-10. Before the candle of the Lord was set up in Zaccheus's soul,
he dearly loved the world, he highly prized the world, he eagerly pur-
sued after the world ; he would have it right or wi'ong, his heart was
set upon it, he was resolved to gather riches, though it was out of others'
ruins. Ay, but when once he was divinely enlightened, he throws off
the world, he easily parts with it, he sets very light by it, he looks with
an eye of disdain upon it. His knowledge lifts him up above the
smiles of the world, and above the frowns of the world ; the world is no
longer a snare, a bait, a temptation to him. He knows that it is more
to be a son of Abraham, that is, to be taken into covenant with Abra-
ham, to tread in the steps of Abraham's faith, as children tread in the
steps of their fathers, and to lie and rest in the bosom of Abraham, as
sous do in their fathers' bosoms, than to be rich, great, and honourable
in the world, Rom. iv. 12, 16, and ix. i.^ And this made him shake
hands with the world, and say to it, as he to his idols, ' Get you hence,
for what have I more to do with you '? Isa. xxx. 22 ; Hos. xiv. 8. Verily,
that light, that knowledge, will never lead thee to heaven, it will never
possess thee of salvation, that leaves thee under the power of the world,
that leaves thee in league and friendship with the world, 1 John ii. 15 ;
James iv. 4. If thy knowledge doth not put the world under thy feet,
it will never put a crown of glory upon thy head. The church hath the
moon under her feet. Rev. xii. 1, that is clothed with the sun, and that
hath a crown upon her head.

Ah, knowing souls, knowing souls ! do not deceive yourselves ! Verily,
if you are clothed with the comeliness and righteousness of the sun, which
is Jesus Christ, and have a crown of victory and glory upon your heads,
you will have the moon under your feet, you will tread and trample
upon the trash of this world ; all the riches, glories, and braveries of the
world will be under your feet, in respect of your non-subjection to it and
your holy contempt of it. If thy knowledge doth not enable thee to set
thy feet upon those things that most set their hearts on, thou art undone
for ever ; thy knowledge will be so far from lifting thee up to heaven,
that it will cast thee the lower into hell. Therefore let no knowledge
satisfy thee, but that which lifts thee above the world, but that which
weans thee from the world, but that which makes the world a foot-
stool. This knowledge, this light will at last lead thee into everlasting
light.

(6.) The sixth property. That knowledge that accompanies salvation
is soul-abasing, soul-humbling knowledge. It makes a man very, verj

* Greek, fiiyat ytti/ntac, ' grown a great one.'

' Many Turks and heathens will rise in judgment against those professors that act
not as Zaccheus did.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 441

little and low in his own eyes, as you may see in the most knowing
apostle : Eph. iii. 8, ' Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,
is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the un-
searchable riches of Christ.' Paul's great light makes him very little.
Though he was the greatest apostle, yet he looks upon himself as less
than the least of all saints.'

Of all the evangelists,^ John was most sharp-sighted, most eagle-eyed.
He had the clearest sight of Christ ; he lay most in the bosom of Christ ;
he knew most of the mind of Christ ; he had the fullest manifestations
and revelations of Christ ; and yet oh how little, how low is John in his
own eyes ? John i. 26, 27, ' John answered them saying, I baptize with
water ; but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it
is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I
am not worthy to unloose.' In this phrase John alludes to the custom
of the Hebrews. Those among them which were more noble than
others, had boys who carried their shoes, and untied them when they
laid them by. Oh ! says John, I am a poor, weak, worthless creature ;
I am not worthy to be admitted to the meanest, to the lowest service
under Christ ; I am not worthy to carry his shoes, to unloose his shoes.
After Peter had been in the mount, and instructed and enlightened by
Christ, he cries out, ' Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man,'
(AvrjP djMa^TuXog) : a man, a sinner, a very mixture and compound of dirt
and sin, of vileness and baseness, as you may see in comparing Mat.
xvii. 1-5, Luke. v. 8. Abraham, under all his light and knowledge,
acknowledges himself to be but dust and ashes. Gen. xviii. 27. Jacob,
under all his knowledge, acknowledges himself to be less than the least
of all mercies, Gen. xxxii. 10. David, under all his knowledge, acknow-
ledges himself to be a worm, and no man, Ps. xxii. 6 ; he acknow-
ledges himself to be foolish and ignorant, and as a beast before the
Lord, Ps. Ixxiii. 22. Job, under all his knowledge, acknowledges that
he hath much reason to abhor himself in dust and ashes. Job xlii. 1 -5.
Agur was very good and his knowledge very great ; and yet under all his
knowledge, oh, how did he vilify, yea, nullify himself ! ' Surely,' saith he,
' I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of
a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy,'
Prov. XXX. 1, 4. The evangelical prophet Isaiah, under all his know-
ledge and visions, which were very great and glorious, acknowledges
himself to be a man of unclean lips, and to dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips,' Isa. vi. 1-8. Divine and heavenly knowledge
brings a man near to God ; it gives a man the clearest and fullest sight
of God ; and the nearer any man comes to God, and the clearer visions
he hath of God, the more low and humble will that man lie before God.
None so humble as they that have nearest communion with God. The
angels that are near unto him cover their faces with their wings, in token

• ixaxi'Teri^f, & comparative made a superlative.

' A strange oversight, by vrhich Brooks confounds John the baptist with John the
apostle and evangelist. — Ot.

* John in the Hebrew signifies the grace of God. This barbarian, said the philosopher,
hath (comprised more in three lines, than we have done in all our voluminous discourses,
Mat. xi. 9-11. Christ wonderfully extols John. Says Christ, he is a prophet, yea, and
more than a prophet, yea, a greater is not born of woman. But the greatest wonder of ail
is, that John is so low in his own eyes*

44!2 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

of humility. Divine knowledge makes a man look inwards ; it anatom-
izes a man to himself ; it is a glass that shews a man the spots of his
own soul, and this makes him little and low in his own eyes.^

In the beams of this heavenly light, a Christian comes to see his own
pride, ignorance, impatience, unworthiness, conceitedness, worthlessness,
frowardness and nothingness.* That knowledge that swells thee will
undo thee ; that knowledge that putFs thee will sink thee ; that know-
ledge that makes thee delightful in thy own eyes will make thee des-
picable in God's and good men's eyes : 1 Cor. viii. 1,2,' Knowledge
puffeth up;' that is, notional knowledge, speculative knowledge, know-
ledge that ripens a man for destruction, that will leave him short of
salvation. This knowledge putfs and swells a man, and makes him
think himself something when he is nothing: 'And if any man thinketh
that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to
know,' saith the apostle.^

Will not that philosopher rise in judgment against many of our high-
flown professors, who swell, who look big, and talk big under their
notional knowledge, which was very great: Hoc tantum scio, quod
nihil scio, ' This only do I know, that I know nothing.'* Well ! if that
knowledge thou hast be that knowledge that accompanies salvation, it
is a soul-humbling and a soul-abasing knowledge. If it be otherwise,
then will thy knowledge make thee both a prisoner and a slave to the
devil at once.

(7.) The seventh property. That knowledge that accompanies sal-
vation is an appropriating knowledge, a knowledge that appropriates
and applies spiritual and heavenly benefits to a man's own particular
soul. As you may see in Job, ' my Redeemer lives,' and ' my witness
is in heaven,' and * my record is on high,' Job xix. 25, and xvi. 1 9 ; so
David, ' the Lord is my portion,' Ps. xvi. 5. In Ps. xviii. 2, he useth
this word of propriety eight times together, ' The Lord is my rock, and
Tny fortress, and my deliverer ; m.y God, my strength, in whom I will
trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and tny high tower.'
So the spouse, ' My beloved is mine, and I am his,' Cant. ii. 16; so
Thomas, ' My Lord and my God,' John xx. 28 ; so Paul, ' I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who hath loved me, and gave himself for me,' Gal. ii. 20. Appli-
catory knowledge is the sweetest knowledge ; it revives the heart, it
cheers the spirits, it rejoices the soul, it makes a man go singing to
duties, and go singing to his grave, and singing to heaven ;° whereas
others, though gracious, that want this applicatory knowledge, have
their hearts full of fears, and their lives full of sorrows, and so go sigh-
ing and mourning to heaven.^

1 The light that the moon borrows from the sun discovers her own spots, and makes
them the more conspicuous.

2 When a beam of divine light had shined upon Augustine, he cried out, Teneo in
memoria, scribo in charta, sed non habeo in vita.

'' Many in these days are like the Chinese, who use to say, that they only did see with
two eyes, all others but with one. [Chinese is spelled Chineses. — G.]

* Socrates in Plato tliroughout. — G.

* This is the pith and power of heavenly knowledge, to appropriate Christ to a man's self.
•> Those that have a blemish in their eye think the sky to be ever cloudy ; and nothing

is more common to weak spirits, than to be criticising and contending, &c.

Rom, VIII. 32-84.] heaven on earth. 443

But lest any precious soul should turn this truth into a sword to cut
and wound himself, let me desire him to remember, that every believer
that hath such knowledge that accompanies salvation, hath. not this
applicatory knowledge, that makes so much for the soul's consolation,
and that doth accompany some men's salvation, 1 say not all men's sal-
vation. If thou findest thy knowledge to be such a knowledge as is
before described in the six former particulars, though thou hast not at-
tained to this applicatory knowledge, yet hast thou attained to that
knowledge that accompanies salvation, and that will, my soul for thine,
give thee a possession of salvation. This applicatory knowledge that
accompanies salvation is only to be found in such eminent saints that
are high in their communion with God, and that have attained some
considerable assurance of their interest in God.' Many men's salvation
is accompanied with an applicatory knowledge, but all men's salvation
is not accompanied with an applicatory knowledge of man's particular
interest in Christ, and those blessed favours and benefits that comes by
him. Thy soul may be safe, and thy salvation may be sure, though
thou hast not attained unto this appropriating knowledge, but thy life
cannot be comfortable without this appropriating knowledge ; there-
fore, if thou hast it not, labour for it as for life. It is a pearl of price,
and if thou findest it, it will make thy soul amends for all thy digging,
seeking, working, sweating, weeping, &c.^

(8.) Tlte eighth property. That knowledge that accompanies salva-
tion is accompanied and attended with these things :

[1.] The first attenduTit. That knowledge that accompanies salva-
tion is attended with holy endeavours, and with Iieavenly desires,
thirstings, and pantings after a further knowledge of Godj, after
dearer visions of God. Pro v. xv. 14, ' The heart of him that hath
understanding seeketh knowledge : but the mouth of fools feedeth on
fooUshness.' The Hebrew word that is here rendered 'seeketh' \pp2>\,
is in pihil, and signifies an earnest and diligent seeking; to seek as an
hungry man seeks for meat, or as a covetous man for gold, the more he
hath, the more he desires ; or as a condemned man seeks for his pardon,
or as the diseased man seeks for his cure. The word in the text is
from a root [K'pn] that signifies to seek studiously, laboriously, indus-
triously ; to seek by suing, praying, inquiring, and walking up and
down, that we may find what we seek : so in that Prov. xviii. 1 5,
* The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge, and the ear of the wise
seeketh knowledge' [c^pnn].^ A man that divinely knows, will set his
heart and his ear, his inward and outward man, to know more and more.
Divine knowledge is marvellous sweet, pleasing, comforting, satisfying,
refreshing, strenghening, and supporting; and souls that have found
the sweetness and usefulness of it, cannot but look and long, breathe
and pant after more and more of it. The new-born babe doth not more
naturally and more earnestly long for the breasts, than a soul that hath
tasted that the Lord is gracious doth long for further and further tastes
of God, 1 Peter il 2, 3. David, under all his knowledge, cries out, ' I
' It is commonly said of knowledge, non hahetinimieum prceter iffnorantiam, that it hath
not a greater enemy than ignorance, &c.

" A man doth not attain to health by reading Galen's or Hippocrates's aphorisms, hut
by the practical application of them to remove his diseases. You know how to apply it.
' Seeketh as men do for hid treasure.

^^l HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34!.

am a stranger in the land, hide not thy commandments from me. Open
mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law,' Ps. cxix.
18, 19. Job, under all his knowledge, which was very great, cries out,
' That which I see not, teach thou me : if I have done iniquity, I will
do no more,' Job xxxiv. 32.

[2.] The second attendant. A second thing that attends and ac-
companies that knowledge that accompanies salvation, is holy endear-
vours to edify others, to instruct others, to enlighten and inform others
in the knowledge of splHtual and heavenly things. Heavenly light
cannot be hid under a bushel. You may as easily hinder the sun from
shining, as you may hinder a gracious soul from diffusing and spread-
ing abroad that knowledge and light that God hath given him.' Divine
light in the soul is like a light in a bright lantern, that shines forth
every way, or like a light in a room, or on a beacon, that gives light
to others. A Christian that divinely knows, is like the lamp in the
story, that was always burning and shining, and never went out. So in
Gen. xviii. 17, 19, 'And the Lord said. Shall I hide from Abraham
that which I do ; for I know him, that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord,
to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham
that which he hath spoken of him.' He that communicates his know-
ledge to others, shall be both of God's court and counsel ; he shall lie
in the bosom of God, he shall know the secrets of God. Prov. xv. 7,
' The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish
doth not so/ The Hebrew word that is here rendered, ' disperse,' is a
metaphor taken from seedsmen scattering abroad their seed in the fur-
rows of the field. Heavenly knowledge is very spreading and diffusive ;
it is like the sun : the sun casteth his beams upward and downward,
upon good and upon bad ; so divine light in a gracious soul will break
forth for the advantage and profit of friends and enemies, of those that
be in a state' of nature, and of those that be in a state df grace.^ Acts
iv. 18-20, ' And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at
all, nor teach, in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the
things that we have seen and heard.' The bee doth store her hive out
of all sorts of flowers for the common benefit ; so a heavenly Christian
sucks sweetness out of every mercy and every duty, out of every pro-
vidence and out of every ordinance, out of every promise and out of every
privilege, that he may give out the more sweetness to others.^ LUmod
lelammed, ' we therefore learn, that we may teach,' is a jwoverb among
the Rabbins. ' And I do therefore lay in, and lay up,' saith the hea-
then, * that I may draw forth again, and lay out fw the good of many,'
This heathen [Socrates, &c.,] will rise in judgment against those that

• The way to get more knowledge, is to communicate that we have, according to that,
habenti dabitur. Thus did Philip of Bethsaida, John i. 45 ; thus did the woman of
Samaria, John iv. 28, 29 ; thus did the spouse. Cant. v. 10-16; thus did that seraphical
preacher St Paul, Acts xxvi. 29.

' Augustine accounted nothing his own that he did not communicate to others.

' Opposition is the black angel that dogs the gospel at the heels. Divine knowledge
is like new wine; it must have vent ; it is heavenly fire that will break forth, Jer. v. 14,
and XX. 2.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. ^4)5

monopolise knowledge to themselves, that imprison their light with-
in their own breasts, lest others should outshine and darken them.

Sjnesius speaks of some, who, having a treasure of rare abilities in
themselves, would as soon part with their hearts as with their concep-
tions.' Verily, such men are far off from that knowledge that accom-
panies salvation ; for that knowledge will make a man willing to spend
and be spent for the edification, consolation, and salvation of others, 2
Cor. vi. 10; Gal. iv. 19. Prov. x. 21, 'The lips of the righteous feed
many.'

[3.] The third attendant. A third thing that attends and accom-
panies that knowledge that accompanies salvation, is holy zeal, courage,
and resolution for God. Divine knowledge makes a man as bold as a
lion, Prov. xxviii. 1. Dan. xi. 32, ' And such as do wickedly against the
covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries : but the people that do know
their God shall be strong, and do exploits.' So Prov. xxiv. 5, ' A wise
man is strong ; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength,' or, * He
strengtheneth might,' as it is in the Hebrew.^ Divine light makes a
man full of mettle for God ; it makes the soul divinely fearless and care-
less. Joshua xxiv. 15, 'Choose ye whom you will serve, I and my
household will serve the Lord.' Come what will of it, we will never
change our Master, nor quit his service.

Those beams of light that shined in upon Chrysostom, did so heat and
warm his heart, that he stoutly tells Eudoxia the empress, that for her
covetousness she would be called a second Jezebel ; whereupon she sent
him a threatening message, to which he returned this answer, ' Go tell
her,' nil nisi peccatum timeo, ' I fear nothing but sin.''

A prophetical man, in the ecclesiastical history, went to the pillars a
little before an earthquake, and bid them stand fast, for they should
shortly be shaken. Ah, Christians ! there is an earthquake a-coming,
and therefore as you would stand fast, as you would not have any earth-
quakes to make your hearts quake, get this zeal and courage that attends
divine knowledge, and then you shall in the midst of all earthquakes be
as mount Zion that cannot be removed, Ps. cxxv. 1, 2.

They that write the story of the travels of the apostles, report that
Simon Zelotes preached here in England. Ah, England, England ! if
ever thou needest some zealots, it is now. Oh how secure, how dull,
how drowsy, how sleepy in the midst of dangers art thou ! For this
and other of thy abominations, I desire my soul may weep in secret.*

[4.] The fourth attendant. The fourth and last thing that attends
or accompanies that knowledge that accompanies salvation is, faiih
and confidence in God.^ Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will

1 Some such there he in these days. [Synesius, Opera 1612, folio. — G.]

* tiya, in strength, n3 fOKD

^ [See Index under Chrysostom for other references to this — G.] The heavenly light
and knowledge that the prophets and apostles had, made them very zealous and coura-
geous for their God, in the face of all difiSculties and deaths, aa might be shewed in
very many scriptures.

* Epiphanius saith that Elijah sucked fire out of his mother's breasts. There are very
few such Elijahs in these days.

"Knowledge and faith are twins, they live, and lodge, and act together ; they are two
lovers, that may be distinguished one from another, but they cannot be separated one
from another.

446 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34.

put their trust in thee ; for thou, Lord, hast not forgotten them that
seek thee.' 2 Tim. i. 12, ' For the which cause I also suffer these things,
nevertheless I am not ashamed ; for I know whom I have believed, and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day.' I shall not enlarge upon this branch,
because I shall speak at large concerning faith in the next particular.

And thus I have shewed you from the Scriptures what that knowledge
is that accompanies salvation.

Now, the second thing that I am to shew you is, what that faith is
that accompanies salvation.^ I have formerly shewed you that faith
doth accompany salvation, but now I will shew you what faith that is
that doth accompany salvation ; and that I shall do, by divine assist-
ance, thus :

First, That faith that accompanies salvation, that comprehends sal-
vation, that will possess a man of salvation, is known,

(1.) By the objects about which it is exercised. And,

(2.) By the properties of it.

First, By the objects about which it is exercised. Now the objects
of faith are these.

(1.) The first object of faith. First, The person of Christ is the
object of faith.2 It is Christ in the promises that faith deals with.
The promise is but the shell, Christ is the kernel ; the promise is but
the casket, Christ is the jewel in it; the promise is but the field,
Christ is the treasure that is hid in that field; the promise is a ring of
gold, and Christ is the pearl in that ring; and upon this sparkling,
shining pearl, faith delights most to look. Cant. iii. 4, ' It was but a
little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth.
I held him, and I would not let him go, until I had brought him into
my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.'
So Cant. vii. 5, ' The king is held in the galleries.' Faith hath two
hands, and with both she lays earnest and fast hold on King Jesus.
Christ's beauty and glory is very taking and drawing ; faith cannot see
it, but it will lay hold on it. Christ is the principal object' about which
faith is exercised, for the obtaining of righteousness and everlasting hap-
piness. Acts xvi. 30, 31, * And the jailor said. Sirs, what must I do to be
saved ? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved.' Christ is in a world of scriptures held forth to be the
object about- which faith is most conversant; and the more faith is
exercised upon the person of Christ, the more it buds and blossoms,
like Aaron's rod. Faith looks upon him as the express image and
character of his Father ; faith beholds him as the chiefest of ten
thousand ; faith sees him to be the most glorious object in all the
world.*

^ Fides est interdum id quod credimus. interdum id quo credimus. — Augustine.

* Christ, as lledeemer, is the immediate object of faith, and God is the ultimate ; for
•we believe in God through Christ, Rom. vi. 11 ; 1 Peter i. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 4. Faith's
motto is, Nolo benedictionem tuam sed te.

» Not but that the Father is also the object of believers' faith, John xiv. 1. Isa. Ixiii.
16, 16, with many other scriptures. But Christ is the object held forth by the Father
for our faitli to close with, in respect of our justification and salvation. God is oljectitm
ultimum fidei, the ultimate or highest object of faith; and Christ oljectum medialum, the
mediate object thereof.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 44:7

(2.) The second object of faith. Secondly, The second object that
faith is exercised about is the righteousness of Jesus Christ : Philip, iii.
9, ' I desire to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith.' Paul would not be found in a
legal righteousness, for he knew all his legal righteousness was but as
' filthy rags,' Isa. liv. 6. All his legal righteousness, sewed together,
would but make up a coat of patches, a beggar's coat, that is good for
nothing but to be cast away ; therefore he desired to be found in the
righteousness of Christ by faith. He knew that Christ's righteousness
was a pure righteousness, a spotless righteousness, a matchless right-
eousness, a complete righteousness, a perfect righteousness, an absolute
righteousness, a glorious righteousness. Faith loves to fix her eye upon
that rich and royal robe, that blameless and spotless righteousness of
Christ, wherewith the soul stands gloriously clothed before God, as being
all fair as being without spot or wrinkle in divine account.' Oh, it is
the actmgs of faith upon this blessed object, this glorious righteousness
of Christ, that makes a man familiar and bold with God, that makes a
man active and resolute for God, that strengthens a man against temp-
tations, that supports a man under afflictions, that makes a man long
for the day of his dissolution, that makes him prefer his coffin above a
prince's crown, the day of his death above the day of his birth ; that
makes him triumph over sin and Satan, hell and wrath. Adam's right-
eousness was but the righteousness of a creature, but the righteousness
about which faith is exercised is the righteousness of a God,^ Rom. iii.
21, and x. 3. Adam's righteousness was a mutable righteousness, a
righteousness that might be sinned away ; but the righteousness that a
believer's faith is exercised about is an everlasting righteousness, a
righteousness that cannot be sinned away, 2 Cor. v. 21 : Prov. viii. 18.
mide Dan. ix. 24, ' Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and
upon thy holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of
sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint
the most holy ;' Ps. cxix. 1 42, ' Thy righteousness is an everlasflng
righteousness, and thy law is the truth.' The righteousness of Adam
was a righteousness subject to shaking, and we know that Satan did
shake all his righteousness about his ears, as I may say. Oh but that
glorious righteousness about which faith is conversant is an unshaken
righteousness, a righteousness that cannot be shaken : Ps. xxxvi. 6,
'Thy righteousness is like the great mountains,' or rather, as it is
in the Hebrew, ' Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God.'
What more stable than a mountain ! and what mountain so stable as
the mountain of God ! The mountains cannot be shaken, no more can
that glorious righteousness of Christ, about which a believer's faith is
exercised. Adam's righteousness was a low righteousness, a righteous-

1 Col. ii. 10 ; Cant. iv. 7 : Rev. xiv. 5 ; Eph. v. 27.

* The righteousness of angela is but the righteousness of creatures, but the righteous-
ness that the saints are clothed with is the very righteousness of God ; and in this respect
the.meanest saint is more excellent and glorious than the most glorious angel.

3 7N"mnD. The Hebrew useth to note excellent things, by adding the name of God ;
as cedars of God, Ps. Ixxx. 10 ; rivers of God, Pa. Ixv. 19 ; wrestlings of God, Gen. xxx.
8 ; harps of God, Rev. xv. 2,

44-8 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

ness within his own reach, and a righteousness within Satan's reach ;
it was not so high, but Adam could lay his hand upon it, as I may say ;
it was not so high, but Satan could reach to the top of it, yea, to the
over-topping of it, as we have all found by woful experience. Oh, but
that righteousness that faith is conversant about, is a righteousness of
such a height, as that neither Satan nor the world can reach to it :
Ps. Ixxi. 15, 16, 19, ' My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and
thy salvation all the day ; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will
go in the strength of the Lord God : I will make mention of thy right-
eousness, even of thine only. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very
high, who hath done great things : O God, who is like unto thee ?'
This glorious righteousness of Christ, about which faith is busied, is
called the righteousness of faith, because faith apprehends it, and
applies it, and feeds upon it, and delights in it, Rom. iii. 28. Rom. iv.
13, ' For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not
to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteous-
ness of faith.' Chap. ix. 30, ' What shall we say then ? That the Gen-
tiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness,
even the righteousness which is of faith.' The righteousness of Christ
about which faith is employed, is called the righteousness of faith,
because faith puts on this righteousness upon the soul. Faith wraps
the soul up in this righteousness of Christ, and so justifieth it before
God instrumentally.' The actings of faith on this glorious righteous-
ness doth most strengthen the soul : Isa. xlv. 24, ' Surely fehall one say,
In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.' The actings of faith
on this blessed righteousness, doth most glad and rejoice the soul : Isa.
Ixi. 10, 'I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in
my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, he hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness.' The actings of faith upon
this complete righteousness of Christ, renders souls just and righteous,
pure and holy, in the account of God : Rom. x. 4, ' For Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth.' Christ
fulfils the law for believers, and they by believing do fulfil the law in
hiiti ; and so Christ by doing, and they by believing in him that doth
it, do fulfil the law, and so are reputed fair and spotless, complete and
perfect, before the throne of God. Faith's putting this righteousness
on the soul, brings down blessings upon the soul. When Jacob had
put on his elder brother's garment, he carried the blessing away. The
actings of faith upon this peerless righteousness of Christ, brings down
the blessing of peace, and the blessing of joy, and the blessing of remis-
sion of sins ; and, in a word, all other blessings that contributes to the
making us blessed here and happy hereafter, &c.

(3.) The third object of faith. Thirdly, The third object that faith
is exercised about is, tJie precious promises, which are a Christian's

• Rom X. 6, but the righteousness which is of faith, i. e. which is apprehended by faith,
&c. Mark, faith is only the instrument ; it cannot be the substance of that rigiiteous-
ness, as it were, whereby we are justified and saved, (1.) because it is imperfect ; (2.) the
acts of faith are transient ; (3.) then should men have something within them whereof to
boast ; (4.) faith is a part of inherent holiness ; (6.) then some men should be justified
more, and some less, according to the different measures of faith in them, Gen. zxvii. 15 ;
Rom. V. 1 ; 1 Peter i. 8 ; Acts x. 43.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 449

magna charta} As every precious stone hath an egregious ^ virtue in
it, so hath every promise. The promises are a precious book, every
leaf drops myrrh and mercy ; and upon these precious promises, precious
faith looks and lives. From these breasts faith sucks comfort and
sweetness. Ps, cxix. 49, 50, ' Remember thy word (that is, thy pro-
mise) unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me.'
So in Ps. xxvii. 13, 'I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living ;' Heb. xi. 13, ' These
all died in faith (or according to faith), not having received the pro-
mises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them' (or, as the Greek hath \i, saluted them by faith ; they
kissed the promises, and kissed Christ in the promises^), ' and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.' It would be an
endless thing to shew you how the faith of the patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, and other saints have been acted and exercised upon promises
of sanctification, upon promises of justification, upon promises of salva-
tion, upon promises of glorification, upon promises of protection, upon
promises for direction, upon promises for supportation, &c. Look, as
the lamp lives upon the oil, and the child upon the breasts, so doth faith
upon the promises.

For the further advantage and comfort of your souls in eyeing the
promises, let me give you these two sweet hints :

First, In your looking upon the promises, mind most, eye most,
spiritual promises, absolute promises, viz., those and such like that you
see in the margin.* These spiritual and absolute promises are of
nearest and greatest concernment to you ; these carry in them most of
the heart of Christ, the love of Christ, the good-will of Christ ; these
are of greatest use to satisfy you, and to settle you when you are
wavering ; to support you when you are falling ; to reduce you when
you are wandering ; to comfort you when you are fainting ; to counsel
you when you are staggering, &c. Therefore make these your choicest
and your chiefest companions, especially when it is night within your
souls, when you are sensible of much sin and but a little grace, of much
corruption but of little consolation, of much deadness but of little quick-
ness, of much hardness but of little tenderness, of many fears and but
a little faith. The Jews under the law had more temporal promises
than spiritual, but we under the gospel have far more spiritual promises
than temporal ; therefore sit down at this fire, and be warmed ; drink
of these springs, and be satisfied; taste of these delicates, and be cheered.
Let the eye of faith be cast upon all the promises, but fixed upon spiritual
promises, upon absolute promises ; they will have the greatest influence
upon the heart to holiness, and to prepare it for everlasting happiness.**

' 2 Peter i. 4. Mark, the whole word of God is the object of faith ; but the promises,
more especially, are the prime object about which faith is most conversant.

2 Spelled ' egregious ;' meaning ' peculiar.' — G.

' xara -rirrn, t. e. persevering in faith, oKr^rara/nvoi. Some think that it is an allusion
to the custom of saluting one another, by embracing or laying hold of each other.

* Jer. xxxii. 40, 41 ; Ezek. xi. 19, 20 ; xxxvi. 25-27 ; Isa. xlii. 1 ; Ezek. xx. 41-43 ;
Ps. xci. 15 ; Isa. Ixv. 24 ; Jer. xxxiii. 3 ; Isa. xxxii. 15 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 30, 31, with many
otheifs of the like import.

6 Spiritual and absolute promises are the most precious mines to enrich you ; in them
you will find the greatest pearls of price.

VOL. II. F f

450 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

Look not only upon some of the riches, the jewels, the pearls, that be
wrapped up in the promises, but enlarge and expatiate your under-
standings to an effectual contemplation of all those riches and treasures
that God hath laid up in the promises. Cast not the eye of your faith
only upon one beam of the sun, but endeavour to see all the beams of
the sun ; look not upon one branch of the tree of life, but upon every
branch of that tree ; look not upon one bunch of the grapes of Canaan,
but look upon the whole land.' As understanding heirs, when they
come to read over their evidences and writings, they will see what they
have in houses, what in goods, what in lands, what in money, what in
jewels, what at home, what abroad ; they will not sit down and say,
Well ! we find in our evidences, that such and such land is ours, and
look no further ; no, no, they will look all over, and take exact notice
of everything ; they will say, We have so much land, and so much
money, &c. O beloved, there is much marrow and fatness, there is
much honey and sweetness, much grace and glory wrapped up in the
promises. Oh press them, and oppress^ them till you have got forth all
the riches and sweetness that is in them.

Ah, Christians ! did you this, God would be more honoured, the
promises more prized, your graces more strengthened, your fears more
abated, your hearts more warmed and engaged, and your lives more re-
gulated, and Satan more easily and frequently vanquished. And so
much for this third object, about which faith is exercised.

(4.) Fourthly, The fourth object of faith. The fourth object and last
that I shall mention that faith is set and fixed upon is, that glory,
blessedness, and life, which God hath laid up for them, that love him?
The things of eternity are the greatest things, they are the most excellent
things. They are most excellent in their natures, in their causes, in their
operations, in their effects, in their ends ; and upon these faith look s and lives.
Faith realiseth things; it makes absent things present. 'Faith is the sub-
stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,' Heb. xi. 1.*
Faith makes absent glory present, absent riches present, absent pleasures
present, absent favours present. Faith brings an invisible God, and sets
him before the soul. Moses by faith saw him that was invisible. Faith
brings down the recompence of reward, and sets it really though spiritually
before the soul. Faith sets divine favour before the soul. It sets peace, it
sets pardon of sin, it sets the righteousness of Christ, it sets the joy of
heaven, it sets salvation, before the soul ; it makes all these things very
near and obvious to the soul : ' Faith is the evidence of things not seen.'*
Faith makes invisible things visible, absent things present, things that are
afar off to be very near unto the soul, by convincing demonstrations, by
arguments and reasons drawn from the word, as the Greek word signi-
fies : 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18, ' For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things

* Haman took notice, yea, and would have his friends take notice, of all his greatness,
honours, and riches, Esther v. 10-12; and will not you stir up j'our hearts to see all
those riches and pleasures that be in precious promises ? ^ Qu. • expiess'? — Ed.

" 2 Tim. iv. 8. Faith ante-dates glory.

* vTirraris, the substance, t. e. that which gives a substantial being to the things of
etfrnal life. Faith alters the tenses ; it puts the future into the present, Pa. Ix. 6 ;
Heb. xii. 2. ' ixtyx'!) the index, or clear conviction by disputation.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 451

which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, but
the things which are not seen are eternal/* Faith trades in invisible
things, in eternal things. Its eye is always upwards, like the fish called
by Galen uraiioscopos,^ that hath but one eye^ and yet looks continually
up to heaven.^ Faith enters within the veil, and fixes her eye upon
those glorious things of eternity, that are so many that they exceed
number, so great that they exceed measure, so precious that they are
above all estimation. Says faith, The spangled firmament is but the
footstool of my Father's house ; and if the footstool, the outside, be so
glorious, oh how glorious is his throne ! Verily, in heaven there is
that life that cannot be expressed, that light that cannot be compre-
hended, that joy that cannot be fathomed, that sweetness that cannot
be dissipated, that feast that cannot be consumed ; and upon these
pearls of glory I look and live, says faith.

And thus I have shewed you the choice and precious objects about
which that faith is exercised that accompanies salvation.

I shall now in the next place shew you the properties of that faith
that accompanies salvation, and they are these that follow.

[1.] TJie first property of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it puts forth itself into vital operation.* It makes a man full of
life and activity for God ; it will make a man diligent and venturous in
the work and ways of God. Faith is a most active quality in itself, and
so it makes a Christian most active. It is a doing thing, and it makes
the person doing. Faith will not suffer the soul to be idle. Faith is
like the virtuous woman in the last of the Proverbs, who puts her hand
to every work, who would suffer none of her handmaids to be idle. Faith
puts the soul upon grieving for sin, upon combating with sin, upon
weeping over sin, upon trembling at the occasions of sin, upon resisting
temptations that lead to sin, upon fighting it out to the death with sin,
Zech. xii. 10. Faith puts a man upon walking with God, upon waiting
on God, upon working for God, upon wrestling with God, upon bearing
for God, and upon parting wijth anything for God." Faith makes reli-
gious duties to be easy to the soul, to be delightful to the soul, to be
profitable to the soul. Faith makes the soul to be serious and con-
scientious in doing, to be careful and faithful in doing, to be delightful
and cheerful in doing, to be diligent and faithful in doing.^ That faith
that is not a working faith is no faith ; that faith that is not a working
faith is a dead faith ; that faith that is not a working faith is a deluding
faith ; that faith that is not a working faith is a worthless faith ; that
faith that is not a working faith will leave a man short of heaven and
happiness in the latter day. Faith that accompanies salvation is better
at doing than at thinking, at obeying than at disputing, at walking than
at talking : Titus iii. 8, ' This is a faithful saying ; and these things I

^ trKoiroviTiui, to look with a diligent eye, as men do at the marlc whereat they shoot.

* ai/^avefKOTas, OS before. — G.

3 Heb. vi. 19 ; Rom. viii. 18 ; Heb. x. 34 ; Acts vii. 55, 56. An adopted heir to a
crown cannot but have his heart at court ; his mind and thoughts will be upon his future
glorious condition : he will be still a-creating ideas and images of it.

* Quid est igitur fides ? Omnino fideliter hominem Christo credere, i. e. Fidelem esse, hoc
estfideliter Dei mandata servare, saith one.

8' The 11th of the Hebrews is a full proof of these things ; Gal. ii. 20.
® James ii. 17, to the end. Faith looks to precepts as well a.s to promises : Ps. cxix.
66, ' Teach me good judgment and knowledge ; for 1 have believed thy commandments.'

452 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works/' Faith will make a man endea-
vour to be good, yea, to be best, at ever3rthing he undertakes. It is
not leaves but fruit, not .words but works, that God expects ; and if we
cross his expectation, we frustrate ^ur own salvation, we further our own
condemnation. Faith makes the soul much in doing, abundant in
working, and that partly by persuading the soul that all its works, all
its duties and services, shall be owned and accepted of God, as in Isa.
Ivi. 7, ' Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them
joyful in my house of prayer : their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices
shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for mine house shall be called an
house of prayer for all people.' Faith assures the soul that every prayer,
every sigh, every groan, every tear is accepted. And this makes the
soul pray much, and sigh much, and mourn much.

Again, faith spreads the promises of divine assistance before the soul.
Oh ! says faith, here, soul, is assistance suitable to the work required.
And this makes a man work, as for life ; it makes a man work and
sweat, and sweat and work.

Again, faith sets the recompence, the reward, before the soul, Heb.
xi. 25, 26. Oh ! says faith, look here, soul, here is a great reward for a
little work ; here is great wages for weak and imperfect services ; here
is an infinite reward for a finite work. Work, yea, work hard, says
faith, O believing soul, for thy actions in passing pass not away ;
every good work is as a grain of seed for eternal life. There is a resurrec-
tion of works as well as of persons, and in that day wicked men shall
see that it is not a vain thing to serve God ; they shall see the most
doing souls to be the most shining souls, to he the most advanced and
rewarded. Oh the sight of this crown, of this recompence, makes souls
to abound in the work of the Lord, they knowing that their labour is
not in vain in the Lord,^ 1 Cor. xv. 58.

Again, faith draws from Christ^s fulness; it sucks virtue and strength
from Christ's breasts. Faith looks upon Christ as a head, and so draws
from him ; it looks upon Christ as a husband, and so draws from him ;
it looks upon him as a fountain, and so draws from him ; it looks upon
him as a sea, as an ocean of goodness, and so draws from him ; it looks
upon him as a father, Col. i. 1.9, and so draws from him ; it looks upon
him as a friend, and so draws from him, John i. 16. And this divine
power and strength sets the soul a- working hard for God ; it makes the
soul full of motion, full of action. In a word, faith is such a working
grace as sets all other ^aces a-working. Faith bath an influence upon
every grace ; it is like a silver thread that runs through a chain of pearl ;
it puts strength and vivacity into all other virtues. Love touched by a
hand of faith flames forth ; hope fed at faith's table grows strong, and
casts anchor within the veil, Acts v. and xvi. ; Rom. xv. 13. Joy,
courage, and zeal being smiled upon by faith, is made invincible and

^ ^j«vr/^*<r/. The word signifies to bend their wits, and beat their brains, to maintain
good works, Isa. ixv. 24 ; Gen. iv. 4 ; 2 Peter iii. 11 ; Cant. ii. 14. Luther prefers tlie
nieanef^t work of a country Christian or poor maid above all the victories and triumphs
of Alexander and of Julius CsBsar, Mat. xxvii. 66; Isa. xli. 10, 11 ; Heb. xiii. 5, 6;
Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, &c.

* One good work of a Christian is more precioaa than heaven and earth, saith Luther,
Rev. xiv. 13.

Rom. VIII. 32^34.] heaven on eaeth. 453

unconquerable, &c. Look, what oil is to the wheels, what weights are
to the clock, what wings are to the bird, what sails are to the ship, that
faitli is to all religious duties and services, except it be winter with the
soul.

And thus you see, that that faith that accompanies salvation is a
working faith, a lively faith, and not such a dead faith as most please
and deceive themselves with for ever.

[2.] The second property of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it is of a growing and increasing nnture. It is like the waters
of the sanctuary, that rise higher and higher, as Ezekiel speaks. It is
like a tender plant, that naturally grows higher and higher ; it is like a
grain of mustard-seed, which though it be the least of all seeds, yet by
a divine power it grows up beyond all human expectations. Mat. xiii. 32.
Faith is imperfect, as all other graces are, but yet it grows and increases
gradually •} Rom. i. 17, ' For therein is the righteousness of God re-
vealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by
faith.' As a gracious soul is still a-adding knowledge to knowledge^
love to love, fear to fear, zeal to zeal, so he is a-adding faith to faith. A
gracious soul knows, that if he be rich in faith he cannot be poor in
other graces ; he knows the growth of faith will be as * the former and
the latter rain' to all other graces ; he knows that there is no way to
outgrow his fears but by growing in faith ; he knows that all the plea-
sant fruits of paradise^ viz., joy, comfort, and peace, flourishes as faith
flourishes ; he knows that he hath much work upon his hands, that he
hath many things to do, many temptations to withstand, many mercies
to improve, many burdens to bear, many corruptions to conquer, many
duties to perform. And this makes the believing soul thus to reason
with God : Ah, Lord ! whatever I am weak in, let me be strong in faith ^
whatever dies, let faith live ; whatever decays, let faith flourish.'^ Lord,
let me be low in repute, low in parts, low in estate, so thou wilt make
me high in faith. Lord ! let me be poor in anything, poor in every-
thing, so thou wilt make me rich in faith. Lord ! let the eye of faith
be more opened, let the eye of faith be more quick-sighted, let the eye
of faith be the more raised, and it shall be enough to me, though Joseph
be not, though Benjamin be not.

It was the glory of the Thessalonians, that ' their faith grew exceed-
ingly,' 2 Thess. i. 3. A growth in faith will render a man glorious in
life, lovely in death, and twice blessed in the morning of the resurrec-
tion.* So will not a growth in honours, a growth in riches, a growth
in notions, a growth in opinions. That faith that accompanies salva-
tion unites the soul to Christ, and keeps the soul up in communion
with Christ. And from that union and communion that the soul hath
with Christ, flows such a divine power and virtue, that causes faith to
grow.*

1 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, Ps. xcii. 12-14. Now, the palm tree
never loseth his leaf or fruit, saith Pliny.

2 An old man being once asked if he grew in grace, answered, Yea, doubtless I be-
lieve I do ; for God hath said in his word that we shall flourish and bring forth fruit in
oldi age. Ille non est bonus, qui non vull esse melior.

3 That is but a wooden leg that grows not, no more is] that any more but a wooden
faith, a counterfeit faith, that grows not.

* The union between Christ and the saints is the nearest and the highest union; and

454 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIIL 32-34.

Yet that no weak believer may be stumbled, or sadded, let them
remember,

(1.) That though that faith that accompanies salvation be a growing
faith, yet there are some certain seasons and cases wherein a man may
decay in his faith, and wherein he may not have the exercise and the
actings of his faith. This blessed babe of grace may be cast into a
deep slumber ; this heavenly pearl may be so buried under the thick
clay of this world, and under the ashes of corruption and temptation, as
that for a time it may neither stir, nor grow, as might be shewn in Abra-
ham, David, Solomon, Peter, and others.

(2.) Secondly, Remember this, that the strongest faith at times is
subject to shakings, as the strongest men are to faintings, as the stout-
est ships are to tossings,, as the wisest men are to doubtings, as the
brightest stars are to twinklings, &c. Therefore, if at certain times
thou shouldst not be sensible of the growth of thy faith, yet do not con-
clude that thou hast no faith. Faith may be in the habit when it ia
not in the act. There may be life in the root of the tree, when there
is neither leaves, blossoms, nor fruit upon the tree ; the life that is in
the root will shew itself at the spring, and so will the habits of faith break
forth into acts, when the Sun of righteousness shall shine forth, and
make it a pleasant spring to thy soul. And thus much for this second
particular.

[3.] The third property of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it makes those things that are great and glorious in the world's
account to he very little and low in the eyes of the believer. Faith
makes a believer to live in the land of promise as in a strange country,
Heb. XL 9. It is nothing to live as a stranger in a strange land, but to
\\ye as a stranger in the land of promise, this is the excellency and glory
of faith.

Faith will make a man set his feet where other men sets their hearts.
Faith looks with an eye of scorn and disdain upon the things of this
world. What, says faith, are earthly treasures to the treasures of
heaven ? What are stones to silver, dross to gold, darkness to light,
hell to heaven 1 Mat. vi. 19, 20. No more, says faith, are all the trea-
sures, pleasures, and delights of this world, to the light of thy counte-
nance, to the joy of thy Spirit, to the influences of thy grace, Ps. iv. 6, 7.
I see nothing, says David, in this wide world, only * thy commandments
are exceeding broad.' Faith makes David account his crown nothing,
his treasures nothing^, his victories nothing, his attendants nothintj, &c.
Faith will make a man write nothing upon the best of worldly things ;
it will make a man trample upon the pearls of this world, as upon dross
and dung, Heb. xi. 24-26. Faith deadens a man's heart to the things
of this world : ' I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified
to me,' says Paul, Philip, iii. 8 ; Gal. vi. 14. This world, says faith, is
not my house, my habitation, my home; I look for a better country, for
a better city, for a better home, 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. He that is adopted heir
to a crown, a kingdom, looks with an eye of scorn and disdain upon
everything below a kingdom, below a crown. Faith tells the soul that

80 it advantages their graces, and advances them to a higher degree of happiness than
any other creatures whatsoever, John xvii. Christ would have his people one with him
and the Father, though not essentially, nor personally, yet really and spiritually.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 455

it hath a crown, a kingdom in reversion ; and this makes the soul to set
light by the things of this world, 2 Tim. iv. 8. Faith raises and sets
the soul high. ' And hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,' saith the apostle, Eph.
ii. 6. Faith makes a man live high : ' Our conversation is in heaven,'
Philip, iii. 20; and the liigher any man lives, the less, the lower will
the things of this world be in his eye. The fancy of Lucian is very
pleasant, who placeth Charon on the top of an high hill, viewing all
the affairs of men, and looking on their greatest, richest, and most
glorious cities, as little birds' nests. Faith sets the soul upon the hill of
God, the mountain of God, that is, a high mountain ; and from thence,
faith gives the soul a sight, a prospect of all things here below. And,
ah ! how like birds' nests do all the riches, braveries, and glories of
this world look, and appear to them, that faith hath set upon God's high
hill. Faith having set Luther upon this high hill, he protests that
God should not put him off with these poor low things. Faith set
Moses high, it set him among invisibles ; and that made him look upon
all the treasures, pleasures, riches, and glories of Egypt, as littLs birds'
nests, as mole-hills, as dross and dung, as things that were too little and
too low for him to set his heart upon. Verily, when once faith hath given
a man a sight, a prospect of heaven, all things on earth will be looked
upon as little and low. And so much for this third property of
faith.

[4.] The fourth property of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it purifies the heart, it is a heart-purifying faith. ' Purifying
their hearts by faith,' Acts xv. 9. Faith hath two hands, one to lay hold
on Christ, and another to sweep the heart, which is Christ's house. Faith
knows that Christ is of a dove-like nature ; he loves to lie clean and
sweet. Faith hath a neat housewife's hand, as well as an eagle's eye.
Faith is as good at purging out of sin, as it is at discovering of sin.
There is a cleansing quality in faith, as well as a healing quality in
faith. Sound faith will purge the soul from the love of sin, from a
delight in sin, and from the reign and dominion of sin, Ezek. xvi. ' Sin
shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but
under grace,' Rom. vi. 14, 21. Now faith purges and cleanseth the
heart from sin, sometimes by pressing and putting God to make good
the promises of sanctification. Faith takes that promise in Jer. xxxiii. 8,
'And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have
sinned against me;'' and that promise in Micah vii. 19, * He will turn
again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will subdue our iniquities,
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the bottom of the sea ;' and that
promise in Ps. Ixv. 3, * Iniquities prevail against me ; as for our trans-
gressions, thou shalt purge them away ;' and that promise in Isa. i. 25,
' And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross,
and take away all thy tin;' and spreads them before the Lord, and will
never leave urging and pressing, seeking and suing, till God makes
them good. Faith makes the soul divinely impudent, divinely shame-
less. Lord ! says faith, are not these thine own words? Hast thou said it,

^ D^mntSI, I will purify them, is an allusion to the purificfjtions prescribed in the
law for the cleansing of polluted persons, till which purifications were performed they
could not be admitted into the camp or congregation.

456 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

and shall it not come to pass ? Art thou not a faithful God ? Is not
thine honour engaged to make good the promises that thou hast made ?
Arise, O God, and let my sins be scattered ; turn thy hand upon me,
and let my sins be purged. And thus faith purifies the heart.

Again, sometimes faith purifies the heart from sin, by engaging
against sin in Christ's strength, as David engaged against Goliath,
1 Sam. xvii. 47, not in his own strength, but in the strength and name
of the Lord of hosts. Faith leads the soul directly to God, and en-
gages God against sin, so as that the combat, by the wisdom of faith,
is changed, and made now rather between God and sin than between
sin and the soul ; and so sin comes to fall before the power and glorious
presence of God. That is a choice word, Ps. Ixi. 2, ' From the ends of
the earth will I cry to thee, when my heart is overwhelmed : lead me'
to the rock that is higher than I.' Look, as a child that is set upon
by one that is stronger than he, cries out to his father to help him, to
stand by him, and to engage for him against his enemy ; so faith, being
sensible of its own weakness and inability to get the victory over sin,
cries out to Christ, and engages Christ, who is stronger than the strong
man, and so Christ binds the strong man, and casts him out. Faith
tells the soul, that all purposes, resolutions, and endeavours, without
Christ be engaged, wall never set the soul above its sins, they will
never purify the heart from sin ; therefore faith engages Christ, and
casts the main of the work upon Christ, and so it purges the soul from
sin. Luther reports of Staupicius, a German divine, that he acknow-
ledged, before he came to understand the free and powerful grace of
Christ, that he vowed and resolved an hundred times against some
particular sin, and could never get power over it ; he could never get
his heart purified from it, till he came to see that he trusted too mach
to his own resolutions, and too little to Jesus Christ ; but when his faith
had engaged Christ against his sin, he had the victory.

Again, faith purifies the heart from sin, by the application of Christ's
blood. Faith makes a plaster of Christ's blessed blood, and lays it on
upon the soul's sores, and so cures it. Faith makes a heavenly vomit
of this blessed blood, and gives it to the soul, and so makes it cast up
that poison that it hath drunk in.^ Faith tells the soul, that it is not
all the tears in the world, nor all the water in the sea, that can wash
away the uncleanness of the soul ; it is only the blood of Christ that
can make a blackmoor white ; it is only the blood of Christ that can
cure a leprous Naaman, that can cure a leprous soul. This fountain of
blood, says faith, is the only fountain for Judah and Jerusalem to wash
themselves, to wash their hearts from all uncleanness and filthiness of
flesh and spirit, Zech. xiii. 1. Those spots a Christian finds in his own
heart, can only be washed out in the blood of the Lamb, by a hand of
faith.

Again, faith purifieth the soul from sin, by putting the soul upon
heart-purifying ordinances, and by mixing and mingling itself with
ordinances : ' The word profited them not,' saith the apostle, ' because
it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it,' Heb. iv. 2. Faith
is such an excellent ingredient, that it makes all potions work for the

> It is the excellency of faitb, that it can turn the blood of Christ both into food and
into physic.

Rom. VIII. 82-34.] heaven on earth. 457

good of the soul, for the purifying of the soul, and for the bettering of
the soul; and no potion, no means will profit the soul, if this heavenly
ingredient be not mixed with it. Now, faith puts a m&n upon praying,
upon hearing, upon the fellowship of the saints, upon public duties,
upon family duties, and upon closet duties ; and faith in these comes
and joins with the soul, and mixes herself with these soul-purifying
ordinances, and so makes them effectual for the purifying of the soul
more and more from all filthiness and uncleanness.^ Faith puts out all
her virtue and efficacy in ordinances, to the purging of souls from their
dross and tin ; not that faith in this life shall wholly purify the soul
from the being of sin, or from the motions or operations of sin, no f
for then we should have our heaven in this world, and then we might
bid ordinances adieu; but that faith that accompanies salvation doth
naturally purify and cleanse the heart from the remainders of sin by
degrees. Sound faith is still a-making the heart more and more neat
and clean, that the king of glory may delight in his habitation, that he
may not remove his court, but may abide with the soul for ever. And
thus you see that that faith that accompanies salvation is a heart-
purifying faith.

(5.) The fifth propeHy of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it is soul-softening, it is soul-mollifying. Oh nothing breaks the
heart of a sinner like faith. Peter believes soundly, and weeps bitterly,
Mat. xxvi 75 ; Mary Magdalene believes much, and weeps much, Luke
vii. 44. Faith sets a wounded Christ, a bruised Christ, a despised
Christ, a pierced Christ, a bleeding Christ before the soul, and this
makes the soul sit down and weep bitterly : ' I will pour upon the
house of David, the Spirit of grace and of supplications ; and they shall
look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him '
(all gospel-mourning flows from believing), ' as one moumeth for his
only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born,' Zech. xii. 10, &c. Oh ! the sight of those wounds that
their sins have made, will wound their hearts through and through ;
it will make them lament over Christ with a bitter lamentation. They
say nothing will dissolve the adamant but the blood of a goat. Ah !
nothing will kindly, sweetly, and effectually break the hardened heart
of a sinner, but faith's beholding the blood of Christ trickling down his
sides. Pliny reports of a serpent, that when it stings, it fetches all the
blood out of the body ;' but it was never heard that ever any sweat
blood but Christ, and the very thoughts of this makes the believing
soul to sit down sweating and weeping. That Christ should love man
when he was most unlovely, that man's extreme misery should but
inflame Christ's bowels of love and mercy, this melts the believing soul.
That Christ should leave the eternal bosom of his Father ; that he that
was equal with God should come in the form of a servant ; that he that
■was clothed with glory, and bom a king, should be wrapped in rags ;
that he that the heaven of heavens could not contain should be cradled
in a manger ; that from his cradle to his cross, his whole life should be

I Ab Christ came and joined himself to his disciples.

' Sin is like the wild fig tree, or ivy in the wall, cut off stump, body, bough, and
branches, yet some sprigs or other will sprout out again, till the wall be plucked down,
&c. * Nat. Hist., sub serpenie, &c. — G.

458 HEAVEN ON EAETH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

a life of sorrows and sufferings ; that the judge of all flesh should be
condemned ; that the Lord of life should be put to death ; that he that
was his Father's joy should in anguish of spirit cry out, ' My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me V that that head that was crowned
with honour should be crowned with thorns ; that those eyes that were
as a flame of fire, that were clearer than the sun, should be closed up
by the darkness of death ; that those ears which were wont to hear nothing
but hallelujahs should hear nothing but blasphemies ; that that face
that was white and ruddy should be spit upon by the beastly Jews ;
that that tongue that spake as never man spake, yea, as never angel
spake, should be accused of blasphemy; that those hands which swayed
both a golden sceptre and an iron rod, and those feet that were as fine
brass, should be nailed to the cross ; and all this for man's transgression,
for man's rebellion : Oh ! the sight of these things, the believing of
these things, the acting of faith on these things, makes a gracious soul
to break and bleed, to sigh and groan, to mourn and lament. That
faith that accompanies salvation is more or less a heart-breaking, a
heart-melting faith.

(6.) The sixth property of that faith that accompanies salvation is
this : it is a world-conquering faith, it is a world-overcoming faith.
1 John V. 4, ' For whatsoever is bom of God overcometh the world ;
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.'
Faith overcomes the frowning world, the fawning world, the tempting
world, and the persecuting world, and that it doth thus :

(1.) Faith, by uniting the soul to Christ, doth interest the soul in all
the victories and conquests of Christ, and so makes the soul a con-
queror with Christ : John xvi. 33, * These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace ; in the world ye shall have tribu-
lation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' We have to
deal but with a conquered enemy ; our Jesus hath given the world a
mortal wound ; we have nothing to do but to set our feet upon a
subdued enemy, and to sing it out with the apostle, ' Over all these
we are more than conquerors,' Rom. viii. 37.

(2.) Faith overcomes the world by out-bidding sights ; faith out-bids
the world, and so makes the soul victorious. The world set honours,
pleasures, &c., before Moses, but his faith out-bid the world. It pre-
sents the recompence of reward, it brings down all the glory, pleasures,
and treasures of heaven, of that other world, and sets them before the
soul ; and so it overtops and overc(ynes the world by out-bidding it. So
Christ, 'for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
the shame,' Heb. xii. 2.

(3.) Faith overcomes the world by telling the soul that all things are
its own. Says faith, This God is thy God, this Christ is thy Christ,
this righteousness is thy righteousness, this promise is thy promise, this
crown is thy crown, this glory is thy glory, these treasures are thy
treasures, these pleasures are thy pleasures. * All things are yours,'
saith the apostle, ' things present are yours, and things to come are
yours,' 1 Cor. iii. 22. Thus the faith of the martyrs acted, and so made
them victorious over a tempting and a persecuting world, Heb. xi. 35.

(4.) Faith overcomes the world by valuing the things of this world
as they are. Most men overvalue them, they put too great a price

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 459

upon them, they make the world a god, and then they cry, ' Great is
Diana of the Ephesians.' Oh but faith now turns the inside of all
creatures outward, faith presents all worldly things as impotent, as
mixed, as mutable, as momentary to the soul, and so makes the soul
victorious. Faith makes a man to sde the prickles that be in every
rose, the thorns that be in every crown, the scabs that be under every
gown, the poison that is in the golden cup, the snare that is in the
delicate dish, the spot that is in the shining pearl, and so makes a
Christian count and call all these things, as indeed they are, ' vanity of
vanities,' and so the believing soul slights the world, and tramples upon
it as dung and dross. And lastly, •

(5.) Faith overcomes the world, by presenting Jesus Christ to the
soul as a most excellent, glorious, and comprehensive good, as such a
good that comprehends all good.^ Christ is that one good that compre-
hends all good, that one thing that comprehends all things. All the
beauties, all the rarities, all the excellencies, all the riches, all the
glories of all created creatures, are comprehended in Christ. As the
. worth and value of many pieces of silver is connected in one piece of
gold, or in one precious jewel, so all the whole volume of perfections
which is spread through heaven and earth is epitomised in Christ ; and
the sight and sense of this makes the soul to triumph over the world.
Faith presents more excellencies and better excellencies in Christ than
can be lost for Christ, and so it makes the soul a conqueror.

I have been long upon these things, because they are of much weight
and worth : I shall be the briefer in what follows. But before I leave
this pomt, I shall give you these hints :

In the first place, I shall give you some hints concerning strong
faith.

In the second place, I shall give you some hints concerning weak
faith.

My design in both is, to keep precious souls from mistaking and
fainting. Concerning strong faith, I shall give you these short hints :

(1.) The first hint. Strong faith will make a soul resolute in resist-
ing, and happy in conquering the strongest temptations, Heb. xi. 3, &c.,
Dan. vi. 10, &c.

(2.) The second hint. It will make a man own God, and cleave to
God, and hang upon God, in the face of the greatest difficulties and
dangers, Rom. iv, 18, &c., Ps. xliv. 16-18. So Job will trust in God
though he slay him. Job xiii. 15, 16.

(3.) The third hint. It will enable men to prefer Christ's cross be-
fore the world's crown, to prefer tortures before deliverance, Heb. xi.
3, &c.

(4.) The fourth hint. Strong faith will make a soul divinely fear-
less, and divinely careless ; it will make a man live as the child lives
in the family, without fear or care, Ps. xxiii. 4. Dan. iii. 16, 'We are
not careful to answer thee, O king ; our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us, and he will deliver us,' &c. Micah vii. 7-9.

(5.) The fifth hint. Strong faith will make a man cleave to the
promise when providence runs cross to the promise, Num. x. 29,

1 Omnia vita infidelium peceatum est, et nihil bonum tine aummo bono. — Augustine. There
is no good without Christ, the chiefest good.

460 HEAVEN ON EAKTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34;.

2 Chron. xx. 9-11. Ps. Ix. 6, 7, 'God hath spoken in his holiness,' saith
David ; * I will rejoice : I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley
of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine,' &c.^ Though
David was in his banishment, yet his faith accounts all his as if he had
all in possession, and that because God had spoken in his holiness. His
faith hangs upon the promise, though present providences did run cross
to the promise, &c.

(6.) The sixth hint. Strong faith will make men comply with those
commands that do most cross them in their most desirable comforts,
Heb. xi. 8, 9, and x. 31< ; Gen. xxii.

Now, O precious souls ! you are not to argue against your own souls,
that surely you have no faith, because that your faith doth not lead you
forth to such and such noble things. Thou mayest have true faith,
though thou hast not so great faith as others of the Lord's worthies
have had.^

The philosophers say that there are eight degrees of heat : we dis-
cern three. Now, if a man should define heat only by the highest de-
gree, then all other degrees will be cast out from being heat. So if a
man should define faith only by the highest degrees and operations of
it, then that will be denied from being faith that indeed is faith, as I
shall presently shew.

In the second place, I shall give you some hints concerning weak
faith.

(1.) The first hint A weak faith doth as much justify and as much
unite a man to Christ as a strong faith. It gives a man as much pro-
priety and interest in Christ as the strongest faith in the world. The
babe hath as much interest in the father as he that is of grown years.
A weak faith gives a man as good a title to Christ, and all the precious
things of eternity, as the strongest faith in the world. A weak hand
may receive a pearl as well as the strong hand of a giant.' Faith is a
receiving of Christ, John i. 12.

(2.) The second hint. The promises of eternal happiness and bless-
edness are not made over to the strength of faith, but to the truth of
faith ; not to the degrees of faith, but to the reality of faith. He that
believes shall be saved, though he hath not such a strength of faith as
to stop the mouth of lions, as to work miracles, as to remove mountains,
as to subdue kingdoms, as to quench the violence of fire, as to resist
strong temptations, as to rejoice under great persecutions, Heb. xi. 33-35.
No man that is saved is saved upon the account of the strength of his
faith, but upon the account of the truth of his faith. In the great day
Christ will not bring balances to weigh men's graces, but a touch-stone
to try their graces ; he will not look so much at the strength as at the
truth of their graces.

(3.) The third hint. The weakest faith shall grow stronger and
stronger. A weak believer shall go on from faith to faith. Christ is
the finisher as well as the author af our faith^ Rom. i. 17, Heb. xii. 2.
Christ will nurse up this blessed babe, and will not suffer it to be

> So Joshua and Caleb, Num. xiv. 22-24.

» As it is dangerous to make false definitions of sin, so it is dangerous to make false
definitions of grace.
» But a babe cannot improve bis interest, as be that is of grown years, 2 Peter i. 1.

Rom. VIIL 32-34.] heaven on earth. 461

strangled in its infancy. He that hath begun a good work will perfect it,
Philip, i. 6, 1 Peter i. 5. Christ is as well bound to look after our graces
as he is to look after our souls. Grace is Christ's work, therefore it must
prosper in his hand ; he is the great builder and repairer of our graces ;
he will turn thy spark into a flame, thy drop into an ocean, thy penny
into a pound, thy mite into a million. Mat. xii. 20, and xiii. 32. There-
fore do not sit down discouraged because thy faith is weak. That which
is sowed in weakness, shall rise in power. Thy weak faith shall have a
glorious resurrection. Christ will not suffer such a pearl of price to be
buried under a clod of earth.

(4.) The fourth hint. A little faith is faith, as a spark of fire is fire,
a drop of water is water, a little star is a star, a little pearl is a pearl.
Verily, thy little faith is a jewel that God doth highly prize and value;
and thy little faith will make thee put a higher price upon Christ and
grace than upon all the world. Mat. xviii. 10, 1 Peter ii. 7. Well ! re-
member this, that the least measure of true faith will bring thee to sal-
vation, and possess thee of salvation, as well as the greatest measure.
A little faith accompanies salvation as well as a great faith, a weak faith
as well as a strong. Therefore do not say, precious soul, that thou
hast not that faith that accompanies salvation, because thou hast not
such a strong faith, or such and such degrees of faith. A great faith
will yield a man a heaven here, a little faith will peld him a heaven
hereafter.

The third thing that I am to shew you is, what repentance that is
that accompanies salvation. That repentance doth accompany salva-
tion I have formerly shewed. Now, I shall manifest in the following
particulars what repentance that is that doth accompany salvation, that
comprehends salvation, that borders upon salvation.

(1.) The first property. First, That repentance that accompanies
salvation, is a general, a universal change of the whole man; a change
in every part, though it be hut in part. That repentance that accom-
panies salvation changes both heart and life, word and work ; it makes
an Ethiopian an Israelite, a leper an angel. ' Wash ye, make you
clean ;' there is the change of your hearts. ' Put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well,' Isa. i.
16-18 ; there is the change of their practices.

So the prophet Ezekiel, ' Cast away all your transgressions,' saith he,
'whereby you have transgressed ;' there is the change of life: 'And
make you a new heart, and a new spirit,' Ezek. xviii. 30-32 ; there is
the change of the heart.^ That repentance that accompanies salvation
works a change in the whole man ; in all the qualities of the inward
man, and in all the actions of the outward man. The understanding is
turned from darkness to light ; the will from a sinful servility to a holy
liberty ; the affections from disorder into order ; the heart from hard-
ness into softness. So in the outward man, the wanton eye is turned
into an eye of chastity ; the uncircumcised ear is turned into an obedient
ear ; the hands of bribery are turned into hands of liberality ; and the

' True repentance is a thorough change both of the mind and manners. Optima et
optissima poenitentia est nova vita, saith Luther. It is said, that upon one's preaching,
Kepent, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, there followed almost everywhere,
Delictorum pcenitentia, morum reformatio, omnium contritio, cessabant blaspkemice, alece ludi.

462 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

wandering feet of vanity are turned into ways of purity. And verily,
that repentance that changes a man in some part, but not in every part,
that only makes a man a Herod, or an Agrippa, a half Christian, an
almost Christian, that repentance will never bring down heaven into a
man's bosom here, nor never bring a man up to heaven hereafter. That
repentance that accompanies salvation makes a man all glorious within,
and his raiment to be of embroidered gold, Ps. xlv. 13 ; it stamps the
image of God both upon the inward and the outward man ; it makes
the heart like the ark, all gold within ; and it makes the life like the
sun, all glorious without.

(2.) The second property. Secondly, That repentance that accom-
panies salvation is a total turning as well as an universal turning ;
a turning from all sin, without any reservation or exception. ' I hate
and abhor every false way, but thy law do I love,' Ps. cxix. 163. So
in Ezek. xviii. 30, ' Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every
one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn your-
selves from all your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.'
So in Ezek. xxxiii. 11. As Noah's flood drowned his nearest and his
dearest friends, so the flood of penitent tears drowns men's nearest and
their dearest lusts. Be they Isaacs or Benjamins, be they right eyes
or right hands, repentance that accompanies salvation puts all to the
sword ; it spares neither father nor mother, neither Agag nor Achan ;
it casts off all the rags of old Adam ; it leaves not a horn nor a hoof
behind ; it throws down every stone of the old building ; it scrapes off
all leviathan's scales ; it washeth away all leprous spots.* Ezek. xiv. 6,
' Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Re-
pent, and turn yourselves from your idols ; and turn away your faces
from all your abominations.' Sin is a turning the back upon God, and
the face towards hell ; but repentance is a turning the back upon sin,
and a setting the face towards God. He that looks upon Jerusalem and
upon Babylon with a leering eye at the same time ; he that looks upon
God, and at the same time looks upon any sin with a leering eye,^ hath
not yet reached unto this repentance that accompanies salvation ; his
repentance and profession cannot secure him from double damnation.
He that serves God in some things, and his lusts in other things, says
to God as David said to Mephibosheth concerning his lands, ' Thou
and Ziba divide the lands,' 1 Sam. xix. 2.9 ; so thou and Satan divide
my soul, my heart between you. Ah ! doth not such a soul deserve a
double hell ? Christ takes every sin at a penitent man's hands, as Ctesar
did his wounds from him of whom he merited better usage, with, xa; gu
fiou rv/.vov, ' And thou, my son.' What, thou wound me ! what, thou stab
me ! that shouldst venture thy own blood to save mine V

There are no wounds that are so grievous and terrible to Christ, as
those that he receives in the house of his friends, and this sets the peni-
tent man's heart and hand against^ everything that makes against

^ True hatred ia ili vk yinfi, to the whole kind. — Aristotle. And God has engaged him-
self to cleanse the hearts of his people from all, and to set their souls against all, Jer.
xxxiii. 8 ; Ezek, xxxvi 25, 29, 33 ; 1 John i. 9. Repentance for sin is nothing worth with-
out repentance from sin. * Thus did Herod and Judas, to their eternal ruin, James ii. 20.

' One stab at the heart kills, one hole in the ship sinks her, one act of treason makes
a traitor ; so one sin not forsaken, not turned from, will undo a soul for ever. Sin ever
ends tragically, and this puts the penitent in battle array against every sin.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 463

Christ. A true penitent looks upon every sin as poison, as the vomit of
a dog, as the mire of the street, as the menstruous cloth, which of all
things in the law was most unclean, defiling, and polluting. Pliny saith
that the very trees, with touching of it, would become barren.^ And
his looking thus upon every sin, turns his heart against every sin, and
makes him not only to refrain from sin, but to forsake it, and to loathe
it more than hell.

(3.) The third property. Thirdly, That repentance that accompanies
salvation is not only a turning from all sin, but it is also a turning
unto Ood.^ It is not only a ceasing from doing evil, but it is also a
learning to do well ; it is not only a turning from darkness, but it is also
a turning to light; as the apostle speaks, Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God.' So in Isa. Iv. 7, * Let the wicked forsake his ways,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the
Lord,' &c. It is not enough for the man of iniquity to forsake his evil
way, but he must also return unto the Lord ; he must subject his heart
to the power of divine grace, and his life to the will and word of God.
As negative goodness can never satisfy a gracious soul, so negative
goodness can never save a sinful soul. It is not enough that thou art
thus and thus bad, but thou must be thus and thus good, or thou art
undone for ever: Ezek. xviii. 21, 'But if the wicked will turn from all
his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that
which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.' Nega-
tive righteousness and holiness is no righteousness, no holiness, in the
account of God. It was not the pharisee's negative righteousness, nor
his comparative goodness, that could prevent his being rejected of God,
his being shut out of heaven, his burning in hell, Luke xviii. 5, Mat.
XX. 13, 14. It is not enough that the tree bears no ill fruit, but it must
bring forth good fruit, else it must be cut down and cast into the fire.
That tree that is not for fruit is for the fire. 'Every tree that brings
not forth good fruit,' says Christ, 'is hewn down, and cast into the fire,'
Mat. vii. 19. Men that content themselves with negative righteousness,
shall find at last heaven-gates bolted upon them with a double bolt.
All that negative righteousness and holiness can do, is to help a man to
* one of the best chambers and easiest beds in hell. That repentance
that accompanies salvation brings the heart and life not only off from
sin, but on to God; it makes a man not only cease from walking in the
ways of death, but it makes him walk in the ways of life : ' They do no
iniquity, they walk in his ways,' Ps. cxix. 3.^

(4.) The fourth property. Fourthly, That repentance that accom-
panies salvation, strikes most effectually and particularly against that
sin or sins, that the sinner was most apt and prone to before his con-
version. The hand of repentance is most dgainst that sin, it is most

* Tsa. XXX. 22. Nihil in lege menstruosd immundius Jerome. [Pliny, Nat. Hist,, lib.

xxviii. cap. 23 — G.]

« The Hebrew word for repentance is from 31^, ahoh, which signifies to return,
implying a going back from what a man had done. It notes a returning or converting
from one thing to anotlier, as from sin to God, from evil to good, from hell to heaven.

3 rie that holds not wholly with Christ, doth very shamefully neglect Christ, Aut
totum mecum tene, aut tolum omitte. — Gregory Nazianzen. And therefore if Christ
trample upon them at last, it is just.

464) HEAVEN ON EAETH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

upon that sin that the soul hath looked most with a leering eye upon.'
The chief and principal sius that Israel was guilty of, was idolatry and
sinful compliance. Now, when God works kindly upon them, they put
the hand of repentance upon those particular sins, as you may see :
Isa, xxvii. 9, ' By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged,
and this is all the fruit to take away his sin : when he maketh all the
stones of the altar as chalk stones, that are beaten in sunder, the groves
and images shall not stand up.'* Here you see, when God appears and
acts graciously for and towards his people, they put the hand of repent-
ance upon their groves and images ; these must down, these must no
longer stand. The groves and the images shall not stand up, they shall
be utterly abandoned and destroyed, demolished, and abolished. So in
Isa. XXX. 22, ' Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold : thou shalt cast
them away as a menstruous cloth ; thou shalt say unto it. Get thee
hence.' Here you see the hand of repentance is against their idols of
silver and gold ; and not only against their idols, b\it also against what-
soever had any relation to them. Now they shew nothing but a
detestation of their idols, and a holy indignation against them : ' Get
you hence.'^ The hand of repentance makes a divorce between them
and their idols, between their souls and their especial sins. Now they
are as much in hating, abhorring, abominating, and contemning their
idols and images, as they were formerly in adoring, worshipping, and
honouring of them. So Mary Magdalene, Luke vii., walks quite cross
and contrary to her former self, her sinful self, she crosses the flesh in
those very things wherein formerly she did gratify the flesh. So the
penitent jailor. Acts xvi., washes those very wounds that his own bloody
hands had made. He acts in ways of mercy, quite contrary to his former
cruelty. At first there was none so fierce, so furious, so cruel, so
bloody, so inhuman in his carriage to the apostles ; at last, none so
gentle, so soft, so sweet, so courteous, so affectionate to them. The
same you may see in Zaccheus, Luke xix. 8, &c. In Paul, Acts ix.,
and in Manasseh, in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6,

(5.) The fifth property. Fifthly, That repentance that accompanies
salvation, is very large and coTnprehensive. It comprehends and takes
in these following particulars, besides those already named. •

[1 .] Jt takes in a sight and sense of sin. Men must first see their
sins, they must be sensible of their sins, before they can repent of their
sins. Ephraim had first a sight of his sin, and then he repents and
turns from his sin. ' After I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh,'
Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. A man first sees himself out of the way, before he
returns into the way. Till he sees that he is out of the way, he walks
still on, but when he perceives that he is out of the way, then he begins
to make inquiry after the right way. So when the sinner comes to

• Augustine, a great sinner, wrote twelve books of repentance, and walked most cross
to the particular sins he had most lived in.

' This was the great sin of Israel, but after their return out of captivity, they never
set up idols more, but were wonderful zealous to keep their temple from such defilements,
both in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and of the Romans, and do account them as a
menstruous cloth, to this \ery day.

' The Jews were willing in the Romans' time, rather [to] die than to suffer the eagle,
the imperial arms, to be set upon the temple.

Rom. VIII. 32-34<.] heaven on earth. 465

see his- way to be a way of death, then he cries out, *0h lead me in the
way of life, lead me in the way everlasting,' Ps. cxxxix. 24.^

[2.] For I shall but touch upon these things. That repentance that
accompanies salvation, doth include not only a sight and sense of sin,
but also confession and aclcnowledgntient of sin.^ Ps. li., and Ps.
xxxii. 3-5, ' While I kept close my sin, my bones consumed ; but I
said, I will confess my sin, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin ;'
Job xxxiii. 21-27. The promise of remission is made to confession.
1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins.' So Pro v. xxviii. 13, 'He that hideth his sin, shall not
prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh it, shall find mercy.' If
we confess our sins sincerely, seriously, humbly, cordially, pardon
attends us. Homo agnoscit, deus ignoscit. Confession of sin must be
joined with confusion of sin, or all is lost, God is lost, Christ is lost,
heaven lost, and the soul lost for ever.^

The true penitent can say, with Vivaldus, ' I hide not my sins, but I
shew them ; I wipe them not away, but I sprinkle them ; I do not ex-
cuse them, but I accuse them.' Peccata enim non nocent, si non
placent, ' My sins hurt me not, if I like them not ;' the beginning of
my salvation is the knowledge of my transgression.

[3.] That repentance that accompanies salvation doth include, not
only confession of sin, but also contrition for sin ; Ps. li. 4, 1 Sam. vii.
2, Zech. xii. 10, 11, Ezra x. 1, 2, 2 Cor. vii. 11, &c.* It breaks the heart
with sighs, sobs, and groans, for that a loving Father is offended, a
blessed Saviour crucified, and the sweet Comforter grieved. Penitent
Mary Magdalene weeps much, as well as loves much. Tears, instead of
gems, were the ornaments of penitent David's bed ; and surely that
sweet singer never sung more melodiously than when his heart was
broken most penitentially. How shall God wipe away my tears in
heaven, if I shed none on earth ? And how shall I reap in joy, if I sow
not in tears ? I was born with tears, and shall die with tears ; why
should I then live without them in this valley of tears ? saith the true
penitent. The sweetest joys are from the sourest tears ; penitent tears
are the breeders of spiritual joy. When Hannah had wept, she went
away and was no more sad, 1 Sara. i. 18. The bee gathers the best
honey off the bitterest herbs. Christ made the best wine of water ; the
strongest, the purest, the truest, the most permanent, and the most ex-
cellent joy is made of the waters of repentance. If God be God, ' they
that sow in tears shall reap in joy,'* Ps. cxxvi. 5.

But that no mourner may drown himself in his own tears, let me give

* It was so with Paul, who thought himself in as good a way for heaven as any ; Acts
ix. and xxvi. compared.

* Acts xix. 18. Confessio peccati est vomitus sorditim animcB. — Augustine.

* Non dico ut confitearis conservo tuo peccata tua, dicitoDeo, qui cureiea. — Chrysostom, in
Ps. 1.

* Jer. xiii. 17 ; Joel ii. 13. David cries, not Perii,hut Peccavi ; not, I am undone, but
I have done foolishly. Basil wept when he saw the rose, because it brought to his mind
the first sin, from whence it had the prickles, which it had not while man continued in
innocence, as he thought. You know how to apply it.

* Ti?ue repentance is a sorrowing for sin as it is offensivum Dei, aversivum d, Deo. Peter's
was for sin, Judas his for punishment. Peter grieves because Christ was grieved, Judaa
grieved because he should be damned, Ps. xlii. 5.

VOL. II. G g

466 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

this caution, viz. that there is nothing beyond remedy but the tears of the
damned. A man who may persist in the way to paradise, should not
place himself in the condition of a little hell ; and he that may or can hope
for that great all, ought not to be dejected nor overwhelmed for anything.

[4.] That repentance that accompanies salvation doth include not
only contrition for sin, but also a holy shame and blushing for sin:
Ezra ix. 6, Jer. iii. 24, 25, xxxi. 19; Ezek. xvi 61, 63, ' And thou shalt
be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy
shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done,
saith the Lord God.' When the penitent soul sees his sins pardoned,
the anger of God pacified, and divine justice satisfied, then he sits down
ashamed : so Rom. vl 21, ' What fruit had ye then in those things
whereof ye are now ashamed V Sin and shame are inseparable com-
panions. A man cannot have the seeming sweet of sin but he shall
have the real shame that accompanies sin. These two God hath joined
together, and all the world cannot put them asunder.'

It was an impenitent Caligula that said of himself ' that he loved
nothing better in himself than that he could not be ashamed.'

Justinus's motto was, Quod pudet hoc pigeat, That should grieve
most which is shameful in itself, and done against conscience.

And doubtless those things are only shameful that are sinful. Asoulthat
hath sinned away all shame is a soul ripe for hell, and given up to Satan. A
greater plague cannot befall a man in this life than to sin and not to blush.

[5.] That repentance that accompanies salvation, comprehends loath-
ing and abhorring of sin, and of ourselves for sin, as well as shame
a/iid blushi/ng for sin, Job xlii. 6 ; Ezek. xvi. 61, 62, 63 ; Amos v. 15 ;
Ezek. XX. 41, 42, 43, ' And ye shall remember your ways, and all your
doings, wherein ye have been defiled ; and ye shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight, for all the evils that you have committed.' The sincere
penitent loathes his sins, and he loathes himself also because of his sins.
He cries out, Oh these wanton eyes ! oh these wicked hands ! oh this
deceitful tongue ! oh this crooked will ! oh this corrupt heart ! oh how
do I loathe my sins, how do I loathe myself, how do I loathe sinful self,
and how do I loathe my natural self, because of sinful self ! My sins
are a burden to me, and they make me a burden to myself ; my sins are
an abhorring to me, and they make me abhor myself in dust and ashes.
A true penitent hath not only low thoughts of himself, but loathsome
thoughts of himself^ None can think or speak so vilely of him, as he
doth and will think and speak of himself Ezek. vi. 9, ' And they that
escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall
be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart ' (as
the heart of a husband is at the adulterous carriage of his wife), ' which
hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a-whoring after
their idols : an<l they shall loathe themselves for evils which they have

' K'13, hash, to blush, to be abashed, to wax pale and wan, &c. Quantum displicet Deo
immunditia peccati, in tantum placet Deo erubescentia pcenitentis. — Bernard. So much the
more God hath been displeased with the blackness of sin, the more will he be well pleased
with the blushing of the sinner.

* Vis magnus esse ? incipe ab imo, wilt thou be great ? begin from below, saith one. It
is very observable that those brave creatures, the eagle and tlie lion, were not offered in
sacrifice unto God, but the poor lamb and dove ; to note that God regards not your brave,
liigh, lofty spirits, but poor, meek, and contemptible spirits.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 467

committed in all their abominations.' If thy repentance do not work
thee out with thy sins, and thy sins work thee out of love with thyself,
thy repentance is not that repentance that accompanies salvation.^
And thus you see the particular things that that repentance that doth
accompany salvation doth comprehend and include.

(6.) The sixth property. Sixthly, That repentance that accompanies
salvation, hath these choice companions attending of it.

[1.] Faith. Zech. xii. 10, II, ' They shall look upon him whom they
have pierced, and mourn,' &c. Mourning and believing go together.
So in Mat. iv. 17 ; Mark i. 14, 15, ' Now, after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand : repent ye, and believe the gospel.'

[2.] Love to Christ doth always accompany that repentance that ac-
companies salvation, as you may see in Mary Magdalene, Luke vii.

[3.] A filial fear of offending Ood, and a holy care to honour God,
doth always accompany that repentance that accompanies salvation :
2 Cor. vii. 10, 'For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to
be repented of : for, behold, this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a
godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of your-
selves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire,
yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge ! In all things ye have approved your-
selves to be clear in this matter.' Verily, repentance to life hath all these
lively companions attending of it ; they are bom together and will live
together, till the penitent soul changes earth for heaven, grace for glory.*

(7.) The seventh property. Seventhly and lastly. That repentance
that accompanies salvation is a continued act, a repentance never to be
repented of, 2 Cor. vii. 10. Repentance is a continual spring, where
the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing. A sound penitent is still
a-turning nearer and nearer to God ; he is still a- turning further and
further from sin. This makes the penitent soul to sigh and mourn
that he can get no nearer to God, that he can get no further from
sin, Rom. vii. The work of repentance is not the work of an hour,
a day, a year, but the work of this life. A sincere penitent makes
as much conscience of repenting daily as he doth of believing daily ;
and he can as easily content himself with one act of faith, or
love, or joy, as he can content himself with one act of repentance : ' My
sins are ever before me,' says David, Ps. li. 3. Next to my being kept
from sin, I count it the greatest mercy in the world to be still a-mouming
over sin, says the penitent souL The penitent soul never ceases repenting
till he ceases living.^ He goes to heaven with the jojrful tears of repent-
ance in his eyes. He knows that his whole life is but a day of sowing
tears that he may at last reap everlasting joys. That repentance that
accompanies salvation is a final forsaking of sin. It is a bidding sin an
everlasting adieu ; it is a taking an eternal farewell of sin ; a never

^ Some people can shed tears for nothing, some for anything; but a sound penitent
sheds more tears for his sins than he doth for his sufferings.

* Repentance is Post naufragium tabula, the fair daughter of a foul mother. Repentance
is a fruitful womb.

' Quid restat, peceator, nisi «t in tola vita tua deplores totam vitam tuam. — Anselmus.
Oh, then, what then remains but in our whole life to lament the sins of our whole life ?
[' Our Dens Homo-' — G.]

468 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. YIII. 32-34.

turning to folly more : * What have I to do any more with idols V says
Ephraim, Hosea xiv. 8. I have tasted of the bitterness that is in sin ;
I have tasted of the sweetness of divine mercy in pardoning of sin ;
therefore, away, sin ; I will never have to do with you more ! You have
robbed Christ of his service, and me of my comfort and crown. Away,
away, sin ! you shall never be courted nor countenanced by me more.
That man that only puts off his sins in the day of adversity, as he doth
his garments at night when he goes to bed, with an intent to put them
on again in the morning of prosperity, never yet truly repented : he is
a dog that returneth to the vomit again ; he is a swine that returns to the
wallowing in the mire. Such a dog was Judas ; such a swine was Demas.

It is an extraordinary vanity in some men to lay aside their sins
before solemn duties, but with a purpose to return to them again, as the
serpent layeth aside his poison when he goeth to drink, and when he
hath drunk, he returns to it again, as they fable it. It is sad when
men say to their lusts, as Abraham said to his servants, ' Abide you here,
and I will go and worship, and return again to you,' Gen. xxii. 5.
Verily such souls are far off from that repentance that accompanies
salvation, for that makes a final and everlasting separation between sin
and the soul. It makes such a divorce between sin and the soul, and
puts them so far asunder, that all the world can never bring them to
meet as two lovers together. The penitent soul looks upon sin and deals
with sin, not as a friend, but as an enemy. It deals with sin as Amnon
dealt with Tamar : 2 Sam. xiii. 15, ' And Amnon hated her exceedingly,
so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love
wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her. Arise, begone.'
Just thus doth the penitent soul carry itself towards sin.

And thus you see what repentance that is that accompanies salvation.

The fourth thing I am to shew is, what obedience that is that doth
accompany salvation. That obedience doth accompany salvation, I have
formerly proved. Now what this obedience is that doth accompany or
comprehend salvation, I shall shew you in these following particulars :

[1.] The first property. First, That obedience that accompanies sal-
vation is cordial and hearty. The heart, the inward man, doth answer
and echo to the word and will of God. The believer knows that no
obedience but hearty obedience is acceptable to Christ. He knows that
nothing takes Christ's heart but what comes from the heart. Christ
was hearty in his obedience for me, says the believer ; and shall not
I be hearty in my obedience to him ? Christ will lay his hand of love,
his hand of acceptance, upon no obedience but what flows from the
heart : Rom. vi. 17, * Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doc-
triae which was delivered you.' So in Rom. vii. 25, 'So then with the
mind, I myself serve the law of God.' My heart, says Paul, is in my
obsdience. So in Rom. I 9, ' God is my witness, whom I serve with my
spirit in the gospel of his Son.' Many serve God with their bodies, but
1 serve him with my spirit ; many serve him with the outward man,
but I serve him with my inward man,' Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. God hath

' I.oa. xxix. 13; Mat. xv. 7-9. The heart is Camera omnipofeniis Rrgis, i.e. the
prescnce-chamher of the King of heaven, and that upon which his eye, hia hand, his
heart, is most set.

Rom. VIII. 32-34<.] heaven on earth. 469

written his law in believers' hearts, and therefore they cannot but obey
it from the heart : ' I delight to do thy will, O my God.' How so ?
Why, ' thy law is within my heart,' or, in the midst of my bowels, as
the Hebrew hath it, *yD 1103, Ps. xl. 8. The heart within echoes and
answers to the commandments without, as a book written answers to his
mind that writes" it ; as face answers to face ; as the impression on the
wax answers to the character engraven on the seal. The scribes and
Pharisees were much in the outward obedience of the law, but their
hearts were not in their obedience ; and therefore all they did signified
nothing in the account of Christ, who is only taken with outward actions
as they flow from the heart and affections. Their souls were not in
their services, and therefore all their services were lost services. They
were very glorious in their outward profession, but their hearts were as
filthy sepulchres. Their outsides shined as the sun, but their insides
were as black as hell, Mat. xxiii. They were like the Egyptians' temples,
beautiful without, but filthy within. Well ! remember this : No action,
no service, goes for current in heaven, but that which is sealed up with
integrity of heart. God will not be put off with the shell, when we give
the devil the kernel.

(2.) The second property. Secondly, That obedience that accom-
panies salvation is universal as vjell as cordial. The soul falls in with
every part and point of God's will, so far as he knows it, without pre-
judice or partiality, without tilting the balance on one side or another.
A soul sincerely obedient, will not pick and choose what commands to
obey and what to reject, as hypocrites do ; he hath an eye to see, an
ear to hear, and a heart to obey the first table as well as the second,
and the second table as well as the first ; he doth not adhere to the first
and neglect the second, as hypocrites do ; neither doth he adhere to the
second and contemn the first, as profane men do ; he obeys not out of
humour but out of duty, he obeys not out of choice but out of con-
science : Ps. cxix. 6, * Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect
unto aU thy commandments.' Look, as faith never singles out his
object, but lays hold on every object God holds forth for it to close
with, faith doth not choose this truth and reject that, it doth not close
with one and reject another.^ Faith doth not say, I will trust God in
this case but not in that, I will trust him for this mercy but not for
that mercy, I will trust him in this way but not in that way. Faith
doth not choose its object. Faith knows that he is powerful and faith-
ful that hath promised, and therefore faith closes with one object as
well as another. So a true obedient soul singles not out the commands
of God, as to obey one and rebel against another ; it dares not, it can-
not say, I will serve God in this command but not in that. No ; in an
evangelical sense it obeys all : Luke i. 5, 6, ' Zacharias and Elizabeth
were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless.'* They walked not only in com-

^ Ifon elicit mandata, he doth not pick and choose. He obeys all, in respect of bis
sincere purpose, desire, and endeavour ; and this God accepts in Christ for perfect and
complete obedience, &c.

^ '^ifi^Tot, without complaint An obedient soul is like a crystal glass with a light
in the midst, which shines forth through every part thereof. So that royal law that is
written upon his heart shines forth into every parcel of his life ; his outward works do
echo to a law within.

470 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

mandments, but also in ordinances ; not only in ordinances, but also in
commandments. They were good souls, and good at both. A man
sincerely obedient lays such a charge upon his whole man, as Mary, the
mother of Christ, did upon all the servants at the feast : John ii. 5,
' Whatever the Lord saith unto you do it.' Eyes, ears, hands, heart,
lips, legs, body, and soul, do you all seriously and affectionately observe
whatever Jesus Christ says unto you, and do it. So David doth : Ps.
cxix. 34, 69, ' Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law ; yea, I
shall observe it with my whole heart.' ' The proud have forged a lie
against me ; but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.' Thfi_
whole heart includes all the faculties of the soul and all the members of
the body." Says Bavid^ I will put hand and heart, body and soul, all
Within me and all without me, to the keeping and observing of thy
precepts. Here is a soul thorough-paced in his obedience, he stands
not halting nor halving of it, he knows the Lord loves to be served truly
and totally, and therefore he obeys with an entire heart and a sincere
spirit.

I have read of a very strange speech that dropped out of the mouth
of Epictetus, a heathen : ' If it be thy will,'' says he, ' O Lord, command
me what thou wilt, send me whither thou wilt, I will not withdraw my-
self from anything that seems good to thee.' * Ah ! how will this heathen
at last rise in judgment against all Sauls, Jehus, Judases, Demases,
scribes, pharisees, temporaries,^ who are partial in their obedience, who
while they yield obedience to some commands, live in the habitual
breach of other commands ! Yerily, he that lives in the habifual breach
of one command, shall at last be reputed by God guilty of the breach
of every command, James ii. 10, and God accordingly will in a way of
justice proceed against him, Ezek. xviii. 10-13. It was the glory of
Caleb and Joshua, that they followed the Lord fully in one thing,
as well as another. Num. xiv. 24. So Cornelius : ' We are present
before God, to hear whatsoever shall be commanded us of God,' Acts
X. 33. He doth not pick and choose. So in Acts xiii. 22, ' I have found
David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil
all my will ;' or rather as it is in the Greek, ' he shall fulfil all my wills.*^
to note the universality and sincerity of his obedience. A sincere heart
loves all commands of God, and prizes all commands of God, and sees a
divine image stamped upon all the commands of God ; and therefore the
main bent and disposition of his soul, is to obey all, to subject to all.
God commands universal obedience, Joshua i. 8 ; Dent. v. 29 ; Ezek.
xviii. The promise of reward is made over to universal obedience, Ps.
xix. 11, Josh. i. 8. Universal obedience is a jewel that all will wish
for or rejoice in, at the day of death and the day of account ; and the
remembrance of these things, with others of the like nature, provokes all
upright souls to be impartial, to be universal in their obedienca

[3.] The third propeHy. Thirdly, That obedience that accompanies
salvation springs from inward spiritual causes, and frcnn holy and
heavenly motives. It flows from faith. Hence it is called ' the obedi-

» Arrian. Ep. ad, L. Gall. i. p. 4 ; Diisert. i. 12, 27 ; ii. 17, 22, &c.— G.
' ' Temporary meddler,' Measure for Measure, v. 1. — G.

^ ^iXriitctrit, wills. He minds not only general duties of religion, but also particular
duties ; as a magistrate, as a minister, as a father, as a master, as a son, as a servant.

Rom. VIII. 32-34!.] heaven on earth. 471

ence of faith,' Rom. xvi. 26. So in 1 Tim. L 5, * Now the end of the
commandment is love, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and
of faith unfeigned.' Faith draws down that divine virtue and power
into the soul that makes it lively and active, abundant and constant, in
the work and way of the Lord. And as faith, so love, puts the soul for-
ward in ways of obedience. John xiv. 21, 23, ' If any man love me, he
will keep my commandments.' So Ps. cxix. 48, ' My hands also wiU I
lift up to thy commandments, which I have loved.' Divine love is said
to be the keeping the commandments, because it puts the soul upon
keeping them. Divine love makes every weight light, every yoke easy,
every command joyous. It knows no difficulties, it facilitates obedience,
it divinely constrains the soul to obey, to walk, to run the ways of God's
commands.* And as sound obedience springs from faith and love, so it
flows from a filial fear of God : Ps. cxix. 161, * Mine heart stands in awe
of thy word/ So Heb. xi. 7, ' Noah, being warned of God touching
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark.'

Ah ! but hypocrites and temporaries are not carried forth in their
obedience from such precious and glorious principles, and therefore it is
that God casts all their services as dung in their faces, Isa. i. 11. And
as that obedience which accompanies salvation flows from inward
spiritual principles, so it flows from holy and heavenly motives, as from
the tastes of divine love, and the sweetness and excellency of communion
with God, and the choice and precious discoveries that the soul in ways
of obedience hath had of the beauty and glory of God, Isa. Ixiv. 5. The
sweet looks, the heavenly words, the glorious kisses, the holy embraces
that the obedient soul hath had, makes it freely and fully obedient, to
the word and will of God. Ah ! but all the motives that move hypo-
crites and carnal professors to obedience are only external and carnal,
as the eye of the creature, the ear of the creature, the applause of the
creature, the rewards of the creature ; either the love of the loaves, or
the gain of custom, or the desire of ambition, Hosea vii. 14. Some-
times they are moved to obedience from the fear of the creature, and
sometimes from the want of the creature, and sometimes from the ex-
ample of the creature, and sometimes from vows made to the creature.
Sometimes the frowns of God, the displeasure of God, the rod of God,
moves them to obedience, Hosea v. 15, Ps. Ixxviii. 34. Sometimes the
quieting and stilling of conscience, the stopping of the mouth of con-
science, and the disarming of conscience of all her whipping, racking,
wounding, condemning, terrifying, and torturing power, puts them upon
some ways of obedience. Their obedience always flows from some low,
base, carnal, corrupt consideration or other. Oh ! but that obedience
that accompanies salvation doth always flow, as you see, from inward
and spiritual causes, and from holy and heavenly motives,

[4.] The foutih property. Fourthly, That obedience that accom-
panies salvation is a ready, free, willing, and cheerful obedience.

(1.) It is ready obedience. Ps. xxvii. 8, ' When thou saidst, Seek
ye my face, my heart said unto thee. Thy face, Lord, will I seek ;' Ps.
cxix. 60, * I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments ;'

• Where love is, the soul says of every command, Bonus sermo, it is a good saying ; but
•where love is wanting, the man cries out, Durus sermo, * it is a hard saying ; who can
bear it?'

472 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 82-34.

Ps, xviii. 44, * As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey rae ; the
strangers shall submit themselves unto me.'

I have read of one who readily fetched water near two miles every
day for a whole year together to pour upon a dry stick, upon the bare
command of a superior, when no reason could be given for the thing.^
Oh how ready, then, doth grace make the soul to obey those divine com-
mands that are backed with the highest, strongest, and choicest argu-
ments.

(2.) As that obedience that accompanies salvation is ready obedience,
so it is free and willing obedience} Acts xxi. 13, 'Then Paul answered.
What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart ? for I am willing not
to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus.' The beamings out of divine love and glory make gracious souls
* willing in the day of his power,' Ps. ex. 3. Those divine principles that
be in them make them willingly obey, without co-action or compulsion.
So 2 Cor. viii. 3. The Macedonians were willingly obedient, or, as the
Greek hath it, avQahsToi, they were volunteers not only to their power,
but beyond their power. All the motions and actings of Christ towards
his people, for his people, and in his people, are free ; he loves them
freely, he pardons them freely, he intercedes for them freely, he acts
them freely, and he saves them freely, and so they move and act to-
wards Christ freely ; they hear, they pray, they wait, they weep, they
work, they watch freely and willingly. That Spirit of grace and holiness
that is in them makes them volunteers in all religious duties and services.*

It is reported of Socrates, that when the tyrant threatened death unto
him, he answered, ' He was willing ;' nay then, says the tyrant, you
shall live against your will. He answered again, Nay, whatsoever you
do with me, it shall be my will. Yet if nature, a little raised and re-
fined, will enable a man to do this, will not grace, will not union and com-
munion with Christ, enable a man to do as much, yea, infinitely more 1*

(3.) As that obedience that accompanies salvation is free and willing
obedience, so it is cheerful and delightful obedience. It is a believer's
meat and drink, it is his joy and crown, it is a pleasure, a paradise to
his soul, to be still obeying his Father's will, to be still found about his
Father's business : Ps. xl. 8, ' I delight to do thy will, O my God ; yea,
thy law is in my heart.' As the sun rejoiceth to run his race, so do the
saints rejoice to nm the race of obedience. God's work is wages, yea,
it is better than wages ; therefore they cannot but delight in it. Not
only for keeping, but also in keeping of his commands, there is great
reward : Ps. cxii. 1 , ' Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that
delighteth greatly in his commandments :' that is, in the studying and
obeying of his commandments. Ps. cxix. 16, 'I will delight myself in
thy statutes ; I will not forget thy word.' Ver. 35, ' Make me to go in
the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight.' Ver. 47,
' And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.'
Ver. 143, ' Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me, yet thy com-

' Csissianus, lib. iv. c. 24.

* Voluntas semiplena est voluntas, an half will, an incomplete will, an unwilling will, is
a will in divine account. ^ 1 Chron. xxix. 6-18 ; 1 Tim. vi. 18 ; I Thes. ii. 8.

* A saint at worst is obedient, either voluntate plena or semiplena, with a [willing] will
or an unwilling will ; like the merchant that is unwillingly willing to throw his goods
overboard into the tempestuous sea to save his life.

Rom. VIII. 32-34'.] heaven on earth. 473

mandments are my delight.* Divine commands are not grievous to a
lover of Christ ; for nihil dijfficile amanti, nothing is difficult to him
that loveth. The love of Christ, the discoveries of Christ, the embraces
of Christ, make a gracious soul studious and industrious to keep the
commandments of Christ, in lip and life, in word and work, in head and
heart, in book and breast.^

Thus you see that that obedience that accompanies salvation is ready,
free, and cheerful obedience.

[5.] The fifth property. Fifthly, The obedience that accompanies
salvation, is pereTYiptory obedience.^ Josh. xxiv. 15, ' I and my house-
hold will serve the Lord.' He is fully resolved upon it, come what
come can ; in the face of all dangers, difficulties, impediments and dis-
couragements, he will obey the Lord, he will follow the Lord. So those
worthies, Heb. xi. ' of whom the Avorld was not worthy,' obeyed divine
commands peremptorily, resolvedly, in the face of all manner of deaths
and miseries. So Paul was ' obedient to the heavenly vision,' though
bonds did attend him in every place. Acts xx. 23. He is better at
obeying than at disputing ; ' I conferred not, says he, with flesh and
blood,' Gal. i. 15, J 6. So Peter and John, and the rest of the apostles, in
despite of all threatenings and beatings, they obey the Lord, they
keep fast and close to their Master's work.^ ' Whether it be right in
the sight of God to hearken more unto you than unto God, judge ye.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings : and grant unto thy servants,
that with all boldness they may speak thy word. And when they had
called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should
not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in
every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.' Acts. iv.
19, 20, 29, and v. 40-42, compared.

Thus you see, no trials, no troubles, no terrors, no threats, no dangers,
no deaths, could deter them from peremptory obedience to divine pre-
cepts. It is not the fiery furnace, nor the lions' den, nor the bloody
sword, nor the torturing rack, that can fright gracious souls from their
obedience to their dearest Lord : Ps. cxix. 106, 'I have sworn, and I
will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.'

[6.] The sixth property. Sixthly, The end of that obedience that accom-
panies salvation is,divine glory.* The eye of the obedient soul, in prayer
and praises, in talking and walking, in giving and receiving, in living
and doing, is divine glory : Rom. xiv. 7, 8, ' For none of us liveth to

^ Ps. xix. 5, 11, compared. Tanto magis delectat opus bonum, quanta magia diligitur Deus
Btmmum et incommutabile bonum — Aiigustine. A good work so much the more delighteth,
by m^ much the more God, the chiefest and unchangeable good, is loved. In hoc cog-
nosciiA)nr amor Christi, si quis servat proecepta Christi. — Bernard.

2 JosVphus reports of such resolute Christians, that in the face of all reproachea and
difficultidk:^.followed Christ to the cross.

3 You may as well stop the sun from running his race, as you are able to hinder
gracious souls from obeying divine commands, Ps. xliv. 13, 14. As a wicked nature
make^ the wicked peremptory in their disobedience (Jer. xliv. 15-17), so the divine
nature makes gracious souls peremptory in their obedience.

* Propter te Domine, propter te, is every godly man's motto. Quicquid agas, propter
Dewm agas, was an Eastern apophthegm. — [John] Drusius.

474 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live
unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : whether
we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.' In all actions, the obedient
soul intends and attends most divine glory. If Satan, the world, or the
old man do at any time propound other ends to the soul, this great end,
divine glory, works out all those ends ; for this is most certain, that
which a man makes his greatest and his highest end, will work out all
other ends.' Look, as the light of the sun doth extinguish and put out
the light of the fire, so when a man makes the glory of God his end,
that end will extinguish and put out all carnal, low, base ends ; that man
that makes himself the end of his actions, that makes honour, riches,
applause, &c. the end of his actions, he must at last lie down in eternal
sorrow, he must dwell in everlasting burnings. The man is as his end
is, and his work is as his end is ; if that be naught, all is naught ; if
that be good, all is good, and the man is happy for ever, Isa. xxx. 33,
and xxxiii. 14.

[7.] The seventh property. Seventhly, that obedience that accom-
panies salvation, that borders upon salvation, that comprehends salvation,
is a constant obedience.^ Ps. cxix. 112, 'I have inclined my heart to
do thy statutes alway, even to the end.' The causes, springs, and motives
of holy obedience are lasting and permanent, and therefore the obedi-
ence of a sound Christian is not like the morning dew, or a deceitful
bow : Ps. xliv. 17-19, ' All this comes upon us ; yet have we not for-
gotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart
is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy ways ;
though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered
us with the shadow of death.' The love of Christ, the promises of Christ,
the presence of Christ, the discoveries of Christ, the example of Christ,
and the recompence of reward held forth by Christ, makes a sound
Christian hold on, and hold out, in ways of obedience, in the face of all -
dangers and deaths. Neither the hope of life, nor the fear of death, can
make a sincere Christian either change his master or decline his work :*
Philip, ii. 1 2, ' Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as
in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling.' This was the Philippians'
glory, that they were constant in their obedience ; whether Paul was
present or absent, they constantly minded their work.

Ah ! but hypocrites and temporaries are but passionate, transient, and
inconstant in their obedience ;* they talk of obedience, they commend
obedience, and now and then in a fit they step in the way of obedience,
but they do not walk in a way of obedience, they are only constant in
inconstancy : Job xxvii. 10, ' Will the hypocrite delight himself in the
Almighty ? Will he always call upon God V Or, as the Hebrew hath it,
nybaa, will he in every time call upon God 1 Will he call upon God in

' Finis movet ad agendum, the end moves to doing.

* Si dixisti, Svfficit, periisti, if once thou sayest it is enough, thou art undone — Augustine.

3 History reports, that it hath been the ancient custom of pious Christians under per-
secuting emperors, to meet, and by the sacrament to bind themselves for ever to fly
what was evil, and follow what was good, whatever it cost them.

♦ Such hypocrites may well cry out as Ecebolius did, who was only constant in incon-
stancy, Tarnffan [ii ro aianrthroy, tread upon me that am unsavoury salt. [Suidas, sub
voce ; Socrates, H. £., iii. 13. — G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 475

time of prosperity and in time of adversity ? in time of health and in
time of sickness ? in time of strength and in time of weakness ? in time
of honour and in time of disgrace ? in time of liberty and in time of
durance ? &c. The answer to be given in is, he will not always, he will
• not in every time call upon God. As a lame horse, when he is heated,
will go well enough, but when he cools, he halts downright ; even so an
hypocrite, though for a time he may go on fairly in a religious way,
yet when he hath attained his ends, he will halt downright, and be able
to go no further.

The abbot in Melancthon lived strictly, and walked demurely, and
looked humbly, so long as he was but a monk ; but when, by his seem-
ing extraordinary sanctity, he got to be made abbot, he grew intolerably
proud and insolent, and being asked the reason of it, confessed that his
former carriage and lowly looks was but to see if he could find the keys
of the abbey.^ Ah ! many unsound hearts there be, that will put on
the cloak of religion, and speak like angels, and look like saints, to find
the keys of preferment, and when they have found them, none prove
more proud, base, and vain than they. Ah ! but that obedience that
accompanies salvation is constant and durable. A Christian in his course
goes straight on heavenwards. * The two milch-kine,' 1 Sam. vi. 12, ' took
the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the high-
way, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to
the left.'^ So gracious souls goes straight^ along the highway to heaven,
which is the way of obedience ; though they go lowing and weeping,
yet they still go on, and turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left.
If by the violence of temptation or corruption they are thrust out of
the way at any time, they quickly return into it again. They may
sometimes step out of the way of obedience, but they cannot walk out
of the way of obedience. The honest traveller may step out of his way,
but he soon returns into it again, and so doth the honest soul,
Ps. cxix. 3, 4.

(8.) The eighth prope7iy. Eighthly, and lastly. Passive obedience
acccmipanies salvation as well as active. ' Every one that will live
godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution,' 2 Tim. iii. 12, ii. 12,
from tongue or pen, from hand or heart. ' If we suffer with him, we
shall reign with him,' Rom. viii. 17, 18. There is no passing into para-
dise but under the flaming sword. * Through many afflictions we must
enter into the kingdom of heaven,' Acts xiv. 22. A sincere heart is [as]
willing to obey Christ passively as actively : Acts xxi. 13, ' I am ready,
not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the
Lord Jesus.' I am willing, says Paul, to lose my comforts for Christ, I
am ready to endure any dolors for Christ, I am willing to lose the crea-
ture, and to leave the creature for Christ.* Paul, Philip, iii. 8, speaks of
himself as having been like one in a sea-tempest, that had cast out all

' The monk in the fable, being a poor fisherman's son, still spread a net over his table,
as a remembrance of his mean original, till he had by these shows of humility attained
to the highest preferments, which when he had attained, he laid away the net, because
the fish was caught.

2 A Christian's emblem should be an house moving towards heaven, saith Clement.
[See Vol. I., page 80.— G.]

^ Sic ; and this is a frequent construction with Brooks and his most scholarly con-
temporaries. — G.

* i might produce a cloud of witnesses that have been excellent at suffering, at burning.

476 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

liis precious wares and goods for Christ's sake ; ' for whom,' says lie, ' I
have suffered the loss of all.' So must we, in stormy times, cast all
overboard for Christ, and swim to an immortal crown, through sorrows,
blood, and death. But because I have in this treatise spoke at large of
the sufferings of the saints, I shall say no more of it in this place ; and
thus you see what that obedience is that accompanies salvation.

The fifth thing that I am to shew you is, what love that is that ac-
companies salvation.

That love doth accompany salvation I have formerly shewed you ; but
now I shall shew you what that love is that doth accompany salvation ;
and that I shall do in these following particulars. I shall not speak of
the firstness, freeness, fulness, sweetness, and greatness of Christ's love
to us, but of that love of ours that accompanies salvation, concerning
which I shall say thus :

(].) The first property. First, That love that accompanies salvation
is a superlative love, a transcendent love. True love to Christ doth
wonderfully transcend and surpass the love of all relations ; the love of
father, mother, wife, child, brother, sister, yea, life itself. Mat. x; 37, 38,
Luke xiv. 26, 27, 34. Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.' Christ will
be Alexander or Nemo, he will be all or nothing at all. There are the
greatest causes of love, there are the highest causes of love, there are all
the causes of love, to be found in Christ. In angels and men there are
only some particular causes of love ; all causes of love are eminently and
only to be found in Christ:* Col. i. 19, 'It pleased the Father that m
him should all fulness dwell,' "TrXrioufia,. There is not only plenitudo
abundanticB, but plenitudo redundantice, an overflowing of fulness in
Jesus Christ. All wisdom, all knowledge, all light, all life, all love, all
goodness, all sweetness, all blessedness, all joys, all delights, all pleasures,
all beauties, all beatitudes, all excellencies, all glories are in Christ, Col,
ii. 9. The true lovers of Christ know that Christ loves as a head, as a
king, as a father, as a husband, as a brother, as a kinsman, as a friend.
The love of all relations meets in the love of Christ ; and this raises up
a believer to love Christ with a transcendent love. They know that
Christ loves them more than they love themselves ; yea, that he loves
them above his very life, John x. 1, 17, 18. And magnes amoris amor,
love is the loadstone of love.* Christ is amiable and lovely; he is
famous and conspicuous; he is spotless and matchless in his names, in
his natures, in his offices, in his graces, in his gifts, in his discoveries, in
his appearances, in his ordinances. He is full of gravity, majesty, mercy,
and glory. * He is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.'
His mouth is D»pno», sweetness; yea, DnoPiD 1^31, all of him is desires,
or all of him is delights. Cant. v. 10-16. Christ is wholly delectable;
he is altogether desirable from top to toe ; he is amiable and lovely, he
is glorious and excellent.^ Christ is lovely, Christ is very lovely, Chiist
is most lovely, Christ is always lovely, Christ is altogether lovely. He

' Friends maj* have the milk of a believer's love, but Christ hath the cream.

* We so far love as we know, Tantum diligimus, quantum cognoscimus. Certe non amat tile
Christum, qui aliquid jAusquam Christum amat. — Augustine. Certainly they do not love
Christ, who love anything more than Christ.

"» lie that holds not wholly with Christ, doth very shamefully neglect Christ. Aut
toium mecum tene, aut totum omitte. — Greg. Nazianzen.

Rom. VIII. 32-34).] heaven on earth. 477

is 'the express image of God ;' he is ' the brightness of his Father's
glory.' If the soal cau but anatomise him, it shall find in him all highi
perfections and supereminent excellencies. And upon these and such
like considerations the saints are led forth to love Jesus Christ with a
most transcendent love.

(2. j The second property. Secondly, That love that accompanies sal-
vation is obediential love, it is operative and working love} The love
of Christ makes a man subject to the commands of Christ : ' If any man
love me, he will keep my commandments ;' and again, ' He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,' John
xiv. 21. Divine love is very operative : Ps. cxvi. 1, ' I love the Lord,'
says David. Well, but how doth this love work ? Why, says he, 'I will
walk in his ways, I will pay my vows, I will take the cup of salvation,
I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name
of the Lord as long as I live,' vers. 2, 9, 13, 14, 17. Divine love is not
stinted nor limited to one sort of duty, but is free to all. He that loveth
flieth, he that loveth runneth, he that loveth belie veth, he that loveth
rejoiceth, he that loveth mourneth, he that loveth giveth, he that
loveth lendeth, he that loveth beareth, he that loveth waiteth, he that
loveth hopeth, &c. Heb. vi. 10, ' For God is not unrighteous, to forget
your work and labour of love.' Love makes the soul laborious. That love
that accompanies salvation is very active and operative. It is like the
virtuous woman in the Proverbs, that set all her maidens on work. It
is never quiet, but in doing the will of God. It will not suflfer any grace
to sit idle in the soul. It will egg and put on all other graces to act
and operate. Love sets faith upon drawing from Christ, and patience
upon waiting on Christ, and humility upon submitting to Christ, and
godly sorrow upon mourning over Christ, and self-denial upon forsaking
of the nearest and dearest comforts for Christ, &c. As the sun makes
the earth fertile, so doth divine love make the soul fruitful in works of
righteousness and holiness. He that loves cannot be idle nor barren.
Love makes the soul constant and abundant in well-doing : 2 Cor. v. 14,
' The love of Christ constraineth us.'^ It doth urge us and put us for-
ward ; it carries us on as men possessed with a vehemency of spirit, or
as a ship which is driven with strong winds towards the desired haven.
Natural love makes the child, the servant, the wife, obedient ; so doth
divine love make the soul better at obeying than at disputing. A soul
that loves Christ will never cease to obey till he ceases to be. That
love that accompanies salvation is like the sun. The sun, you know,
casteth his beams upward and downward, to the east and to the west,
to the north and to the south ; so the love of a saint ascends to God
above, and descends to men on earth ; to our friends on the right hand,
to our enemies on the left hand ; to them that are in a state of grace,
and to them that are in a state of nature. Divine love will still be a-
working one way or another.'

' I have read a story of an elephant, who being fallen down, and unable to help him-
self, or get up again, by reason of the inflexibleness of his legs, a forester coming by,
helped him up ; wherewith the elephant, by the very instinct of nature, was so affected,
that he followed this man, and would do anything for him, and never left him till his
dyirig day. Ah, sirs, will not divine love make a man do more ?

* fu^xH' Love's property is to do eternally. It is an eternal, lasting principle, and
actions will last as long as principles ; its action is as abiding as itself.

^ Bealus qui amcU le, et amicos in ie, et inimicos propUr ie. — Augustine : Confess.

478 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

(3.) Tlie third property. That love that accompanies salvation is a
sincere and incorrujyt love : Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be with all them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.'' The true bred
Christian amat Christum propter Christum, loves Christ for Christ ;
he loves Christ for that internal and eternal worth that is in him ; he
loves him for his incomparable excellency and beauty, for that trans-
cendent sweetness, loveliness, holiness, and goodness that is in him ;
he is none of those that loves Christ for loaves, neither will he with
Judas kiss Christ and betray him ; nor yet will he with those in the
Gospel ciy out, 'Hosanna, Hosanna,' one day, and 'Crucify him, crucify
him,' the next. Mat. xxi. 9, 15. They love Christ with a virgin love :
Cant. i. 3, 'The virgins love thee.' They love thee in much sincerity,
purity, and integrity ; they love thee for that fragrant savour, for that
natural sweetness, iPor that incomparable goodness that is in thee. So
ver. 4, ' The upright love thee,' or as it is in the Hebrew, ' Upright-
nesses love thee,' Dnt5'"'0 Uprightnesses being put for upright ones,
the abstract for the concrete ; or, ' They love thee in uprightnesses,' that
is, most uprightly, most entirely, most sincerely, and not as hypocrites,
who love thee for base, carnal respects ; who love thee in compliment,
but not in realities ; who love thee in word and tongue, but despise
thee in heart and life ; who love the gift more than the giver. That
love that accompanies salvation is real and cordial love, it is sincere
and upright love, it makes the soul love Christ, the giver, more than
the gift ; it makes the soul love the gift for the giver's sake ; it will
make the soul to love the giver without his gifts. And verily, they
shall not be long without good gifts from Christ, that love Christ more
than his gifts.*

Vespasian commanded a liberal reward should be given to a
ivoman that came and professed that she was in love with him ; and
when his steward asked him what item he should put to it in his book
of accounts, the emperor answered, Vespasiano adamato, item to her
that loved Vespasian.' Ah, Christians, shall Vespasian, an heathen
prince, reward her liberally that loved his person ? and will not the
Lord Jesus much more reward them with his choicest gifts, that love
him more than his gifts ? Surely Christ will not be worse than a
heathen, he will not act below a heathen ! He shall never be a loser
that loves Christ for that spiritual sweetness and loveliness that is in
Christ ; Christ will not live long in that man's debts.

(4.) The fourth property. Fourthly, That love that accompanies
salvation is a vehernerd love, an ardent love. It is a spark of heavenly
fire, and it puts all the affections into a holy flame : Cant. i. 7, ' Tell
me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest?' &c. This
amiable, amorous, pathetical compellation, 'O thou whom my soul

^ l» iipSa^fia, word fof word, in incorruption, or with incorruption ; t. e. that love Christ
in sincerity, and not feignedly and hypocritically.

2 Judas was kin to the bag, he was not kin to Christ ; and he in Clement was not his,
but his riches', kinsman. Christ hath many such kinsmen. A Christian cares not for
anything that hath not aliquid Christi, something of Christ in it. He says with him,
Sine Deo omnia copia est egestas, without Christ, all plenty is scarcity. Austin prays :
Lord, saith he, whatever thou hast given, take all away ; only, only give me thyself.
God gave him himself, and cast in many other mercies, as paper and packthread, into
the bargain. — [Confessions. — 6]

' Suetonius : Vespasian, — G.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 479

loveth/ speaks the spouse's love to be hot and burning towards Christ,'
So in Isa. xxvi 8, 9, ' The desire of our souls is towards thee, and to
the remembrance of thy name. With my soul have I desired thee in
the night, yea, with my spirit within me, will I seek thee early.''' This
affectionate, this passionate form of speech, 'Witb my soul have I
desired thee,' and that, ' with my spirit within me will I seek thee,'
does elegantly set forth the vehement and ardent love of the church to
Christ ; so doth that pathetical exclamation of the church, * Stay me
with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love,' Cant. ii. 5.
The betrothed virgin cannot shew more strong and vehement love to
her beloved, than by being sick and surprised with love-qualms, when
she meets him, when she enjoys him. It was so here with the spouse
of Christ. The love of Christ to believers, is a vehement love, an
ardent love — witness his leaving his Father's bosom, his putting upon
us his royal robes, his bleeding, his dying, &c. And it doth naturally
beget vehement and ardent love in all the beloved of God. Where
Christ loves, he always begets somewhat like himself. Amor semper
habet, quid sui eimile.^ That love that is flat, lukewarm, or cold, will
leave a man to freeze a-this side heaven, it will fit him for the warmest
place in helL DiA'es's love was very cold, and he found the flames of
hell to be very hot. That love that accompanies salvation is full of
heat and fire.

(5.) The fifth property. Fifthly, That love that accompanies salva-
tion is lasting love, it is permanent love. The objects of it are lasting,
the springs and causes of it are lasting, the nature of it is lasting.
The primitive Christians loved not their lives unto the death. Rev. xii.
11. Persecutoi-s have taken away the martyrs' lives for Christ, but
could never destroy their love to Christ : Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be with
all that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity,' or, ' in in corruption,' as the
Greek word signifies ; whereby the apostle gives us to understand, that
true love to Christ is not liable to corruption, putrefaction, or decay,
but is constant and permanent, lasting, yea, everlasting.*

That love that accompanies salvation is like to the oil in the cruse
, and the meal in the barrel, that wasted not ; it is like the apple-tree
of Persia, that buddeth, blossometh, and beareth fruit every month ; it is
like the lamp in the story, that never went out ; it is like the stone in
Thracia, that neither bumeth in the fire, nor sinketh in the water :*
Cant. viii. 6, 7, 'Love is stronger than death, many waters cannot
quench it, nor the floods cannot drown it. If a man would give all
the substance of his house for love, it would be contemned.'^ Love
will outlive all enemies, temptations, oppositions, afflictions, persecu-
tions, dangers, and deaths. Love's motto is .tlulli cedo, 1 jdeld to none.
Love is like the sun; the sun beginning to ascend in his circle, never
goes back till he comes to the highest degree thereo£

* Anitna est ubi amat, non ubi animat, the soul ia where it loves, not where it lives.

* ^SIpS, in the midst of me. It is an emphatical phrase.
3 Amor non nisi donum amantis. — Gul. Par.

* 1 Cor. xiii. 8. Love never faileth, or as it is in the Greek, oviWan tK^itTu, never
falleth away, but shall last for over in heaven ; in which respect the apostle lifts it up
above faith, hope, and all the common gifts of the Spirit, in the same chapter.

6 Asbestos. — G.

6 ^TIZl'' T13, contemning, it would be contemned. Omnia vincit amor, love rides in her
chariot of triumph over all calamities and miseries, and cries, Victory, victory !

480 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIIL 32-34.

True love abhors apostasy, it ascends to more perfection, and ceases
not until, like Elijah's fiery chariot, it hath carried the soul to heaven.

Many men's love to Christ is like the morning dew; it is like Jonah's
gourd, that came up in a night and vanished in a night. But that love
that accompanies salvation is like Ruth's love, a lasting and an abiding
love, Ruth i. It is love that will bed and board with the soul, that will
lie down and rise up with the soul, that will to the fire, to the prison, to
the grave, to heaven with the soul.

(6.) The sixth property. Sixthly, that love that accompanies salva-
tion, is an abounding love, an increasing love. Love in a saint, is
like the waters in Noah's time, that rose higher and higher. The very
nature of true love is to abound and rise higher and higher. Philip, i.
9, ' This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more.'^

The longer a believer lives, the more eminent and excellent causes of
love he sees in Christ. Christ discovers himself gradually to the soul.
Now a believer's love to Christ rises answerable to the causes of love
that he sees in Christ. The more light the more love. Knowledge and
love, like the water and the ice, beget each other.

Man loves Christ by knowing, and knows Christ by loving. Man's
love is answerable to his light. He cannot love much that knows but
little ; he cannot love little that knows much.* As a man rises higher
and higher in his apprehensions of Christ, so he cannot but rise higher
and higher in his affections to Christ. Again, the daily mercies and
experiences that they have of the love of Christ, of the care of Christ,
of the bowels and compassions of Christ, working more and more towards
them, cannot but raise their affections more and more to him. As fire
is increased by adding of fuel unto it, so is our love to Christ, upon
fresh and new manifestations of his great love toward us. As the husband
abounds in his love to his wife, so the wife rises in her love to her hus-
band. The more love the father manifests to the child, the more the
ingenuous child rises in his affections to him. So the more love the
Lord Jesus shews to us, the more he is beloved by us. Christ shewed
much love to Mary Magdalene, and this raises in her much love to
Christ. ' She loved much, for much was forgiven her,' Luke vii. 47, 48.
As the Israelites, Num. xxxiii. 29, removed their tents from Mithcah to
Hashmonah, from siveetaess to swiftiness, as the words import, so the
sweetness of divine love manifested to the soul makes the soul more
sweet, swift, and high in the exercise and actings of love towards Christ.
A soul under special manifestations of love, weeps that it can love Christ
no more. Mr Welch, a Suffolk minister, weeping at table, and be-
ing asked the reason of it, answered, it was because he could love
Christ no more. The true lovers of Christ can never rise high enough
in their love to Christ ; they count a little love to be no love ; great
love to be but little ; strong love to be but weak ; and the highest love
to be infinitely below the worth of Christ, the beauty and glory of
Christ, the fulness, sweetness, and goodness of Christ. The top of
their misery in this life is, that they love so little, though they are so
much beloved.
• (7.) The seventh property. Seventhly and lastly, that love that

' This is clear throughout the whole book of Cauticles, as all may run and read.
* Amat Deua ? non aliunde hoc habet ; sed ijpse est unde amal. — Augustine.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 481

accompanies salvation, is open love, it is manifest love, it is love that
cannot be hid, that cannot be covered and buried. It is like the sun,
it will shine forth, and shew itself to all the world. A man cannot
love Christ, but he will shew it in these, and such like things as follow :

First, Divine love makes the soul even ready to break, in longing
after a further, clearer, and fuller enjoyment of Christ. The voice of
divine love is, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,' Rev. xxii. 20. * Make
haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the
mountain of spices,' Cant. viii. 14.' ' I desire to be dissolved, and to be
with Christ, which for me is best of all,' Philip, i. 23. It is a mercy, says
Paul, for Christ to be with me, but it is a greater mercy for me to be
with Christ. I desire to die, that I may see my Saviour ; I refuse to live,
that I may live with my Redeemer.

Love desires and endeavours for ever to be present, to converse with,
to enjoy, to be closely and eternally united to its object, Christ. The
longing of the espoused maid for the marriage day, of the traveller for
his inn, of the mariner for his haven, of the captive for his ransom, &c.,
is not to be compared to the longings of the lovers of Christ, after a
further and fuller enjoyment of Christ.'*

The lovers of Christ do well know, that till they are taken up into
glory, their chains will not fall oif ; till then their glorious robes shall
not be put on ; till then all sorrow and tears shall not be wiped from
their eyes ; till then their joy will not be full, their comforts pure, their
peace lasting, their graces perfect ; and this makes them look and long
after the enjoyment of the person of Christ.^

It was a notable saying of one, * Let all the devils in hell,' saith he,
* beset me round ; let fasting macerate my body ; let sorrows oppress my
mind ; let pains consume my flesh ; let watchings dry me, or heat scorch
me, or cold freeze me, let all these, and what can come more, happen
unto me, so I may enjoy my Saviour.'

Secondly, Love to Christ shews itself by working the soul to abase
itself, that Christ may be exalted, to lessen itself to greaten Christ, to
cloud itself that Christ alone may shine. Love cares not what it is,
nor what it doth, so it may but advance the Lord Jesus ; it makes the
soul willing to be a footstool for Christ, to be anything, to be nothing,
that Christ may be all in all.*

Thirdly, That love that accompanies salvation, sometimes shews itself
by working the soul to be cheerful and resolute, to be patient and con-
stant in sufferings for Christ: 1 Cor. xiii. 7, ' Love endureth all things.'
Love will not complain, love will not say the burden is too great, the
prison is too dark, the furnace is too hot, the chains are too heavy, the
cup is too bitter, &c., Acts xxi. 13. A true lover of Christ can slight
his life, out of love to Christ, as that blessed virgin in Basil, who, being
condemned for Christianity to the fire, and having her estate and life
offered her, if she would worship idols, cried, ' Let money perish, and
life vanish, Christ is better than all.'

' *^^ m3, Flee away speedily, my beloved.

' Austin longed to see that head that was crowned with thorns. [Confessions. — G.]
•* God hath reserved the best wine, the best things, till last.
* Rev. iv. 10, 11 ; John iii. 26-31 ; Philip, iii. 7, 8.
VOL. II. H h

482 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

So Alice Driver said, ' I drove my father's plough often, yet I can die
for Christ as soon as any of you all.'^ That love that accompanies sal-
vation, makes a Christian free and forward in suffering anything that
makes for the glory of Christ.

Fourthly, that love that accompanies salvation, shews itself by work-
ing the soul to be pleased or displeased, as Christ is pleased or dis-
plmsed. A soul that loves Christ hath his eye upon Christ, and that
which makes Christ frown makes him frown, and what makes Christ
smile makes him smile. Love is impatient of anything that may dis-
please a beloved Christ.

Look what Harpalus once said, Qtiod regi placet, mihi placet, what
pleaseth the king pleaseth me, that says a true lover of Christ, What
pleaseth Christ, that pleaseth me.^ Holiness pleaseth Christ and holi-
ness pleaseth me, says a lover of Christ. It pleaseth Christ to overcome
evil with good, to overcome hatred with love, enmity with amity, pridfe
with humility, passion with meekness, &c., and the same pleaseth me,
says a lover of Christ. 1 John iv. 17, 'As he is, so are we in this world.'
Our love answers to Christ's love, and our hatred answers to Christ's
hatred ; he loves all righteousness and hates all wickedness ; so do we,
say the lovers of Christ, Ps. cxix. 113, 128, 163.

It is said of Constantine's children, that they resembled their father to
the life, that they put him wholly on.^ The true lovers of Christ re-
semble Christ to the life, and they put him wholly on. Hence it is that
they are called Christ, 1 Cor. xii. 12.

Fifthly, True love to Christ shews itself sometimes by working the
lovers of Christ to expose themselves to suffering, to save Christ from
suffering in his gloi'y; to adventure the loss of their own crowns, to
keep Christ's crown upon his head ; to adventure drowning, to save
Christ's honour from sinking. Thus did the three children, Daniel,
Moses, and other worthies, Heb. xl

I have read of a servant who dearly loved his master, and knowing
that his master was looked for by his enemies, he put on his master's
clothes, and was taken for his master, and suffered death for him.

Divine love will make a man do as much for Christ ; it will make a
man hang for Christ and burn for Christ: Rev. xii. 11, 'They loved
not their lives unto the death.' Christ and his truth was dearer to
them than their lives. They slighted, contemned, yea, despised their
very lives, when they stood in competition with Christ and his glory,
and chose rather to suffer the greatest misery than that Christ shoulcj
lose the least dram of his glory.

Sixthly, That love that accompanies salvation shews itself sometimes
by working the lovers of Christ to be affected and afflicted with the dis-
honours tlmt are done to Christ: Ps. cxix. 136, 'Mine eyes run down
with rivers of tears, because men keep not thy law,' Jer. ix. 1, 2. l^'o
Lot's soul was vexed, racked, and tortured with the filthy conversation
of the wicked Sodomites, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8.* The turning of his own flesh,

' Clarke, as before, p. 504. — G.

' It is a saying in natural philosophy, that it is Naturaliftimum opnt viventis gtnerare
tibi simile, the most naturtJ act or work of every living thing to produce another like unto
itself. Ps. xlv. 7; and cxix. 104, 113, 128, 163. ' Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History.

* ijSxirrax'^f* signifies two things : (1.) the search and examination of a thing ; (2.) the
racking and vexing a man upon the trial.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 483

his wife, into a pillar of salt did not vex him, but their sins did rack his
righteous soul : Ps. Ixix. 9, ' The reproaches of them that reproached
thee fell upon me.' A woman is most wounded in her husband, so is
a Christian in his Christ. Though Moses was as a dumb child in his
own cause, yet when the Israelites, by making and dancing about their
golden calf, had wounded the honour and glory of God, he shews himself
to be much affected and afflicted for the dishonour done to God. The
statue of Apollo is said to shed tears for the afflictions of the Grecians,
though he could not help them ; so a true lover of Christ will shed tears
for those dishonours that are done to Christ, though he knows not how
to prevent them.' It is between Christ and his lovers as it is between
two lute strings that are tuned one to another ; no sooner one is struck,
but the other trembles ; so no sooner is Christ struck, but a Christian
trembles, and no sooner is a Christian struck, but Christ trembles :
' Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me V Acts ix. 4.

Seventhly, That love that accompanies salvation doth shew itself by
working the soul to observe with a curious critical eye Ghrisfs coun-
tenance and carriage, and by causing the soul to he sad or cheerful,
as Christ's carriage and countenance is towards the soul. When Christ
looks sad, and carries it sadly, then to be sad, as Peter was : Christ cast
a sad look upon him, and that made his heart sad ; he went forth and
wept bitterly.2 ^^^ when Christ looks sweetly, and speaks kindly, and
carries it lovingly, then to be cheerful and joyful, as the church was in
Cant. iii. 4, ' It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found
him whom my soul loveth : I held him, and would not let him go, until
I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of
her that conceived me.' So the church in Isa. Ixi. 10, 'I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with a
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.'' A true lover of
Christ hath still his eye upon Christ, and as his countenance stands, so
is he glad or sad, cheerful or sorrowful. Tigranes in Xenophon coming
to redeem his father and friends, with his wife, that were taken prisoners
by King Cyrus, was asked among other questions this, viz., what ransom
he would give for his wife ? he answered he would redeem her liberty
with his own life. But having prevailed for all their liberties, as they
returned together, every one commended Cyrus for a goodly man, and
Tigranes would needs know of his wife what she thought of him.
' Tndy,' said she, ' I cannot tell, for I did not so much as look on him
or see him.' ' Whom then,' said he, wondering, ' did you look upon X
' Whom should I look upon,' said she, * but him that would have re-
deemed my liberty with the loss of his own life.'* So a Christian, a

• Though king Crcesns his son were dumb all his lifetime, yet when one would have
struck at his father, the affection that he liad to his father broke the bars of his speech,
and he cried out. Take heed of killing the king. You know how to apply it. [Cf.
ISibbes, 701. vii. note i, p. 262. — G.]

2 l^bi amor. Hi oculus, as love came in by the eye, so it delights by the same door to
run out to Christ.

3 ^>^\H ^W, in rejoicing, I will rejoice ; that is, I will exceedingly rejoice.

* Plutarch. Lucull. — G.

484- HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

true lover of Christ, esteems nothing worth a looking upon but Christ,
who hath redeemed him with his own blood.

Eighthly, That love that accompanies salvation, reaches forth a hand
of kindness to those that bear the image of Christ.^ 1 John v. 1, 2,
' Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten
of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we
love God, and keep his commandments. He that loveth not his brother,
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen V

Now, because many mistake in their love to the saints, and the con-
sequences that follow that mistake are very dangerous and pernicious
to the souls of men, I shall therefore briefly hint to you the properties
of that love to the saints that accompanies salvation. And,

(1.) The first property. The first is this, true love to the saints is
spiritual; it is a love for the image of God that is stamped upon the soul.
Col. i. 8, 'Epaphras hath declared to us your love in the Spirit.' A soul that
truly loves, loves the Father for his own sake, and the children for the
Father's sake. Many there are that love Christians for their goods, not
for their good ; they love them for the money that is in their purse,
but not for the grace that is in their hearts. Many, like the Bohemian
cur, fawn upon a good suit. Love to the saints, for the image of God
stamped upon them, is a flower that grows not in nature's garden. No
man can love grace in another man's heart but he that hath grace in
his own. Men doth not more naturally love their parents, and love
their children, and love themselves, than they do naturally hate the
image of God upon his people and ways.^ True love is for what of the
divine nature, for what of Christ and grace shines in a man. It is one
thing to love a godly man, and another thing to love him for godliness.
Many love godly men as they are politicians, or potent, or learned, or
of a sweet nature, but all this is but natural love ; but to love them
because they are spiritually lovely, because they are ' all glorious
within, and their raiment is of embroidered gold,' Ps. xlv. 13, is to love
them as becometh saints ; it is to love them at so high and noble a rate
that no hypocrite in the world can reach to it. The wasps fly about
the tradesman's shop, not out of love to him, but the honey and the
fruit that is there. This age is full of such wasps.

(2.) The second property. Secondly, True love to the saints is uni-
versal to one Christian as well as another, to all as well as any;^ to
poor Lazarus as well as to rich Abraham, to a despised Job as well as
to an admired David, to an afflicted Joseph as well as to a raised Jacob,
to a despised disciple as well as to an exalted apostle. Philip, iv. 21,
' Salute every saint,' the meanest as well as the richest, the weakest as
well as the strongest, the lowest as well as the highest. They have all
the same Spirit, the same Jesus, the same faith ; they are all fellow-
members, fellow-travellers, fellow- soldiers, fellow-citizens, fellow-heirs,
and therefore must they all be loved with a sincere and cordial love.

^ Jerome professed how much he loved Christ in Augustine, and Augustine in Christ.

* Remember, wicked men, God himself is wronged by the injury that is done to his
image. The contempt and despite is done to the king himself, which is done to his
image or coin.

' Eph. i. 16, Col. 1. 4. It was the glory of the Ephesians and Colossians that their
faith and love reached to all the saints ; it was not narrow, and confined to some par-
ticulars, but it was universal.

Rom. VIIL 32-34<.] heaven on earth. 485

The apostle James doth roundly condemn that partial love that was
among professors in his days, James ii. 1 , 2. Not that the apostle doth
absolutely prohibit a civil differencing of men in place from others, but
when the rich man's wealth is more regarded than the poor man's god-
liness, and when men carry it so to the rich, as to cast scorn, contempt,
disgrace, and discouragement upon the godly poor; this is a sin for
which God will visit the sons of pride.'

Pompey told his Cornelia, ' It is no praise for thee to have loved
PoTnpeium Magnum, Pompey the Great, but if thou lovest PoTnpeium
Miserum, Pompey the Miserable, thou shalt be a pattern for imitation
to all posterity.' I will leave you to apply it.

Romanus the martyr, who was bom of noble parentage, entreated
his persecutors that they would not favour him for his nobility : * For
it is not,' said he, ' the blood of my ancestors, but my Christian faith,
that makes me noble.' ^

Verily, he that loves one saint for the grace that is in him, for that
holiness, that image of God, that is upon him, he cannot but fall in love
with every saint that bears the lovely image of the Father upon him ;
he cannot but love a saint in rags, as well as a saint in robes ; a saint
upon tlie dunghill, as well as a saint upon the throne. Usually the
most ragged Christians are the richest Christians; they usually have
most of heaven that have least of earth, James ii. 5. The true diamond
shines best in the dark.^

(3.) The third property. Thirdly, Our love to the saints is right,
when we love them and delight in them, answerable to the spirittual
causes of love that shiTie in them, as the more holy and gracious they
are, the more we love them : * Ps. xvi. 2, 3, ' My goodness extendeth
not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent,
in whom is all my delight.' This is most certain, if godliness be the
reason why we love any, then the more any excel othere in the love,
spirit, power, and practice of godliness, the more we should love them.
There are those that seem to love such godly men as are weak in their
judgments, low in their principles, and dull in their practices, and yet
look with a squint eye upon those that are more sound in their judg-
ments, more high in their principles, and more holy in their practices,
which doubtless speaks out more hypocrisy than sincerity. Verily, he
hath either no grace, or but a little grace, that doth not love most
where the spiritual causes of love do most shine and appear. Surely
those Christians are under a very great distemper of spirit, that envy
those gifts and graces of God in others, that outshine their own-
John's disciples muttered and murmured, because Christ had more
followers and admirers than John ; and John's disciples are not all
dead, yea, they seem to have a new resurrection in these days. Well,

• Non gent led mens, non genus sed genius, not race or place, but grace, truly sets forth
a man. * Clarke, as before, p. 63. — G.

3 Yet there is a love of familiarity, which we may lawfully shew more to one godly
man than to another. Thus Christ loved John more than the other disciples.

* Yet this must be granted, that grace in a rugged, unhewn nature, is like a gold ring
on a leprous hand, or a diamond set in iron. As a gold ring is most pleasing and taking,
wh^n it is on a neat clean hand, and as a diamond when it is set in a ring of gold ; so
grace is most pleasing and taking to us in a sweet nature, and not so much when it is in
a rugged, unhewn nature ; the beauty and glory of it being clouded and darkened by a
rugged nature.

486 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

as the fairest day hath its clouds, the finest linen its spots, the richest
jewels their flaws, the sweetest fruits their worms, so when precious
Christians are under temptations, they may, and too often do envy and
repine at those excellent graces, abilities, and excellencies that cloud,
darken, and outshine their own. The best of men are too full of pride
and self-love, and that makes them sometimes cast dirt and disgi-ace
upon that excellency that themselves want, as that great man that
could not write his own name, and yet called the liberal arts a public
poison and pestilence.' There is no greater argument that our grace is
true, and tbat we do love others for grace's sake, than our loving them best
that have most grace, though they have least of worldly goods. A pearl
is rich, if found on a dunghill, though it may glitter more when set in a
ring of gold ; so many a poor believer is rich and glorious in the eye of
Christ, and should be so in ours, though, like Job, he sits upon a dung-
hill, though to the world he may seem to glister most when adorned
with riches, honour, and outward pomp, &c.

(4.) The fourth property. Fourthly, True love to saints is constant:
1 Cor. xiii. 8, ' Love never faileth.' It continues for ever in heaven.
That love was never true that is not constant. Heb. xiii. 1, 'Let
brotherly love continue.' True love is constant in prosperity and
adversity, in storms and calms, in health and sickness, in presence and
in absence.^ ' Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not.' ' A
friend,' says the wise man, ' loves at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity,' Prov. xvii. 17. Prosperity makes friends, and adversity will
try friends. A true friend is neither known in prosperity, nor hid in
adversity.

True love is like to that of Ruth's to Naomi, and that of Jonathan's
to David, permanent and constant. Many there be whose love to the
saints is like Job's brooks. Job vi. 15, 16, which in winter when we
have no need, overflows with tenders of service and shews of love ; but
when the season is hot and dry, and the poor thirsty traveller stands in
most need of water to refresh him, then the brooks are quite dried up.
They are like the swallow that will stay by you in the summer, but fly
from you in the winter.

It is observed by Joseph us of the Samaritans, that whenever the Jews'
affairs prospered, they would be their friends, and profess much love to
them ; but if the Jews were in trouble, and wanted their assistance,
then they would not own them, nor have anything to do with them.
This age is full of such Samaritans, yet, such as truly love will always
love.* In the primitive times it was veiy much taken notice of by the
very heathen, that in the depth of misery, when fathers and mothers
forsook their children. Christians, otherwise strangers, stuck close to one
another ; their love of religion, and one of another, proved firmer than
that of nature. ' They seem to take away the sun out of the world,'

' Eusebiua speaks of him in his Ecclesiastical History. \^As hef<yre: Cf. Index. — G.]

' Consalus, a Spanish bishop and inquisitor, wondered how the Christians had that
commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, so indelibly printed on their
hearts, that no torture could blut it out, and make them confess and betray one another,
or cease from loving one another. [Rather Consalvus or Gonsalvus Reginaldus, 1667.
-G.]

* Augustus Caesar was a constant friend to those whom he loved ; he used to say, Amare
nee cito detisto, nee temere incipio, late ere I love, as long ere I leave. [Samaritans : Antiq.
b. ix. c. xiv. Bee. 3 : Cf. also xi. c. viii. sec. 6, and xii. c. v., and Sibbes, iii. p. 476.— G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 487

said the orator, ' who taketh away friendship from the life of men/'
and we do not more need fire and water than constant friendship.

Ninthly, That love that accompanies salvation, doth manifest and
shew itself by working the soul to be quiet and still under Christ's re-
bukes. Peter sits down quiet under a threefold reproof, ' Lord, thou
knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee/ John xxi. 16-18.
So Eli, ' It is the Lord, let him do what seems good in his own eyes/
1 Sam. iii. 18. And Aaron 'held his peace,' when he saw the flames about
his sons' ears, Lev. x. 3. So David, ' I was dumb, I opened not my
mouth, because thou didst it,' Ps. xxxix. 9. The lovers of Christ are
like the Scythian, that went naked in the snow ; and when Alexander
wondered how he could endure it, he answered, ' I am all forehead.'
Oh the lovers of Christ are all forehead, to bear the rebukes of the Lord
Jesus.

The lovers of Christ know that all his rebukes are from love ; 'whom
he loves, he rebukes,' Rev. iii. 19 ; they can see smiles through Christ's
frowns ; they know, that to argue that Christ hates them because he
rebukes them, is the devil's logic ; they know, that all the rebukes of
Christ are in order to their internal and eternal good, and that quiets
them ; they know that all the rebukes of Christ are but forerunners of
some glorious manifestations of greater love to their souls. Ps. Ixxi. 20,
21, ' Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken
me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.' They
know that it is the sorest judgment in the world, to go on freely in a
way of sin without rebukes. ' Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone/
Hosea iv. 17. And therefore they keep silence before the Lord, they
lay one hand upon their mouths, and the other upon their hearts, and
so sit mute before the holy one.

Tenthly, That love that accompanies salvation, shews itself by work-
ing the heart to be affected and afflicted with the least dishonours that
are done to Christ. Love is curious of little things ; it is as much afflicted
with an idle word or with an impure dream, as lovers of Christ are with
adultery or blasphemy. David did but cut off the lap of Saul's gar-
ment, and his heart smote him, 1 Sam. xxiv. 5 ; though he did it to
convince Saul of his false jealousy, and his own innocency. Love will
not allow of the least infirmity. Rom. vii. 15, ' That which I do, I allow
not.' Love will make a man aim at angelical purity and perfect in-
nocency ; love will be getting up to the top of Jacob's ladder ; love can
rest in nothing below perfection ; love makes a man look more at what
he should be than at what he is ; it makes a man strive as for life, to
imitate the highest examples, and to write after the choicest copies.
Love fears every image of offence, it trembles at the appearance of one,
it doth not, it cannot allow itself to do anything that looks like sin ;'
it hates ' the garment spotted with the flesh ;' it shuns the occasions
of sin as it shuns hell itself This is the divine curiosity and glory of
a Christian's love. Love says it is better to die with hunger than to eat
that which is offered to idoLs.'

• Cicero, De Amieitia.—Q.

* The sin, and the coat of sin, is to be hated, saith Ambrose.
' Melixu morifame, quam idoLothylis vetci. — Augustine.

488 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

I have read of a holy man,' who, out of his love to Christ and hatred
of idolatry, would not give one halfpenny toward the building of an
idol's temple, though he was provoked thereunto by intolerable torments.
Love knows that the least evils are contrary to the greatest good ;* they
are contrary to the nature of Christ, the commands of Christ, the spirit
of Christ, the grace of Christ, the glory of Christ, the blood of Christ.
Love knows that little dishonours, if I may call any sin little, make way
for greater, as little thieves unlock the door and make way for greater.
Love knows that little sins multiplied become great. As love knows
that there is nothing lesser than a grain of sand ; so love knows that
there is nothing heavier than the sand of the sea, when multiplied.

Eleventhly, That love that accompanies salvation, will shew itself by
keeping the doors of the heart shut against those treacherous lovers that
would draw the heart from Christ. Love is a golden key to let in Christ,
and a strong lock to keep out others. Though many may knock at
love's door, yet love will open to none but Christ : Cant. v. 6, ' I opened
to my beloved ;' and viii. 7, ' Many waters cannot quench love, neither
can the floods drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his
house for love, it would utterly be contemned ;' Boz Jabuzu, contemn-
ing it would be contemned. When the world would buy his love, he
cries out with Peter, ' Thy money perish with thee,' Acts viii. 20. Love
makes a man look with a holy scorn and disdain upon all persons and
things, that attempt either to force or flatter her out of her love and
loyalty to her beloved.^ It is neither force nor fraud, it is neither pro-
mises nor threatenings, it is neither the cross nor the crown, the palace
nor the prison, the rod nor the robe, the hempen* halter nor the golden
chain, that will make love embrace a stranger in the room of Christ.
Go, says divine love, offer your gold and empty glories to others ; your
pleasures and your treasures to others ; put on your lion's skin and
fright others ; as for my part, I scorn and contemn your golden offers,
and I disdain and deride your rage and threats. Love makes a man
too noble, too high, too gallant, and too faithful, to open to any lover
but Christ, to let any lie between the breasts but Christ : Cant. i. 13,
* A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me ; he shall lie all night betwixt
my breasts.' When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, he
answers, Pecuniam da quce 'petmianeat, ac continuo duret, gloriam
qucB semper floreat : Give money that may last for ever, and glory that
may eternally flourish. Love makes a man cry out when tempted,
Let not any man think that he will embrace other men's goods to for-
sake Christ, who hath forsaken his own proper goods to follow Christ.*
Love makes a man cry out when tempted, as that worthy convert did,
£go non sum ego, I am not the man that I was ; when my heart was
void of divine love, I was as easily conquered as I was tempted. Oh
but now he hath shed abroad his love in my soul, I am not the man
that I was, I had rather die than fly, or fall before a temptation.

Twelfthly, That love that accompanies salvation, shews itself by

* Marcus Arethusius, in Julian's time. [Clarke, as before. — G.]

• The Nicene fathers would not gratify Arius, no, not in one tittle.

• So did Luther, Galeacius [Carraciolus], that noble Italian. [Cf. Sibbes, vol. i.,
pp. 289, 290, note rf.— G.] * Spelled • hempton.'— G.

* Plato, saith Pliny, took as much delight and glory in those dignities and honour*
he denied, as he did in those he did enjoy. It is just so with the saints.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 489

secret visits, by secret expressions of love. A soul that truly loves
Christ, loves to meet him in a corner, to meet him behind the door,
Cant. ii. 14, to meet him in the clefts of the rock, where no eye sees,
nor no ear hears, nor no heart observes. Mat. vi. 6. Feigned love is
much in commending and kissing Christ upon the stage ; but unfeigned
love is much in embracing and weeping over Christ in a closet. The
Pharisee loved to stand praying in the market-place and in the temple.
Mat. vi. 2 ; but Nathanael was with Christ under the fig-tree, John
i. 48 ; and Cornelius was at it in the corner of his house. Acts x. ; and
Peter was at it on the leads ; and the spouse was at it in the villages.
Cant. vii. 11. Souls that truly love Christ, are much in secret visits,
in secret prayer, in secret sighing, in secret groaning, in secret mourn-
ing, &a True love is good at bolting of the door, and is always best
when it is most with Christ in a corner. The secret discoveries that
Christ makes to souls, do much oblige them to closet services.

Arcesilaus in Plutarch,^ visiting his sick friend, and perceiving his
necessity that he wanted, and yet his modesty that he was ashamed to
ask, that he might satisfy the one and yet salve the other, secretly con-
veyed money under his pillow, which his friend finding after he was
gone, was wont to say, ' Arcesilaus stole this.' So Christ steals secret
kindnesses upon his people, and that draws them out to be much in
secret, in closet services.

Thirteenthly, That love that accompanies salvation, shews itself hy
breathing after more clear evidence and full assurance of Christ's love
to the soul. Divine love would fain have her drop turned into an ocean,
her spark into a flame, her penny into a pound, her mite into a million.
A soul that truly loves, can never see enough, nor never taste enough,
nor never feel enough, nor never enjoy enough of the love of Christ ;
when once they have found his love to be better than wine, then
nothing will satisfy them but the kisses of his mouth : Cant. i. 2, ' Let
him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.' Not with a kiss, but with
the kisses of his mouth. A soul once kissed by Christ, can never have
enough of the kisses of Christ ; his lips drop myrrh and mercy ; no
kisses to the kisses of Christ. The more any soul loves Christ, the more
serious, studious, and industrious will that soul be to have the love of
Christ discovered, confirmed, witnessed, and sealed to it.'* That is a
sweet word of the spouse : Cant. viii. 6, ' Set me as a seal upon thy
heart, as a seal upon thy arm ; for love is strong as death.' Set me as
a seal upon thy heart ; that is, let me be deeply engraven as a seal into
thy heart and affections ; let the love and remembrance of me make a
deep impression in thee, and set me as a seal or signet on thy arm.

[1.] The seal, you know, is for ratifying, confirming, and making sure
of things. Oh ! says the spouse, establish and confirm me in thy love,
and in the outward expressions and manifestations of it.

[2.] Seals among the Jews were used not as ornaments only, but as
monuments of love that were continually in sight and remembrance.
Oh ! says the church, let me be still in thy sight and remembrance as a
monument of thy love. In the old law, you know, the high priest did

• Founder of the New Academy. — G.

' The more a virgin's love is drawn out to another, the more she desires to be con-
^rmed and assured of his love to her.

490 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34,

bear the name of Israel eugraven on stones upon his heart and shoulder
for a memorial, Exodus xxviii. 11, 12, 21, 29. Ah ! says the church, let
my name be deeply engraven upon thy heart, let me be always in thy
eye, let me be always a memorial upon thy shoulder.

[3.] Great men have their signets upon their hands in precious
esteem : Jer. xxii. 24, ' As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand,
yet would I pluck thee thence.' Ah ! says the spouse. Oh highly prize
me, Lord Jesus ! highly esteem of me ; oh let me be as dear and precious
unto thee as the signet that thou earnest about with thee, or as signets
are to great men that wear them !

Lastly, That love that accompanies salvation, shews itself by woi'k-
ing a true lover of Christ to commit his richest treasures, his choicest
jewels, to the care and custody of Christ} Where we love we will
trust, and as we love we will trust. Little trust speaks out little love,
great trust speaks out great love. The lovers of Christ commend to
Christ's care their pearls of greatest price, their names, their lives, their
souls, their crowns, their innocency, their all. It was a notable saying
of Luther, ' Let him that died for my soul see to the salvation of it.'
Caesar received not his wounds from the swords of enemies, but from
the hands of friends, that is, from trusting in them. Oh, but the lovers
of Christ shall never receive any wounds by trusting in Christ, by com-
mitting their choicest jewels to his care; for he hath a powerful hand
and a wise and loving heart ! Christ will hold fast whatever the Father
or the saints put into his hand.

And thus I have shewed you what that love is that doth accompany
salvation.

I come now, in the sixth place, to shew you what prayer that is that
doth accompany salvation. But I see that I must contract what re-
mains into a narrow room, lest I should tire out both the reader and
myself, which, that I may not, I shaU endeavour by divine assistance
to mind brevity in what remains.

Now, that prayer doth accompany salvation, I have formerly shewed.
Now I am briefly to shew you what prayer that is that doth accompany
salvation, and that I shall do in these following particulars.

(1 .) The first property. First, Prayer is a divine worship wherein
we speak to- God in faith, humility, sincerity, and fervency of spirit,
through the mediation of Christ, begging those good things that we and
others want, deprecating that we and others fear, and giving thanks
for tlcai we and others have received} Prayer is a speaking to God
face to face ; it is Jacob's ladder by which the soul climbs up to heaven ;
it is Noah's dove that goes and returns not till it brings assurance of
peace.

But not to please you with notions, you must remember that that
prayer that accompanies salvation is such prayer as hath in it all the
requisites of prayer. Now there are four requisites in prayer.

' Pb. xxxi, 15, 80 Job, so Paul ; 2 Tim. i. 12, and iv. 7, 8 ; Micah vii. 8, 9 ; Deut. vi.
22.

* The matter of prayer may be reduced to these heads: (1.) petition ; (2.) deprecation;
(3 ) intercession ; (4.) expostulation. There are other distinctions in regard of the

Rom. VIIL 32-34-.] heaven on earth. 491

[].] Tlie first requisite. First, The person must be righteous : James
V. 16, 'The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ;' John
ix. 31, ' God heareth not sinners.' The Jews urge it as a proverb, An
unclean person poUuteth his own prayers. Good motions from a bad
heart make no music in heaven ; the sweet words that drop from a
leper's lips are but lies in the account of God, Hosea xi. 12.

1 have read of a jewel, that, being put in a dead man's mouth, loseth
all its virtue. Prayer in the mouth of a wicked man that is dead God-
wards, Christ-wards, heaven- wards, and holiness- wards, is a jewel that
loseth all its virtue: Ps. L 16, 17, 'But unto the wicked God saith.
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldst
take my covenant into thy mouth ? seeing that thou hatest instruc-
tion, and casteth my words behind thee.' Bias, an heathen, being at
sea in a great storm, and perceiving many wicked wretches with him
in the ship, calling upon the gods, ' Oh,' saith he, ' forbear prayer, hold
your tongues ; I would not have the gods take notice that you are here ;
they will sure drown us all, if they should.'^ You are wise, and know
how to apply it.^

[2.] The second requisite. The second requisite in prayer is this,
viz.. The matter of your prayer must he good : 1 John v. 1 4, ' And
this is the confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything ac-
cording to his will, he heareth us.' The favourites of heaven have no
further the ear of the King of kings in prayer, than the matter of their
prayer is good, and ' agreeable to his will,' E,om. viii. 27. The matter
of your prayer must fall under some particular or general precept or
promise, or else God will never own it nor honour it with acceptance.
You must not pray as Augustine prayed before his conversion ; he
prayed for continency, with a proviso : ' Lord, give me eontinency,' saith
he, ' but not yet.'^ Such hypocrisy is double iniquity, and God will
deal with such sinners accordingly.*

[3.] Tlie third requisite. Thirdly, As the matter of your prayer
must be good, so the manner of your prayer must be right. God re-
gards not so much the matter as the manner of our prayer. ** God loves
adverbs better than nouns ; not to pray only, but to pray well. Non
bonum, sed bene agere, not to do good, but to do it well.

Now for the better and further clearing of this truth, I shall shew
you, by divine assistance, what it is to pray in the right manner, and
that I shall do in the following particulars :

First, To pray in a right manner, is to pray under standingly, to
pray knowingly : 1 Cor. xiv. 15, ' I will pray with understanding.' He
that doth not pray understandingly, doth not pray but prate ; as that

manner ; as, first, mental prayer, which is the inward lifting up of the heart to God ;
secondly, vocal, which is uttered by words, as the publican, ' God be merciful to me a
sinner ;' tliirdly, there is conceived prayer, and prescribed prayer ; fourthly, there is
public or private prayer. These hints may suflice as to this.
» Diog. Laert, i. 82-88 ; Plut., Sol. iv G.

2 Quid prodest voce invocare, quern operibus negas ? — Jerome. What availeth it to
invocate him with thy voice, whom thou deniest in thy works ?

' Confessions, b. viii, 27, et alibi. — G.

* lt<was both a profane and blasphemous speech of that atheistical wretch, that told
God he was no common beggar, he never troubled him before with prayer, and if he
would hear him that time, he would never trouble him again. — Heil. Mic. p. 876.

» Criton.

492 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

parrot in Rome that could distinctly say over the whole creed : John
iv. 22, ' Ye worship ye know not what/ says Christ. So many pray
they know not what. ' Without knowledge the mind cannot be good,'
Prov. xix. 2. And can the prayer be good when the mind is bad ? A
blind mind, a blind sacrifice, a blind priest, are abominable to God.^ It
was a good saying of one, ' God heareth not the words of one that
prayeth,' saith he, ' unless he that prayeth heareth them first himself
And, verily, God will never understand that prayer that we do not un-
derstand ourselves.

Secondly, To pray in a right manner, is to pi^ay believingly ;* Heb.
xi. 6, * He that cometh unto God, must believe that he is ;' that is, that
he is really as good, as gracious, as glorious, as excellent, as constant,
&c., as his word reports him to be ; and that he is ' a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him :' Mark xi. 24, ' Therefore I say unto you, What
things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them.' In the Greek it is Xafi^anri, in the present
tense, ' ye do receive them,' to shew the certainty of receiving them.
You shall as certainly receive the good things that believingly you ask
in prayer, as if you had them already in your hand. God will never
let the hand of faith go empty away in prayer. Faith is God's darling,
and he never fails to give it a worthy portion, a Benjamin's portion, a
Hannah's portion, a double portion : James i. 5-7, ' If any of you lack
wisdom, let him avsk of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and up-
braideth not ; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering : for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven
with the wind, and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall
receive anything of the Lord.' He that prayeth doubtingly, shuts the
gates of heaven against his own prayers.^

It is reported in the life of Luther, that when he prayed it was tarda
reverentia ut si Deo, et tantafiducia ut si amico, with so much reve-
rence, as if he were praying to God ; and with so much boldness, as if
he had been speaking to his friend. Faith in prayer makes a man divinely
familiar and bold with God in prayer. That prayer that hath not the
image and stamp of faith upon it, is no prayer in divine account. The
sweetest flowers of paradise are only acceptable to God as they are ten-
dered to him by the hand of faith.

Augustus, when a poor man came to present a petition to him with
his hand shaking and trembling out of fear, the emperor was much dis-
pleased, and said, ' It is not fit that any should come with a petition to
a king as if a man were giving meat to an elephant ;' that is, afraid to
be destroyed by him.

Verily Jehovah loves to see every one of his petitioners to come to
him with a stedfast faith, and not with a trembling hand. Christ gets
most glory, and the soul gets most good, by those prayers that are ac-
companied with the actings of faith.

' Ignorai sane inqmibut omnia, saith Aristotle, ignorance is the source of all sin, th»
very well-spring from which all wickedness doth issue.

' The philosopher could say, Qui titnide rogat, docet negate. He that eraveth fearfully,
draweth on a denial. One of the ancients describes prayer thus : it is, saith he, AscentuM
mentis ad Deum, a climbing up of the heart to God, which cannot be done but by th«
power of faith.

* Unbelief is virtually all ill ; therefore fight especially against it.

EOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 493

Thirdly, To pray in a right manner, is to pray intensely, fervently,
earnestly. So James v. 16, ' The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much ;' or, as the Greek hath it, ' the working prayer,'
that is, such prkyer as sets the whole man a-work.' The word signifies
such a working as notes the liveliest activity that can be. As physic
kills the body if it work not, so doth prayer the soul, if it be not work-
ing-prayer. As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold
prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat ; in a dead man
there is no life ; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devo-
tion, no blessing. It is not cold but working prayer that can lock up
heaven three years, and open heaven's gate at pleasure, and bring down
the sweetest blessings upon our heads, and the choicest favours into
our hearts. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without
edges, as birds without wings : they pierce not, they cut not, they fly
not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they reach to
heaven. So Jacob was earnest in his wrestling with God : ' Let me
alone,' says God. ' I will not let thee go except thou bless me/ says
Jacob, Gen, xxxii, 24-27. Jacob, though lamed and hard laid at, will
not let the Lord go without a blessing, Jacob holds with his hands
when his joints were out of joint, and so, as a prince, prevails with God.
Jacob prays and weeps, and weeps and prays, and so prevails with God :
Hosea xii. 4, * Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed : he wept
and made supplication unto him,' &c.^ It is not the labour of the lips,
but the travail of the heart ; it is not the pouring forth a flood of words,
but the pouring out of the soul, that makes a man a prince, a prevailer
with God. A man that would gain victory over God in prayer, must
strain every string of his heart ; he must, in beseeching God, besiege
him, and so get the better of him ; he must strive in prayer even to an
agony ; he must be like importunate beggars, that will not be put off
with frowns, or silence, or sad answers. Those that would be masters
of their requests, must with the importunate widow press God so far as
to put him to the blush ; they must with a holy impudence, as Basil
speaks, make God ashamed to look them in the face, if he should deny
the importunity of their souls.^ An importunate soul will never cease
till he speed ; he will devour all discouragements ; yea, he will turn dis-
couragements into encouragements, as the woman of Canaan did, till
Christ says, ' Be unto thee, O soul, as thou wilt.' As a body without a
soul, much wood without fire, a bullet in a gun without powder, so are
words in prayer without fervency of spirit. The hottest springs send
forth their waters by ebullitions.*

I have read of one who, being sensible of his own dulness and cold-
ness in prayer, chid himself thus : ' What ! dost thou think that Jonah
prayed thus when he was in the belly of hell? or Daniel, when he was

' hi^yavfiivn. Faith is an omnipotent grace. It works wonders in heaven, in the heart,
and in the earth. Such working prayer as sets all the faculties of the soul, and all the
graces in the soul, at work, always speeds ; it fails not of winning the day, of carrying
the crown.

* The Jews have a saying, that since the destruction of Jerusalem, the door of prayers
hath been shut ; but the door of tears was never shut, saith one.

' Rpm. XV. 80, rvyayuviffarSai. The word signifies to strive to the shedding of blood,
Luke xviii. 6, wcr<w<r/a{»i, buffet me, or beat me down with her blows, as wrestlers beat down
their adversaries with their fists or clubs.

* Oratio bretfis penetrat caelum, saith one.

494 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [KOM. VIII. 32-34.

in the lions' den 1 or the thief, when he was upon the cross ? and T
may add, or the three children, when they were in the fiery furnace ? or
the apostles, when they were in bonds and prisons. Oh ! that Chris-
tians would chide themselves out of their cold prayers, and chide them-
selves into a better and a warmer frame of spirit when they make their
supplications before the Lord. An importunate soul in prayer is like
the poor beggar that prays and knocks, that prays and waits, that
prays and works, that knocks and knits, that begs and patches, and
will not stir from the door till he hath an alms.' And verily he that is
good at this will not be long a beggar in grace. God will make his
heart and his cup to overflow.

FouHhly, To pray in a right manner, is, to pray assiduously, con-
stantly, as well as fervently. Luke xviii. 1, ' And he spake a parable
unto them, to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint ;'
or as it is in the Greek, not to ' shrink back,' as sluggards in work or
cowards in war.'* Now men pray always, first, when their hearts are
always prepared to pray, or in a praying frame ; secondly, when they do
not omit the duty, when it is to be performed, or when they take hold
on every opportunity, to pour out their souls before the Lord, 1 Thes.
V. 17, ' Pray without ceasing.' A man must always pray habitually,
though not actually ; he must have his heart in a praying disposition
in all estates and conditions, in prosperity and adversity, in health and
sickness, in strength and weakness, in wealth and wants, in life and
death.^ So in Eph. vi. 18, * Praying always with all prayer and suppli-
cation in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and
supplication for all saints. Our daily weaknesses, our daily wants, our
daily fears, our daily dangers, our daily temptations, &c., bespeak our
daily prayers. Rom. xii. 12, * Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulations,
continuing instant in prayer,' "ir^oaxa^Ti^ovvTii, It is a metaphor taken
from dogs that hunt, that will not give over the game till they have got
it A dog, of all creatures, is best able to endure hunger ; he will run
from place to place, and never leave it till he hath got his prey. So a
child of God in his hunting after God, Christ, grace, peace, mercy, glory,
never gives over till he hath found his heavenly prey. Cant. iii. 4, ' At
length I found him whom my soul loved ; I held him, and would not
let him go.' The spouse never left hunting after her beloved, till she
had found him.* Gracious souls reckon that they have nothing till they
speed in the things they sue for ; they pray as if they had never prayed,
and think that they have done nothing till they have done the deed.*
It is observed by some of Proteus, that he was wont to give certain
oracles ; but it was hard to make him speak and deliver them, but he

* The Jews write upon the walls of their synagogues this sentence, that prayer, with-
out the intention of the mind, is but as a body without a soul. You know how to apply
it Jerome speaks of certain holy women in his time, that they seemed in their fervent
affections to join with the holy company of heaven.

* ix>ca»i7¥, i. e. Non defatigari. — Cornelius a Lapide. To pray always is u *a,iri xai^ai,
to pray in every opportunity.

' Semper oral qui beni semper agit. To pray always, is to pray omni tempore. Prayer,
saith one, is Flagelluin diahoLi.

* Augustine's usual wish was, that when Christ came, he might find him Aut precan-
Um, aut prcedicantem, either praying or preaching.

* As a hungry man eats as if he had never ate before.

KOM. VIII. 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 495

would turn himself into several shapes and forms ; yet if they would
hold out and press him hard without fear, into whatsoever form or
shape he appeared, they were sure to have satisfactory oracles. So if
we will continue constant in our wrestling with God for blessings, though
God should appear unto us in the form or shape of a judge, an enemy,
a stranger, &c., yet still to press him hard for mercy, verily mercy will
come at the long run, and we shall say, that it is not in vain for men to
hold on praying, though God for a time delays giving the particular
favours they sue for. As that emperor said, Oportet imjyeratorem stan-
tem mori, it behoves an emperor to die standing, so may I say, Oportet
Christianum Tnori precantem, it behoves a Christian to die praying.^

Fifthly, To pray in a right manner, is to pray sincerely : Ps. xvii. 1,
' Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips' ; or, as
it is in the Hebrew, without * lips of deceit.'* Ps. cxlv. 18, ' The Lord
is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in
truth.' Your heart and tongue must go together ; word and work, lip
and life, prayer and practice must 'echo one to another, or all will be
lost, heaven lost, and the soul lost for ever. It is not the greatness of
the voice, nor the multitude of words, nor the sweetness of the tone, nor
studied notions, nor eloquent expressions, that takes Jehovah, but truth
in the inward parts, Ps. li. 6. When the Athenians would know of the
oracle, the cause of their often unprosperous successes in battle against
the Lacedaemonians, seeing they offered the choicest things they could
get, in sacrifice to the gods, which their enemies did not, the oracle gave
them this answer. That the gods were better pleased with their inward
supplication without ambition, than with all their outward pomp in
costly sacrifices. Ah, souls ! the reason why you are so unsuccessful
in your religious duties and services is, because you are no more sincere
and upright in them. Were there more singleness and sincerity of
heart in your duties, you would have surer and sweeter returns from
heaven.^

One reports of Joachim,* the father of the Virgin Mary, that he
would often say, Cibus et potus mihi erit oratio, prayer is my meat
and drink. Ah, Christians ! the more sincere you are, the more will
prayer be your meat and drink ; and the more prayer is a delight and
pleasure to you, the more will you be the pleasure and delight of God,
who delights in those that delight in his service, and that count his
work better than wages. It was more troublesome to Severus the
emperor, to be asked nothing, than to give much ; when any of his
courtiers had not made bold with him, he would call him and say.
Quid est cur nihil petis ? &c., what meanest thou to ask me nothing ?
8o says Christ to upright souls ; ' Hitherto have ye asked nothing ; ask,
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full,' John xvi 24. Christ
hath a full purse, a noble heart, and a liberal hand.

^ Hypocrites are inconstant in their prayers ; they are only at it by fits and starts,
they are only constant in inconstancy.

* HDID *nBK' K^2. The very heathen gods would be served in white, the very
emblem of purity.

3 A gentlewoman, being in her parlour in meditation and prayer, cried out, Oh that
r might ever enjoy this sweet communion with God, and never change it! The first
part of her wish is precious ; in the latter part of the wish, like Peter, she said she knew
not what * Protei. Jac. i., &c. — G.

496 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

[4.] The fourth requisite in prayer is this, viz., your prayer must be
ad bonum, to a good end; it must be to the glory of God, and to the
internal and eternal advantage of your own and others' souls.' The
chiefest end, the white, the mark, at which the soul must aim in prayer,
is God's glory : ' Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,' 1 Cor.
X. 31. When God crowns us, he doth but crown his own gifts in us ;
and when we give God the glory of all we do, we do but give him the
glory that is due unto his name ; for he works all our works in us and
for us. God measures all men's actions by their ends : if their end be
good, all is good ; if the end be naught, all is naught. The end deter-
mineth the action. All actions of worship are good or bad, as the mark
is at which the soul aims. He that makes God the object of prayer,
but not the end of prayer, doth but lose his prayer, and take pains to
undo himself. God will be all in all, or he will be nothing at all ; he
will be Alexander or Nemo ; he will be both the object and the end of
prayer, or else he will abhor your prayer. Those prayers never reach
his ear, they are never lodged in his bosom, that are not directed to his
glory. The end must always be as noble as the means, or else a Chris-
tian acts below himself, yea, below his very reason.

Ah, Christians ! it is not a flood of words, nor high strains of wit, nor
vehemency of affections in prayer, but holy and gracious ends, that will
render prayer acceptable and honourable to God, comfortable and pro-
fitable to yourselves and others ; yea, the directing of one prayer to
divine glory doth more torture and torment Satan than all the prayers
in the world that are directed to ends below divine glory. It is not
simply prayer, but the soul's aiming at divine glory in prayer, that adds
to Christ's crown and Satan's hell.^

And thus I have shewed you all the requisites of prayer, even of such
prayer as accompanies salvation. I shall now proceed to some other
particulars for the further and fuller opening of this truth.

(2.) The second property. Secondly, That prayer that accompanies
salvation betters the whole man. By it faith is increased, hope strength -
ened, the spirit exhilarated, the heart pacified, the conscience purified,
temptations vanquished, corruptions weakened, the affections inflamed,
the will more renewed, and the whole man more advantaged. Prayer
is a spiritual chair, wherein the soul sitteth down at the feet of the Lord,
to receive the influences of his grace. Prayer is the regal gate by which,
the Lord entereth into the heart, comforting, quieting, strengthening,,
quickening, and raising of it. The Scripture affords us a cloud of wit-
nesses to prove this truth, but I appeal to praying saints. Ah, tell me,
tell me, praying souls, have not you, do not you find it so ? I know
you have and do, and that is it that makes prayer a pleasure, a paradise
unto you.'

^ Maximilian's motto was, Tene tnensuram, et respiee finem, keep thyself within com-
pass, and have always an eye to the end of thy life and actions.

* Lord, saith Austin, whatever thou hast given, take all away ; only give me thyself,
Isa. 1. 11 ; Zech. vii. 6 ; Amos v. 22 ; Hosea vii. 14. Many heathens, as Aristides, Cato,
Themistocles, with divers others, did unfeignedly many great services for the common
good, and not for their own gain ; but yet they could not hit the mark, the white, divin'i
glory ; and so their most glorious actions were but glorious sins, and would never turn
to their souls' accounts.

» It was a sweet saying of one, * Lord ! I never come to thee but by thee ; I never
go from thee without thee.' [Ambrose, Epist. 116. — G.]

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 497

(3.) The third p^^opeHi/. Thirdly, You may judge what prayer that
is that accompanies salvation by corhsidering the difference that is be-
twixt the 'prayers of the godly and the wicked. Now the difference
between the prayers of the one and the other I shall shew you in the
following particulars.

The first difference. First, Gracious souls do trade and deal vjith
God in prayer, only upon the account and credit of Christ.'^ They
beg mercy to pardon them, and grace to purge them, and balm to heal
them,- and divine favour to comfort them, and power to support them,
and wisdom to counsel them, and goodness to satisfy them, but all upon
the account of Christ's blood, of Christ's righteousness, of Christ's satis-
faction, and of Christ's intercession at the right hand of the Father,
Rev. iv. 10, 1 1. They seek the Father in the Son, they present their
suits always in Christ's name, for so is the will of Christ : John xiv. 13,
14, ' And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it.' John xv. 16, ' Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father
in my name, he will give it you.' Chap. xvi. 23, ' Verily I say unto
you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it
you.' oTt offa av aiTrisriTi. The Greek is pregnant, and may be read not
only ' Whatsoever,' but also ' How many things soever ye shall ask or
beg of the Father in my name, he will give them to you.' There is no
admission into heaven, except we bring Christ in our arms : Eph. ii. J 8,
' For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.'
The Greek word signifies ' a leading by the hand.' It is an allusion to
the custom of princes, to whom there is no passage, unless we be brought
in by one of the favourites.^

Plutarch reports, ' That it was wont to be the way of some of the
heathens, the Molossians, when they would seek the favour of their
prince, they took up the king's son in their arms, and so went and
kneeled before the king.'

Ah, Christians ! Christ is near and dear unto the Father ; the Father
hath determined to give out all his loves and favours through his Son ;
if you bring Christ in the ai-ms of your faith, you gain the Father's
heart, and in gaining his heart you gain all. The father's mercies melt,
his bowels roll, his heart turns, his Compassions are kindled upon the
sight of his Son's merits and mediation. As Joseph said to his brethren,
' Ye shall not see my face unless you bring your brother Benjamin,'
so says God, you shall not see my face unless you bring the Lord Jesus
with you.*

Now gracious souls, in all their prayers, they present Jesus Christ
before the 'Father, and upon his account they desire those things that
make for their external, internal, and eternal good. Ah ! but vain men

* It is a notable saying Luther hath upon the 130th Psalm : Often and willingly, saith
he, de I inculcate this, that you should shut your eyes and your ears, and say, You know
no God out of Christ, none but he that was in the lap of Mary, and sucked her breasts.
He means none out of him.

* r^iirayuyriy. As no access, 80 no acceptance without Christ, Eph. i. 6, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. ^ Plutarch : Pyrrh., i. 6, &c. — G.

* Af Joseph.said, ' See not my face, except you bring Benjamin with you,' so says God,
See not my face, except you bring Jesus with you, Gen. xlii. 20-34 ; and as David said,
to Abner, 2 Sam. iii. 13.

VOL. II. I i

498 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

treat and trade with God in prayer upon the account of their own
worth, righteousness, worthiness, and services : Isa. Iviii. 2, 3, * Yet they
seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did right-
eousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of me
the ordinances of justice, they take delight in approaching to me :
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? Wherefore
have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge X Here you
see they stand upon their own practices and services, and expostulate
the case with God in an angry manner, because God did not answer
their hypocritical performances. So the proud pharisee stands in prayer
upon his own worthiness and righteousness: Luke xviii. 11, 12, 'The
pharisee stood and prayed thus" with himself: God, I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.'^
So did those hypocrites in Mat. vi. 23 stand very much upon their
outward services and performances, though they were but shining sins,
but filthy rags.

The second differeTice. Secondly, Souls truly gracious pray more
to get off their sins than they do to get off their chains. Though bonds
did attend Paul in every place. Acts xx. 23, as himself speaks, yet he
never cries out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
my bonds, but, ' O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
my sins, from this body of death ?' Rom. vii. 23. David cries not
Perii, but Peccavi; not I am undone, but I have done foolishly, Ps. li. 4.
But wicked men strive in prayer more to get off their chains than to
get oft' their sins; more to be delivered from enemies without than lusts
within ; more to get out of the furnace than to be delivered from their
spiritual bondage, as the scriptures in the margin do evidence.*

The third difference. Thirdly, The stream and cream of a gracious
man's spirit runs most out in prayer after spiritual and heavenly
things, as is abundantly evident by those prayers of the saints that
are upon record throughout the Scripture, Ps. iv. 6, 7, and xxvii. 4 ;
but the stream and cream of vain men's spirits in prayer nms most out
after poor, low, carnal things, as you may see in comparing the following
scriptures together, Hosea vii. 14, Zech. vii. 5-7, James iv. 3, &c.

The fourth difference. Fourthly, A gracious soul looks and lives
nnore upon God in prayer than upon his prayer. He knows, though
prayer be his chariot, yet Christ is his food. Prayer may be a staff to
support him, but Christ is that manna that must nourish him, and upon
him he looks, and lives : Ps. v. 3, ' In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee ' (or marshal and set in order my prayer, as it is in the He-
brew), ' and will look up '• (or ' look out,' as it is in the Hebrew) ' as a
watchman looks out to discover the approaches of an enemy.'' But
vain men, they live and look more upon their prayers than they do upon
God ; nay, usually they never observe what returns they have from
heaven. They are like those that shoot arrows, but do not mind where
they fall. Wicked men think it is religion enough for them to pray ;
and to look after their prayers, to see how their prayers speed, is no

' This pharisee was like the Egyptian temple, painted without, and spotted within ;
varnish without, and vermin within. ,

2 Pa. Ixxviii. 84 ; Zech. vii. 5-7 ; Isa. xxvi. 16, 17. * nSVNI 17 "pVH, in PihU.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 499

article of their faith ; but a gracious soul is of a more noble spirit ;
when he hath prayed he will stand upon his watch-tower, and observe
what God will speak : Ps. Ixxxv. 8, ' I will hear what God the Lord will
speak ;' for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints : but
let them not return to folly;' or, as the Hebrew maybe read, 'And
they shall not return to folly. Veal iashubu le chislah.' Wicked men
would have God to be all ear to hear what they desire, when them-
selves have never an ear to hear what he speaks. But deaf ears shall
always be attended with dumb answers. Justice always makes mercy
dumb, when sin hath made the sinner deaf.

The fifth difference. Fifthly, No discouragements can take gracious
souls off from prayer, but tJie least discouragments will take offcarTial
heaHs from piuyer, as you may see in the following scriptures com-
pared together : Ps. xl. 1, 2, and xliv. 10-23 ; Mat. xv. 21-29 ; MaL
iii. 14 ; Isa. Iviii. 1-3 ; Amos viii. 3-5, &c.^

When one of the ancient martyrs was terrified with the threatenings
of his persecutors, he replied, ' There is nothing,' saith he, ' of things
visible, nothing of things invisible that I fear ; I will stand to my pro-
fession of the name of Christ, and contend earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints, come on it what will.' It is neither the hope of
life, nor the fear of death, that can take a real Christian off from prayer.
He is rather raised than dejected, he is rather quickened than dis-
couraged by delays or denials ; .he will hold up and hold on in a way
and course of prayer, though men should rage and lions roar, and the
furnace be heat seven times hotter, &c. But it is not so with carnal
hearts. Job xxvii. 9, 10.

The sixth difference. Sixthly, When a gracious man prays, he hath
his heaH in his prayer ; ivhen he falls upon the work, he makes heart-
work of it? So David, Ps. xlil 4, ' When I remember these things, I
pour out my heart.' So Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 15, 'I am a woman of a
sorrowful spirit,' said she, ' and have poured out my soul before the
Lord.' So the Israelites in 1 Sam. vii. 6, 'pour out their souls like
water before the Lord.' So the church in Isa. xxvi. 8, 9, * The desire of
our soul is to thy name, and to 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.' Gracious souls know that no prayer is acknow-
ledged, accepted, and rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is
sincerely and wholly.* It is not a piece, it is not a comer of the heart,
that will satisfy the maker of the heart. The true mother would not
have the child divided. As God loves a broken and a contrite heart,
so he loathes a divided heart. God neither loves halting nor halving,
he will be served truly and totally. The royal law is, * Thou shalt love
and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,'
Deut. X. 12. Among the heathens, when the beasts were cut up for

^ nyD CS, I will listen, and lay my obedient ear to what the Lord shall speak.

2 Aristotle, though a heathen, coald say, that in some cases a man had better lose his
life than be cowardly. — Ethic, iii. cap. i.

* In his course his heart is in his prayer ; he finds by experience that the heart is the
jyrimum mobile, the great wheel that moves all other wheels. It is the chief monarch in
the isle of man.

< The voice of God is Da mihi cor. The heart, as a prince, gives laws to all other
members. The heart is Christ's bed of spices ; it is his presence-chamber ; it is his royal
throne ; it is one of those four keys that God keeps under his own girdle.

/)00 HEAVEN ON EAKTH. [ROM. VIII. 82-34

sacrifice, the first thing the priest looked upon was the heart, and if the
heart was naught the sacrifice was rejected. Verily, God rejects all
those sacrifices wherein the heart is not.

Now wicked men are heartless in all their services, in all their prayers,
as you may see in comparing the following scriptures together ; I shall
not transcribe the words, because I must cut short the work : Isa. xxix.
13 ; Mat. xv. 7-9 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 30-32 ; Zech. vii. 4-6 ; 2 Chron. xxv.
1, 2. As the body without the soul is dead, so prayer, without the heart
be in it, is but dead prayer in the eye and account of God.^ Prayer is
only lovely and weighty, as the heart is in it, and no otherwise. It is
not the lifting up of the voice, nor the wringing of the hands, nor the
beating of the breasts, but the stirrings of the heart, that God looks at
in prayer, God hears no more than the heart speaks ; if the heart be
dumb, God wiU certainly be deaf. No prayer takes with God but that
which is the travail of the heart.

The seventh difference. Seventhly, Gracious souls usually come off
from 'prayer, with hearts more disengaged from sin, and more vehe-
mently set against it.^ The precious communion that they have with
God in prayer, the sweet breathings of God into their hearts, whilst they
are a-breathing out their requests in his ears, and the secret assistance,
stirrings, and movings of the Spirit upon their souls in prayer, arm them
more against sin, and makes them stand upon the highest terms of
defiance with sin. How shall I do this or that wickedness against God ?
says the praying soul. Oh I cannot, I will not do anything unworthy of
him that hath caused his glory to pass before me in prayer.

Ah ! but wicked men come off from prayer with hearts more encouraged
to sin, and more resolved to walk in ways of sin : Prov. vii. 14-24, ' I
have peace-offerings with me,' saith the harlot ; ' this day have I paid
my vows : therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy
face, and I have found thee. Come, let us take our fill of love until the
morning ; let us solace ourselves with loves.'^ So in Jer. vii, 9, 10,
' Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
bum incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not ;
and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name,
and say. We are delivered to do all these abominations ?' Wicked men
are like Lewis, king of France, that would swear and then kiss the
cross, and then swear more bitterly and then kiss the cross. So they
sin and rpray, and pray and sin; and the more they pray, the more
easily, resolutely, impudently do they sin.* They make use of prayer
to charm their consciences, that so they may sin with more pleasure and
less regret. Ah ! what pains do such sinners take to go to hell, and to
arm their consciences against themselves in that day, wherein they shall
say, There is no help, there is no hope !

Tfie eighth difference. Eighthly and lastly. Gracious souls do more

^ Prayer without the heart is but an empty ring, a tinkling cymbal,

* Dan. ix. 9, Neh. x., compared ; Rom. viii. 26, <rfvavT(Xa^/3a«ra/, helpeth together,
or helps us as the nurse doth the little child. Prayer is the breath of the Spirit, &c.

3 Dm nn3, be drunken with loves, which shews her unsatiable lusts.

* Mr [Thomas] Shepherd, in his ' Sincere Convert,' speaks of such a monster : yea,
this age is full of such monsters, that have no pity upon themselves. [Shepherd's
'Works' have been collected in 3 vols, crown 8vo (1853), in. America. The 'Sincere
Convert ' is still a favourite. — G.]

Rom. VIII. S2-34.] heaven on eaeth. 501

eye and observe how their own hearts are wrought upon in prayer,
than how others' hearts are wrought upon} When they pray, they look
with a curious eye upon their own spirits, they look with a narrow eye
upon their own hearts, and observe how they are affected, melted,
humbled, quickened, raised, spiritualized, and bettered by prayer. But
vain men, as they pray to ' be seen of men,' so they eye most how others
like their prayers, and are affected and taken with their prayers.
They are most critical in observing what operations their prayers have
upon others' hearts, but never mind, to any purpose, how they operate
upon their own hearts ; a worse plague cannot befall them.^

And thus I have endeavoured to shew you what a wide difference
there is betwixt the prayers of the godly and the ungodly ; and by this,
as by the former particulars laid down, you may see what prayer that
is that accompanies salvation.

Now, in the seventh place, I shall shew you what perseverance that
is that accompanies salvation, and that I shall do in these following
particulars.

(1.) The first property. First, That perseverance that accompanies
salvation, is Perseverance in a holy profession. Heb. iv. 14, * Seeing
then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession by a strong hand,'
or by a hand of holy violence [xmrOjfiiv'j. So in chap. x. 23, ' Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ' (or as it is in the
Greek, 'without tilting, or tossing to one side or other'), 'for he is
faithful that promised.'^ Therefore let no temptation, affliction, opposi-
tion, or persecution, take us off from our holy profession, but let us hold
our profession with a forcible hand, yea, with both hands, in the face
of all difficulties, dangers, and deaths, as Cynaegirus, the Athenian
captain, did the ship that was laden with the rich spoil of his country.*

(2.) Tlie second property. Secondly, That perseverance that accom-
panies salvation, is a perseverance in holy and spiritual principles.
It is an abiding in love, John xv. 9, 10 ; and an abiding in faith and
hope, 1 Cor. xiii. 13, &c. Perseverance is not a particular distinct grace
of itself ; but such a virtue as crowns all virtue ; it is such a grace as
casts a general glory and beauty upon every grace, it is a grace that
leads every grace on to perfection.*

To persevere in holy and heavenly principles, is to persevere in be-
lieving, in repenting, in mourning, in hoping ; it is to persevere in love,
in fear, in humility, in patience, in self-denial, &c. Now it is this per-
severance in holy and gracious principles that accompanies salvation,
that leads to salvation.* No grace, no, not the most sparkling and
shining grace, can bring a man to heaven of itself, without persever-
ance ; not faith, which is the champion of grace, if it faint and fail ;
not love, which is the nurse of gi'ace, if it decline and wax cold ; not

' Ps. XXXV. 13, my prayer returned into my own bosom, Isa. xxvi. 8, 9.

* Mat. vi. 23. The virtue of some lieth in the spectator's eyes.

3 xitTix;t"f^if signifies a forcible holding, a holding with both hands, 'AxXivS.

* Justin, ii. 9, &c. — G.

6 So Col. i. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 15 ; Heb. xiii. 1, and xi. 13. These all died in faith, or as
it is hi the Greek, they all died according to faith, that is, persevering in faith.

* It is a rule in the civil law, Ifec videtur actum si quid supersit quodagatur, that nothing
seems to be done if there remain aught to be done. Let a man do never so much, if he
do not persevere, he will be found to have done nothing.

502 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-84.

humility, which is the adorner and beautifier of grace, if it continue
not to the end ; not obedience, not repentance, not patience, nor no
other grace, except they have their perfect work. It is perseverance
in grace that crowns every grace, and every gracious soul with a crown
of glory at last. Rev. ii. 10, * Be thou faithful to the death, and I will
give thee a crown of life.' Such as only believe for a time, and repent
for a time, and love for a time, and rejoice for a time, and hope for a
time, as all hypocrites only do &c., but do not persevere and hold out,
will be doubly miserable in the day of vengeance. Perseverance is the
accomplishment of every grace; without it, he that fights cannot hope
to overcome; and he that for the present doth overcome, cannot look
for the crown, unless he still perseveres and goes on conquering and to
conquer, till he finds all his enemies slain before him.

(3.) The third property. Thirdly, That perseverance that accom-
panies salvation is an ohiding or continuing in the word or doctrine
of Christ} John xv. 7, ' If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.' 1 John
ii. 14, 'I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and
the word of God abideth in you.' Ver. 24, * Let that therefore abide in
you which you have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in
the Son, and in the Father.' 2 John 9, ' Whosoever transgresseth, and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God : he that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.' None
shall receive the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls, but
those that hold fast the doctrine of faith, soundly, sincerely, and en-
tirely to the end : John viii. 31, ' If ye continue in my word, then are
ye my disciples indeed.' It is the end that crowns the action, as the
evening crowns the day, as the last act commends the whole scene. It
is not enough to begin well except we end well ; the beginning of
Christians is not so considerable as the end.* Manasseh and Paul began
ill, but ended well; Judas and Demas began well, but ended ill.'^ It is
not the knowledge of the doctrine of Christ, nor the commending of the
word of Christ, but the abiding in Christ's word, the continuing in
Christ's doctrine, that accompanies life and glory, and that will render
a man happy at last. Such that, with Hymeneus and Alexander, put
away, or make shipwreck of the doctrine of faith, of the word of faith,
shall, by the Lord or his people, or by both, be delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme, 1 Tim. i. 19, 20, 1 Cor. v. 5.
Usually the end of such is worse than the beginning. Double damna-
tion attends those that begin in the spirit and end in the flesh, 2 Peter
ii. 20-22; 2 Tim. iiL 13.

(4.) The fouHh property. Fourthly, and lastly. That perseverance
that accompanies salvation is a perseverance in holy and gracious
actions and motions; it is a continuing in pious duties and religious
services, Philip, iii. 10-14 ; Isa. xl. 31. The life of a Christian con-

^ You must persevere, and hold fast the faith of tlie gospel, without wavering in it or
starting from it. You must be as the centre, or as mount Zion, stedfast and unmoveable.

■•* The tabernacle was covered over with red — and the purple-feathers* tell us that
they take that habit for the same intent — to note, that we must defend the truth, and
abide by the truth, even to eifusion of blood. * I suppose, the Romish priests. — Ed.

3 Nero's first five years were famous, but afterwards who more cruel ?

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 503

sists in motion, not in session.^ A Christian's emblem should be an
house moving towards heaven ; he must never stand still, he must
always be a-going on from faith to faith, and from strength to strength."
When saints have done their Avork in this life, they shall sit upon
thrones in a better life. Perseverance is a going on, a holding out in
ways of piety and sanctity f Acts i. 14, • These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication. Chap. ii. 42, ' And they continued
stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread, and in prayer.' Ver. 46, ' And they continued daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.' 1 Tim. v. 5, ' Now
she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continu-
eth in supplications and prayers night and day.' Rom. xii. 12, ' Con-
tinuing instant in prayer.' Christians must work hard in a wilderness
before they sit down in paradise. They must make a constant progress
in holiness before they enter into happiness. It is the excellency of
perseverance, that it keeps a Christian still in motion God-wards,
heaven-wards, holiness-wards. It is a grace that quickens a man to
motion, to action ; it keeps a man still going, still doing. And motion
is the excellency of the creature ; and the more excellent any creature
is, the more excellent is that creature in its motions, as you may see
in the motions of the celestial bodies, the sun, moon, and stars. Per-
severance is a perpetual motion in ways of grace and holiness, Ps.
xliv. 16-20.* Perseverance will make a man hold up and hold on in the
work and ways of the Lord, in the face of all impediments, discourage-
ments, temptations^ tribulations, and pei-secutions. As the moon holds
on her motion though the dogs bark, so perseverance will make a Chris-
tian hold on in his holy and heavenly motions though vain men bark
and bite, &c.

And thus I have shewed you what perseverance that is that accom-
panies salvation.

Now in the eighth place I shall shew very briefly,

(1.) That hope doth accompany salvation.

(2.) What that hope is that doth accompany salvation.*

1. 2 hat hope doth accompany .salvation, these scriptures speak it
out: Rom. viii. 24, 'For we are saved by hope;' Gal. v. 5, 'For we
though the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith ;' Eph. i.
1 8, ' The eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints ;' 1 Thes. v. 8, ' But let us, who are of
the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for
an helmet the hope of salvation ;' Titus, iii. 7, 'That, being justified

' ' Sitting.'— G. 2 2fon progredi est regredi, not to go forwards is to go backwards.

^ Acts xiii. 43, and xiv. 22. -r^offna^ri^oZvTis of Kaort^iiv, signifying a continuance in
prayer and supplication, with an invincible and strong constancy.

* There was a temple of Concord among the heathens ; and shall it not be found
among Christians, that are the temple of the Holy Ghost ?

5 The eighth and last thing that accompanies salvation is hope. I shall gather up
whAt I have to say concerning hope into as narrow a compass as I can, being unwilling
to tire the reader's patience, and my own spirits. The philosophers excluded hope out
of their catalogues of virtues, numbering it among the perturbations. But God by his
word hath taught us better.

504 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [RoM. VIII. 32-34

by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life ;' Chap. i. 2 'In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began.'

By all these scriptures it doth fully appear, that hope doth accom-
pany salvation, it doth border upon eternal life.

2. The second thing that I am to shew you is, what hope that ie that
doth acco^npany salvation, that comprehends salvation ; and that I
ahall do with as much brevity and perspicuity as I can, in the following
particulars :

First, That hope that accompanies salvation isu grace of God whereby
we exi^ect good to come, waiting patiently till it corned

(1.) I call it a grace of God, because he is the donor of it ; and
therefore he is called the God of hope : Rom. xv. 13, ' Now the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.' Now God is called
the God of hope, because he is objective, the only object of our hope, and
he is effective, the only author and worker of hope in the soul. Hope
is no natural affection in men. Men are not bom with hope in their
hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths. Hope is nobly
descended, it is from above, it is a heavenly babe that is formed in
the soul of man by the power of the Holy Ghost. And as hope is no
natural affection, so hope is no moral virtue, which men may attain by
their frequent actions ; but hope is the theological virtue that none can
give but God.

(2.) I say it is a grace of God, whereby we expect good to come ; I
say good, not evil, for evil is rather feared than hoped for by any.

The object of this hope hath four conditions :

1. It must be bonuTn, good.

2. Futurum, future.

3. Possibile, possible.

4. Arduum, hard or difficult to obtain.

(3.) I say hope is a grace of God, whereby we expect good to ^ome^
patiently waiting till it come. Hope makes the soul quiet and patient
till it comes to possess the good desired and hoped for : Rom. viii. 25,
' But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for
it.' The Hebrew word kavah, that is often translated hope, signifies a
very vehement intention, both of body and mind, a stretching forth of
the spirit or mind, in waiting for a desired good.

2. Secondly, That hope that accompanies salvation is always conversant
about holy and heavenly objects, as about God and Christ -.^ 1 Tim. i.
1, ' Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our
Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.' In these words,
Christ is set forth as the chief object of our hope, because by his merits
and mercy, we hope to obtain the remission of our sins, and the eternal

■ Spes est expectatio eorum quce veri a Deo promissa fides credidit. — Calvin. 1 Tim. vi.
17. This very title, 'the God of hope,' may serve as a sovereign antidote against the
blackest and horridest temptations ; for why should any despair of his mercy, who hath
proclaimed, himself to be the God of hope ? Spes est virtus qua. inclinamur ad expectationem
«onim quce Deut nobis promisit. — Perkins.

* 2 Cor. iv. 18. Hope fares well ; it keeps a prince's table; it lives upon honey and
milk, oil and wine ; it lives upon the sweatmeats, the delicates of heaven, as God, Christ,
and glory, Ps. xxxi. 24, xxxiii. 22, xxxviii. 16, xlii. 6, xliii. 5, xxxix. 7, Ixxi. 5, and
XV. 6.

EOM. VIII 32-34.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 505

salvation of our souls. Sometimes hope is exercised about the righteous-
ness of Christ : Gal. v. 5, ' For we through the Spirit wait for the hope
of righteousness by faith.' Sometimes hope is exercised about God the
Father : 1 Peter i. 21, * Who by him do believe in God, that raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory ; that your faith and hope
might be in God \' Jer. xiv. 8, ' Oh the hope of Israel, the Saviour
thereof in the time of trouble;' Chap. xvii. 13, '0 Lord, the hope of
Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed ;' ver.l7, 'Thou art my
hope in the day of evil.' Sometimes hope is exercised and busied about
the word and promises : Ps. cxix. 49, ' Remember the word unto thy
servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope ;' ver. 81, ' My soul
fainteth for thy salvation ; but I hope in thy word ;' ver. 114, 'Thou
art my hiding-place, and my shield : I hope in thy word ;' Ps. cxxx. 5,
' I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope ;'
Ps. cxix. 74, ' They that fear thee will be glad when they see me ; be-
cause I have hoped in thy word ;' ver. 147, ' I prevented the dawning
of the morning, and cried : I hoped in thy word.' Hope in the pro-
mise will keep the head from aching, and the heart from breaking ; it
will keep both head and heart from sinking and drowning. Hope exer-
cised upon the promise, brings heaven down to the heart.^ The pro-
mises are the ladder by which hope gets up to heaven. Hope in the
promise will not only keep life and soul together, but will also keep the
soul and glory together; hope in the promise will support distressed
souls ; hope in the promise will settle perplexed souls ; hope in the
promise will comfort dejected souls ; hope in the promise will reduce
wandering souls ; hope in the promise will confirm staggering souls ;
hope in the promise will save undone souls.** The promise is the same
to hope, that hope is to the soul ; the promise is the anchor of hope,
as hope is the anchor of the soul. Look, what the breasts are to the
child, and oil is to the lamp, that are the promises to hope, Rom. viii.
24.^ Hope lives and thrives, as it feeds upon the promises, as it em-
braces the promises. The promises are the sweetmeats of heaven, upon
which hope lives. And every degree of hope brings a degree of joy
into the soul, which makes it cry out. Heaven, heaven, Heb. xi. 13 ; Ps.
xvi. 11 ; Tit. iii. 7.

Again, hope is exercised about the glory and felicity, the happiness
and blessedness that is at God's right hand. Titus ii. 13, 'Looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ* Hope makes a man stretch out his neck and put
forth his hand, and look as earnestly for the glorious appearing of Christ,
as Sisera's mother did for the happy return of her son. The hoping
soul is often a-sighing it out, Why are his chariot wheels so long
a coming ? Col. i. 5, ' For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.'
Hope in this place is taken by a metonymy, for the things hoped for,
viz., all that glory and felicity, that blessedness and happiness, that is

' The Jewish Rabbins were wont to say, that upon every letter of the law there hangs
mountains of profitable matter. Ah ! then, what abundance of comfort and sweetness
may hope find, yea, does hope find in the promises.

* Ps. klii. 5, andoxix. 49, 60, compared, Hosea vi. 1, 2.

* The promises are hope's rich magazine.

* ^^tKrhix'H'*^"- Looking for Christ's coming as earnestly as men look and long for
the coming of some special friends, or as innkeepers do for special guests.

506 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [KOM. VIII. 32-34.

laid up for us in heaven.^ So in Heb. vi. 18, ' Who have fled for refuge
to lay hold upon the hope set before us.' Hope here is put for the
object of hope, viz., heaven and happiness. Hope lays such fast hold,
as the Greek word here signifies, xgar^tra/, upon heaven and happiness,
that none shall ever be able to take those precious things out of hope's
hand. So hope is put for the glorious things hoped for, Eph. i. 18. And
thus you see those precious and glorious objects, about which that hope
that accompanies salvation is exercised.

3. Thirdly, That hope that accompanies salvation, that comprehends
salvation, that borders upon salvation, is grounded upon the firmest
foundations, to wit, the 'promises of God, Pro v. x. 28, as hath been fully
shewed before; and it is built upon the free grace of God, 1 Peter i. 13.
It is built upon the infinite and glorious power of God, Rom. iv. 21. It
is built upon the truth and faithfulness of God, 2 Tim. ii. 13. These
precious and glorious foundations do bear up the hopes of the saints, as
the three pillars bore up the hangings in the tabernacle. A believer's
hope is founded upon the love of Christ, the blood of Christ, the right-
eousness of Christ, the satisfaction of Christ, and the intercession of
Christ, &c ; but the hopes of hypocrites and wicked men, are always
built upon weak, slender, and sandy foundations. Sometimes they build
their hopes upon their outward profession, upon their lamps, though
they are empty lamps. Mat. xxv. 3 ; and sometimes upon their duties and
services, as the Jews, scribes, and Pharisees did, Isa. Iviii, 1-3, Mat. vi.
1, 2, &c ; and sometimes upon their outward privileges, crying out, ' The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord;' and sometimes they build
their hopes upon others' good opinion of them, and sometimes upon flashes
of joy, and sometimes upon enlargements in duties, and sometimes upon
the heat and vigour of their spirits in religious services, &c.^ And all
these are but sandy foundations, and they that build their hope upon
them will certainly fall, and great will be their fall. The hopes of the
saints are built upon the surest and the strongest foundations. It was a
good saying of one of the ancients, ' I consider,' said he, ' three things in
which all my hope consisteth, to wit, 1, God's love in my adoption ; 2, the
truth of his promise ; and 3, his power of performance. Therefore, let my
foolish cogitation murmur as long as it list, saying. Who art thou ? or.
What is that glory ? or. By what merits dost thou hope to attain it ? For

1 can answer with sure confidence, I know on whom I have believed,

2 Tim. i. 12. And I am certain, first, that in his love he adopted me ;
secondly, that he is true in his promise ; and thirdly, that he is able to
perform it. This is the threefold cord which is not easily broken.' '

4. Fourthly, That hope that accompanies salvation, that borders
upon salvation, that comprehends salvation, that brings salvation, may
be known from all false hopes, hy the excellent properties of it, and
they are these that follow.

[1.] The first property of that hope that accompanies salvation is
this : it elevates and raises the heart to live above, where its treasure
is.* This hope is from above, and it makes the heart to live above : it

I So in Rom. viii. 24, 26 ; Col. i. 27 ; Rom. v. 2, &c.

* Every false principle in religion is ' a reed of Egypt,' that will certainly deceive souls
at last ; therefore take heed of leaning upon any of those reeds.

^ Bernard, serm. '6, de fragm : Sept. Miser.

* Mat. vi. 20, 21; Philip, iii. 20; Col. iii. 1. Mark, wicked men's hopes never raise

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 507

is a spark of glory, and it leads the heart to live in glory. Divine hope
carries a man to heaven, for life to quicken him, and for wisdom to
direct him, and for power to uphold him, and for righteousness to justify
him, and for holiness to sanctify him, and for mercy to forgive him, and
for assurance to rejoice him, and for happiness to crown him. Divine
hope takes in the pleasures of heaven beforehand ; it lives in the joyful
expectation of them ; it fancies to itself, as I may say, the pleasures and
joys of eternity ; and Uves in a sweet anticipation of what it possesseth
by faith. Hope's richest treasures, and choicest friends, and chiefest
delights, and sweetest contents, are in the country above ; and therefore
hope loves best to live there most.

[2.] The second property of that hope that accompanies salvation is
this : it will strengthen the soul against all affllctixyns, oppositions, and
temptations : 1 Thes. v. 8, * But let us, who are of the day, be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope
of salvation.' Look, as the helmet defends and secures the head, so doth
hope defend and secure the heart. Hope is a helmet that keeps off all
darts that Satan or the world casts at the soul. The hopes of heavenly
riches made those worthies in Heb. xi. to despise the riches of this
world.' The hopes they had of a heavenly country made them willing
to leave their own country, and to live in the very land of promise as
in a strange country. The hopes they had of possessing at last a house
not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens, made them willingly
and cheerfully to live in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and
caves of the earth. The hopes they had of a glorious resurrection made
them courageously to withstand the strongest temptations, &c., Rom. v.
2-5. A saint's hope will outlive all fears and cares, all trials and
troubles, all afflictions and temptations. Saints have much in hope,
though little in hand ; they have much in reversion, though but little
in possession ; they have much in promise, though but little in the
purse. A saint can truly say, Spero Tneliora, my hopes are better
than my possessions. Hope can see heaven through the thickest
clouds; hope can see light through darkness, life through death,
smiles through frowns, and glory through misery, Hope holds life and
soul together ; it holds Christ and the soul together ; it holds the soul
and the promises together ; it holds the soul and heaven together ; and
so it makes a Christian to stand and triumph over all afflictions, oppo-
sitions, and temptations."

[3.] The third property of that hope that accompanies salvation is
this : it makes the soul lively and active: Ps. cxix. 166, 'Lord, I have
hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.' Hope puts the
soul upon doing, upon obeying : 1 Peter i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant (or
much, ToXii) mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' It is called a lively hope,

them as high as heaven ; under all their hopes they are as very enemies, and as great
strangers to God, Christ, and heaven, as ever.

> Dan. iii. 87 ; Ps. iv. 6, 7 ; Heb. x. 34 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. It was a wicked and hope-
less cardinal that said, He would not leave his part in Paris for a part in paradise.

' Some are verily persuaded that the want of this divine hope hath been the reason
that many among the heathen hath laid violent hands upon themselves. • See Plutarch
in Caesar's and Cato's lives. Heb. xi. 10, 14, 16, 25, 32, compared.

508 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. YIII. 32-34.

because it brings life and comfort into the soul ; and it is called a lively
hope in opposition to the withering and dying hopes of hypocrites and
wicked men ; and it is called a lively hope, because it flows from lively
causes, viz. the Spirit of Christ, and the soul's union and communion
with Christ ; but mainly it is called a lively hope because it puts the
soul upon lively endeavours. Hope will make a man pray as for life,
hear as for life, and mourn as for life, and obey as for life, and work and
walk as for life. Hope will not say this work is too hard, and that
work is too hot ; this work is too high, and the other work is too low.'
Hope will make a man put his hand to every work. Hope makes a
man more motion than notion ; it makes a man better at doing than
at saying, &c. Hope gives life and strength to all religious duties and
services : 1 Cor. ix. 10, ' He that plougheth should plough in hope ; and
he that thrasheth in hope shall be partaker of his hope.' Hope will put
a Christian upon ploughing and thrashing, that is, upon the hardest
and difficultest services for God and his glory. If fleshly hopes of gaining
the honours, riches, and favours of this world made Absalom, Ahithophel,
Jehu, Haman, and many heathens, full of life and activity, full of motion
and action, verily holy and heavenly hopes will make men much more
lively and active, by how much heavenly hopes are more excellent than
earthly. A man full of hope will be full of action. A lively hope and
a diligent hand are inseparable companions. Hope will make a man
do though he dies for doing.^

[4.] The fourth iJropeHy of that hope that accompanies salvation
is this : It will rnake a Ttian sit, Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst
of all storms and tempests, in the midst of all combustions, concus-
sions, and mutations. When others are at their wits' end, then hope
will house the soul, and lodge it far^ and quiet in the bosom of God :
Job xi. 18, ' And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope : yea, thou
shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.' The
Hebrew word that is here rendered rest, is from a root that signifies to
rest and sleep quietly, as in one's bed.* Hope will bring the soul to bed
safely and sweetly, in the darkest night, in the longest storm, and in
the greatest tempest : Heb. vi. 19, ' Which hope we have as [an] anchor
of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil.' Hope is that anchor of the soul, that keeps it quiet and
still in all storms and tempests ; it keeps the soul from dashing
upon the rocks, and from being swallowed up in the sands. Hope is an
anchor that is fastened above, not below ; in heaven, not in earth ;
within the veil, not without ; therefore the ship, the soul of a believer,
must needs be safe and secure. That ship will never be split upon the
rocks, whose anchor is in heaven. Hope enters within the veil, and
takes fast anchor-hold on God himself ; and therefore blow high, blow

I A man's duties and services usually are as his hopes are : if his hopes are weak and
low, so will his services be ; but if his hopes are spiritual, noble, and high, so will his
motions and actions be. Divine hope makes saints as far excel all other men in their
actings, as the angels do excel them. Some say hope and fasting are the two wings of
prayer. Fasting is but as the wing of a bird, but hope is as the wing of an angel, bear-
ing our prayers to the throne of grace.

* Fleshly hopes put the Romans upon doing very strange and wonderful exploits, as
you may see in Plutarch, and other historians. ^ Spelled ' fare': qu. 'fair'? — G.

* ^DKTl, from 23tJ*, to rest as men in their beds, or as the body rests in the grave.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 509

low, rain or shine, the soul of a saint is safe. Divine hope settles the
heart. He that cannot look for more than he hath, can never be settled
nor satisfied. Our best and greatest estate lies in invisibles. Our per-
fect and complete estate here lies not in re, but in spe ; it lies not in
what we have in possession, but in what we have in expectation, in
reversion.^

[5.] The fifth property of that hope that accompanies salvation is
this : It vjill work the soul to a quiet and patient waiting upon God
for mercy, though God should delay the giving in of mercy .^ Rom.
viii 25, ' But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.' Ps. cxxx. 5, 6, 'I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than
they that watch for the morning ; I say, more than they that watch for
the morning.' Hope will make a man wait, yea, wait long for a mercy,
as it did Abraham, Rom. iv. 18-21. Though the vision stay, yet hope
will wait for it, Hab. ii. 1-3 ; yet a little, little while, says hope, and he
that shall come will come, and will not tarry, Heb. x. 36, 37. The
longer I wait for a mercy, the greater, better, and sweeter, at last, the
mercy will prove, says hope.^ It is not mercy, if it be not worth a wait-
ing for, says hope ; and if it be a mercy, thou canst not wait too long
for it, says hope.

The men of Bethulia resolved to wait upon God but five days longer,
but deliverance stayed seven days, and yet came at last. So says hope,
though deliverance stay, though this and that mercy stays, as it were
in the birth, yet it will come at last, therefore wait. Hope is not hasty
in prefixing the time when God shall shew mercy, neither will it limit
God to the way or manner of shewing mercy, but leave both the time
and the manner to him that is wise and faithful. Says hope, Christ
knows his own time, and his own time is best ; though he stays long,
yet he will certainly come, and he will not stay a moment beyond the
time he hath prefixed ; and therefore, says hope, be not weary, O soul,
but still wait patiently upon the Lord : 1 Thes. L 3, * Remembering with-
out ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope.'
Hope is the mother of patience and the nurse of patience ; hope breeds
patience, and hope feeds patience. If it were not for hope, the heart
would die ; and if it were not for hope, patience would die. Look, as
faith gives life and strength to hope, so doth hope give life and strength
to patience, therefore patience is called patience of hope. Hope main-
tains patience, as the fuel maintains the fire.*

[6.] The sixth property of that hope that accompanies salvation is
this : It is soul-purifying hope ; it puts a Chnstian upon purifying
himself, as ChHst is pure : 1 John iii. 3, ' And every man that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure.'* Divine

^ Chrysostom saith that hope is not only the anchor, but the ship to that good anchor.
Hypocrites in stormy times are like ships without anchors, tossed up and down with
every wave, and in danger of being split upon every rock, Job xxvii. 9, 10.

* Patience is nothing else but hope spun out. If you would lengthen patience, be sure
to strengthen hope.

3 Hope's motto is, Quod defertur non avfertur, forbearance is no acquittance. '

* Pittacus, one of the seven sages, used to say, A wise man must recover that by
patience which force cannot command. [Diogenes Laert. i. 77, 78. — G.] The Lord
shews mucli mercy in timing our mercies for us. Spes e$t meliorum. — Drusius.

* In quality, though not in equality, as is not a note of parility or equality, but of re-

510 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

hope runs out into holiness. He that hath the purest and strongest
hopes of being saved, is most studious and laborious to be sanctified.
The Greek word ayw'^s/, that is rendered 'purifieih, is a metaphor taken
either from the ceremonial purifications in time of the Law, or else from
goldsmiths purifying metals from their dross ; and it notes thus much
to us, that those that have hopes to reign with Christ in glory, that have
set their hearts upon that pure and blissful state, that paradise, that
holy and spiritual state of bliss that is made up of singleness and purity,
they will purify both their insides and outsides, both body and soul,
that they may answer to that excellent copy that Christ hath set before
them, knowing that none shall enjoy everlasting glory but those that
labour after perfect purity.

Now hope purifies the heart and life thus, by keeping the purest
objects, as God, Christ, the word, and the soul together, and by making
the soul serious and conscientious in the use of all soul-purifying ordi-
nances, and by being a fire in the soul to burn up all those corruptions
and principles of darkness that are contrary to that purity and glory
that hope hath in her eye ; and by working the soul to lean upon Christ,
to live in Christ, and to draw purifying virtue from Christ, who is the
spring and fountain of all purity and sanctity. And thus hope purifies
those that expect to be like Christ in glory.^

[7.] The seventh 'property of that hope that accompanies salvation,
that comprehends salvation, is this : it is permanent and lasting ; it
will never leave the soul till it hath lodged it in the bosom of ChHst.
Prov. xiv. 32, ' The righteous hath hope in his death.' The righteous
man's hope will bed and board with him ; it will lie down with him,
and rise up with him ; it will to the gi-ave, to heaven with him : his
motto is. Cum expire spero, my hope lasts beyond life.*

The Jews' ahcient custom was, by the way as they went with their
corpse, to pluck up every one the grass, as who should say, they were not
sorry as men without hope, for their brother was but so cropped off, and
should spring up again in the morning of the resurrection. And the
Jews to this very day stick not to call their Golgothas (batte chiim)
the houses or places of the living. ^

That hope that accompanies salvation is a long-lived hope ; it is a
living hope. 1 Peter i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us
again unto a lively hope,' or a living hope :* a hope that will not die,
a hope that will not leave a man in life nor death. Ps. Ixxi. 14, ' But
I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.' No

semblance and similitude : as there is a similitude betwixt the face itself and the image
of the face in the glass, but no equality.

^ How lively hope makes the soul in religious services, I have shewed in the third
property.

2 Prov. X. 28. Austin's hope made him long to die, that he might see that head that
was once crowned with thorns.

3 Hope made the ancients to call the days of their de&thnatalta, not dying but birth-
days, Heb. iii. 6, and vi. 11 ; 1 Peter i. 13 ; Ps. cxxxi. 3.

* luirai, living ; PIT'S T*Dn. In prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness, in
life and death, I will hope. It is neither the smiles nor the frowns of the world that sliall
bury a Christian's hope. A Christian's hope will live in all weathers, and it will make
a Christian bear up bravely in all storms and under all changes.

EOM. VIII. 82-34<.] HEAVEN ON EARTH. 511

trials, no troubles, no afflictions, no oppositions, shall keep down my
hope, says David. I am peremptorily resolved, in the face of all
dangers, difficulties, and deaths, to keep up my hopes ; come what will
come on it, I will rather let my life go than my hope go : I will hope
continually. A hopeless condition is a very sad condition ; it is the
worst condition in the world ; it makes a man's life a very hell. If
' hope deferred maketh the heart sick,' as the wise man speaks, Prov.
xiii. 12, then the loss of hope will make the soul languish, it will make
it choose strangling rather than life ; it will make a man's life a con-
tinual death. A soul without hope is like a ship without anchors.
Lord, where will a soul stay that stays not upon thee by hope ? A man
were better part with anything than his hope.

When Alexander went upon a hopeful expedition, he gave away his
gold ; and when he was asked what he kept for himself, he answered,
Spem majorutn et meliorum, the hope of greater and better things.
A believer's hope is not like that of Pandora, which may fly out of the
box, and bid the soul an everlasting farewell.^ No ; it is like the
morning light ; the least beam of it shall commence into a complete
sunshine. It is aurora gaudii, and it shall shine forth brighter and
brighter till it hath fully possessed the believer of his Christ and crown.
This will be the hypocrite's hell and horror when he comes to die, that
his hope will be like the morning dew, like the spider's web, like the
crackling of thorns under a pot, and like the giving up of the ghost,
Job viii. 13, 14, and xi. 20, and xxvii. 8 ; Prov. xiv. 32, and xi. 7. And
this is now the upright man's joy, that whoever leaves him, yet his hope
will not leave him, till he hath put on his crown and is set down in
paradise.^ And thus you see what hope that is that doth accompany
salvation. Before I close up this chapter, take these two cautions with
you ; they make for your comfort and settlement.

[1.] The first caution is this: tJiat all saints have not these things
that accompany salvation in the same degree. If thou hast but the
least measure or degree of that knowledge that accompanies salvation,
or of that faith that accompanies salvation, or of that repentance, or of
that obedience, or of that love, &c., that accompanies salvation, thou
mayest be as assuredly confident of thy salvation, as if thou wast al-
ready in heaven. The least degree, O Christian, of those things that
accompany salvation, will certainly yield thee a heaven hereafter, and
why then should it not yield thee a heaven here ? It will imdoubtedly
yield thee a crown at last; and why should it not yield thee comfort
and assurance now 1 I judge it may, if thou art not an enemy to thine
own soul, and to thy own peace and comfort.'

[2.] The second caidion is this: Though thou dost not jind every one
of those things in thee that do accompany salvation, yet if thou dost
find some of those things, ay, though but a few of those thimgs, yea,

1 Philostratus, Vit. Apoll., vi. 39.— G.

2 I have read of a Rhodian, who being cast into a dungeon fnll of adders and snakes,
for some horrid crimes by him committed, some persuaded him to rid himself out of that
misery by a violent way ; but he answered, No ; for, saith he, as long as I have breath
in my nostrils, I will ever hope for my deliverance.

** The Scripture tells you of saints of several sizes : some are babes, some are children,
some are young men, some are old men. Now, all these do not attain to the same degree ;
but happy is he that hath the least degree.

512 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

though hut one of those things that accompanies salvation, that com-
preJtends salvation, that borders upon salvation, thy estate is safe, and
hapjnness will be thy portion at last. Thy sense and feeling of one of
those precious things that accompanies salvation, should be of more
power to work thee to conclude that thy estate is good, than any other
thing should work thee to conclude that all is naught, and that thou
shalt miscarry at last. Do not always side with sin and Satan against
thine own precious soul.^

Having thus discovered to you the way and means of attaining to a
well-grounded assurance, I shall now hasten to a close.

CHAPTER VT.

Shewing the difference between a true and a covniterfeit assurance,
between sou/nd assurance a/nd presumption.

(1.) The first difference. A sound and well-grounded assurance is
attendedwith a deep admiration of God's transcendent love and favour
to the soul in the Lord Jesus. The assured soul is often a-breathing
it out thus : Ah, Lord 1 who am I, what am I, that thou shouldst give
into my bosom the white stone of absolution, when the world hath
given into their bosoms only the black stone of condemnation? Rev. ii. 17.*
Lord ! what mercy is this, that thou shouldst give me assurance, give me
water out of the rock, and feed me with manna from heaven, when ra9,ny
of thy dearest ones spend their days in sighing, mourning and complain-
ing for want of assurance. Lord! what manner of love is this, that thou
shouldst set me upon thy knee, embrace me in thy arms, lodge me in
thy bosom, and kiss me with the sweet kisses of thy blessed mouth, with
those kisses that are ' better than wine,' Cant. i. 2, yea, better than life,
when many are even weary of their lives because they want what I enjoy?
Ps. Ixiii. 3, Ah, Lord ! by what name shall I call this mercy, this
assurance that thou hast given me ? It being a mercy that fits me to
do duties, to bear crosses, and to improve mercies ; that fits me to speak
sweetly, to judge righteously, to give liberally, to act seriously, to suffer
cheerfully ,^ and to walk humbly.^ I cannot, says the assured soul, but
sing it out with Moses, ' Who is like unto thee, Lord, amongst the
gods ? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing
wonders t Exod. xv. 2. And with the apostle, ' Oh, the height, the
depth, the length and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth know-
ledge,' Eph. iii. 18, 19. If the queen of Sheba, says the assured soul,
was so swallowed up in a deep admiration of Solomon's wisdom, great-
ness, goodness, excellency and glory, that she could not but admiringly
breathe it thus out, ' Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants,
which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom,' 1 Kings

^ No saints are at all times sensible that all those precious things that accompany
salvation are in them. It is not always day with the saints.

=* The white stone given among the Romans was a sign of absolution, and the black
stone was a sign of condemnation.

3 Assurance is a wonderful alchemy ; it changeth iron to gold, ignominies to crowns,
and all sufferings to delights.

Rom. VIII. 32-34;.] heaven on eaeth. 513

X. 8, Oh then, how should that blessed assurance that I have of the
love of God, of my interest in God, of my union and communion with
God, of my blessedness here and my happiness hereafter, work me to a
deep and serious, to a real and perpetual, admiration of God.^

[2.] The second differeTice. Secoodly, A well-grounded assurance doth
always beget in the soul an earnest and an impatient longing after
a further, a clearer, and fuller enjoyment of God and Christ. Ps.
Ixiii. 1, 'O God, thou art my God' — here is assurance; well, what fol-
lows ? — ' early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee ; my flesh
longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.'^ The
assured soul cries out, ' I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ,'
PhiHp. i. 23 ; and, ' Make haste, my beloved,' Cant. viii. 14 ; and, 'Come,
Lord Jesus, come quickly,' Rev. xxii. 17. O Lord Jesus, says the
assured soul, thou art my light, thou art my life, thou art my love, thou
art my joy, thou art my crown, thou art my heaven, thou art my all.
I cannot but long to see that beautiful face that was spit upon for
my sins, and that glorious head that was crowned with thorns for my
transgressions. I long to take some turns with thee in paradise, to see
the glory of thy Jerusalem above, to drink of those rivers of pleasures
that be at thy right hand, to taste of all the delicates of thy kingdom,
and to be acquainted with those secrets and mysteries that have been
hid from all ages, and to be swallowed up in the full enjoyment of thy
blessed self, Eph. iii. 5, Col. i. 26.«

[3.] The third difference. Thirdly, A well-grounded assurance is
usuaUy strongly assaulted by Satan on all sides.*' Satan is such a
grand enemy to joy and peace, to the salvation and consolation, of the
saints, that he cannot but make use of all his devices and stratagems to
amaze and amuse, to disturb and disquiet, the peace and rest of their
souls. No sooner had Jesus Christ heard that lovely voice from heaven,
* This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Mat. iii. 17 and
iv. 1, 2, &c., but he is desperately assaulted by Satan in the wilderness.
No sooner was Paul dropped out of heaven, after he had seen such visions
of glory that was unutterable, but he was presently assaulted and buffeted
by Satan, 2 Cor. ii. 12. Stand up, stand up, assured Christians, and tell
me whether you have not found the blast of the terrible one to be as a
storm against the wall, Isa. xxv. 4. Since the Lord said unto you. Be
of good cheer, your sins are forgjven you, have not you found Satan to
play the part both of the lion and the wolf, of the serpent and the fox ?
And all to weaken your assurance, and to work you to question the truth
of your assurance, and to cast water upon your assurance, and to take
oif the freshness and sweetness, the beauty and glory, of your assurance ;
I know you have.' His malice, envy, and enmity is such against God's

' Assurance of Christ's love made Jerome admiringly to say, my Saviour, didst thou
die for love of me alone, a [death] more dolorous than death, but to me a death more lovely
than life itself ! I cannot live, love thee, and be longer from thee.

* David, though in a wilderness, seeks not for bread or water or protection, but fur
more of God.

* The assured soul's motto is, my God! when shall I be with thee, when shall I be
with thee?

* The devil marcheth well armed, and in good array, saith Luther.

< ^ I verily think that they have very much cause to question the truth of their assur-
ance, who know not what it is to have their assurance assaulted strongly by Satan.
VOL. II. K k

5 1 4 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

honour and glory, and your comfort and felicity, that he cannot but be
very studious and industrious to make use of all traps, snares, methods,
and ways whereby he may shake the pillars of your faith, and weaken
and overthrow your assurance. Pirates, you know, do most fiercely
assault those ships and vessels that are most richly ladeu ;' so doth Satan
those precious souls that have attained to the riches of full assurance.'

Assurance makes a paradise in believers' souls, and this makes Satan
to roar and rage. Assurance fits a man to do God the greatest service
and Satan the greatest dis-service, and this makes him mad against the
soul. Assurance makes a saint to be too hard for Satan at all weapons,
yea, to lead that ' son of the morning ' captive, to spoil him of all his
hurting power, to bind him in chains, and to triumph over him ; and
this makes his hell a great deal hotter, Rom. viii. 32-39. And there-
fore never wonder at Satan's assaulting your assurance, but expect it
and look for it. The jailor is quiet when his prisoner is in bolts, but if
he be escaped then he pursues him with hue and cry.^ So long as the
soul is in bolts and bondage under Satan, Satan is quiet and is not so
apt to molest and vex it ; but when once a soul is made free, and assured
of his freedom by Christ, John viii. 36, then says Satan, as once Pharaoh
did, ' I will arise, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil ;
my lust shall be satisfied upon them ; I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them,' Exodus xv. 9. The experience of all assured saints
doth abundantly confirm this. Israel going into Egypt had no enemies,
no opposition, but travelling into Canaan they were never free.

[4.] The fourth difference. Fourthly, A weU grounded-assuranee
makes a man as bold as a lion ; it makes him valiant and gallant for
Christ and his cause, in the face of all dangers and deaths} After
the Holy Ghost was fallen upon the apostles, and had assured them of
their internal and eternal happiness, oh ! how bold, how undaunted,
how resolute were they in the face of all oppositions, afflictions, and
persecutions ! as you may see from the second of the Acts of the
ApOvStles to the end of the Acts. So assurance had this operation upon
David's heart : Ps. xxiii. 4, 6 compared, ' Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life.' Well, David, but how doth this
assurance of yours operate ? Why, saith he ' Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' So Moses having
an assurance of the 'recompence of reward,' he fears not the wrath of
the king, ' for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible,' Heb. xi.
26, 27. So in Heb. x. 34, ' And ye took joyfully the spoiling of your
goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an
enduring substance.' ^ Oh, that knowledge, that assurance that they

> See Index under Iieighton. — G.

• 8atan is that old serpent, as John speaks, Eev. xii. 9. He is as old as the world, and
is grown very cunning by experience, he being a spirit of above five thousand years'
standing.

3 Luther cries out, I am set upon by all the world without, and within by the devil
and all his angels.

* Tanto plus ffloricB referemus quoniam eo plures snperabimus. The number of opposers
makes the Christian's conquest the more illustrious, say saints under the power of
assurance, &c.

'^ ixaerierifft, was Constant. . . . 'yitai^KevTtt ix"* >' i'^vraTs, Knowing that you have in
yourselves, K^tirTna vTct^^m in eS^moif xa'i fcitoviray, a better being in heaven, and an
abiding one.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 515

had in their own hearts of enjoying in heaven a better and a more en-
during substance, made them bear cheerfully and gallantly the spoiling
of their worldly goods. Though the archers — the world, the flesh, and
the devil — do shoot sore at a soul under assurance, yet his bow will still
abide in strength. Assurance will make a man to break a bow of steel,
to trample down strength, and to triumph over all oppositions and
afflictions.

Colonus the Dutch martyr called to the judge that had sentenced
him to death, and desired him to lay his hand upon his heart, and
asked him whose heart did most beat, his or the judge's. Assurance
will make a man do this, and much more for Christ and his cause.

[5.] The fifth difference. Fifthly, A well-grounded assurance of a
man's own eternal happiness and blessedness ^'iWiMike him very studious
and laborious to make others happy: Ps. Ixvi. 16, ' Come and hear, all
ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul.'
I will acquaint you with the soul blessings, with the soul favours, that
God hath crowned me with. I was darkness, but he hath made me
light ; I was unrighteousness, but he hath made me righteous ; I was
deformed, but he hath made me complete ; I was full of sores, and spots,
and blemishes, but he hath washed me, and made me all fair, without
spot or wrinkle. I have found the want of assurance, I now see the
worth of assurance ; I have long sought assurance, and now I find the
sweetness of assurance. Ah ! it is such a pearl of price, it is such a
beam of God, it is such a spark of glory, that makes my soul a rich
amends for all its waiting, weeping, and wrestling.*

So, when it pleased God to call Paul by his grace, and to reveal
Christ in him^ and to him, ah ! how doth he labour, as for life, to bring
others to an acquaintance with Christ, and to an acceptance of Christ,
and to an assurance of everlasting happiness and blessedness by Christ!
After Paul had been in paradise, he makes it his all to bring others to
paradise, 2 Cor. xii. So the spouse in the Canticles, having assurance
of her interest in Christ, how doth she labour, by all holy and heavenly
rhetoric and logic, by all the strains of love and sweetness, to draw the
daughters of Jerusalem to a sight of Christ ! Cant, v. 10-16, and vi. 1,
&c. When a beam of divine light and love had shined upon Andrew,
he labours to draw his brother Simon to the fountain of all light and
love, John i. 40-42. And when Philip had but a cast of Christ's coun-
tenance, his pulse beats, and his heart calls upon Nathanael to come
and share with him in that loving-kindness that was better than life,
John i. 43-47.

The constant cry of souls under the power of assurance is, ' Come,
taste and see how good the Lord is,' Ps. xxxiv. 8. Ah, sinners, sinners !
' his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace,' Prov.
iii. 17 ; his ' commands are not grievous,' 1 John v. 3, but joyous ; ' his
j'oke is easy, and his burden is light,' Mat. xi. 30 ; not only /or keeping,
but also ' m keeping of his commands there is great reward,' Ps. xix. 11.
Assurance will strongly put men upon winning of others by counsel, by
example, by prayer, and by communicating their spiritual experiences
t6 them. Assurance will furnish a man with will, skill, and expe-

' Eph. V. 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Col. it 10 ; Isa. i. 6 ; Eph. v. 26, 27 ; Cant. iv. 7.
^ Gal. i. 15, 16, i> t/tii, in me.

516 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34<.

rience to confute all those false reports that vain men frequently cast
upon the Lord and his ways. It will make a man proclaim to the
world ' that one day in the Lord's courts is better than a thousand years
elsewhere/ Ps. Ixxxiv. 10 ; that there are more glorious joys, more pure
comforts, more abiding peace, more royal contents, more celestial de-
lights, in one day's walking with Ood, in one hour's communion with
God, &c., than is to be found in all things below God. And by these
and such like ways, souls under the power of a well-grounded assurance
do endeavour to make others happy with themselves. A soul under
assurance is unwilling to go to heaven without company. He is often
a-ciying out, Father, bless this soul too, and crown that soul too : let
us to heaven together, let us be made happy together.

[6.] The sixth difference. Sixthly, A well-grounded assurance of
God's love, and of a man's everlasting happiness and blessedness, will
exceedingly avni and strengthen him against all wickedness and
baseiiess, Ezek. xvi. 60-63. No man loathes sin, and himself for sin,
as such a man ; no man wars and watches against sin more than such
a man ; no man sighs and mourns, bleeds and complains, under the
sense of sinful motions and sinful operations more than such a man,
Luke vii. 44, 50. Every stirring of sin makes a man that is under the
power of assurance to cry out, * O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from this body of death?' Rom. vii. 22-25 : Ps. Ixxxv. 8, * I
will hear what God the Lord will speak ; for he will speak peace unto
his people, and to his saints : and let them not turn again to folly,' or,
as the Hebrew will bear, ' And they shall not return to folly.' God's
speaking peace to his people fences and fortifies them against folly and
vanity.

The assurance that Joseph had of his master's love armed him against
the lascivious assaults of his lustful mistress ; and will not divine love,
that is stronger than death, do this and more ? Cant. viii. 6, 7. Assur-
ance makes a man say to his sins, as he to his idols, ' Get you hence,
for what have I any more to do with idols ?' ' So says the assured soul.
Away pride, away passion, away worldly-mindedness, away uncleanness,
away uneharitableness, &c., for what have I any more to do with you ?
Assurance makes the soul speak to sin as David speaks to sinners :
Ps. cxix. 115, ' Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; for I will keep
the commandments of my God :' so says the assured soul. Depart from
me, O my lusts, for I have tasted of the love of God, and I have given
up myself wholly and only to God, and I cannot but keep the com-
mandments of my God. The Jewish Rabbins report, that the same
night that Israel departed out of Egypt towards Canaan, all the idols
and idolatrous temples in Egypt, by lightning and earthquakes, were
broken down. So when Christ and assurance comes to be set up in
the soul, all the idols of Satan and a man's own heart are cast down,
and cast out as an abomination. Sound assurance puts a man upon
'purifying himself, even as Christ is pure,' 1 John iii. 2, 3. The
assured Christian knows, that it is dangerous to sin against light, thnt
it is more dangerous to sin against love, that it is most dangerous to sin
against love revealed and manifested. God may well say to such a

• Hosea xiv. 8, compared with verses 2-6.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on earth. 517

Christian, Is this th j kindness ta thy friend ? To sin under assurance,
is to sin against the bowels of mercy, it is to sin against the highest
hopes of glory; and this will certainly provoke God to be angry. 1
Kings xi. 9, * And the Lord was angry with Solomon,* because his heart
was turned from the Lord God of Israel, that had appeared to him
twice.' To sin under assurance, is to sin in paradise; it is to sin under
the flaming sword, it is to sin in the suburbs of heaven, it is to run the
hazard of losing that favour 'that is better than, life,' of that 'joy that
is unspeakable and full of glory,' and of that ' peace that passes under-
standing.' To sin under assurance, is to cast reproach upon Christ, to
grieve the Spirit, to wound conscience, tO' weaken your graces, to blur
your evidences, to usher in calamities, to embitter your mercies, and to
provoke the tempter to triumph over your Saviour. Verily, that assur-
ance is but presumption that works men to play with sin, to be bold
with sin, to make light of sin, to walk on in ways of sin. Such assur-
ance will never bring a man to heaven, it will never keep him from
dropping into hell, yea, it will double his damnation, and make him the
most miserable among all damned, miserable, forlorn spirits. Ah,
Lord ! from such an assiirance deliver my soul ; and give me more and
more of that divine assurance that makes sin to be more hateful than
hell, and that makes the soul to be more careful to avoid the one, than
it is fearful of falling into the other.^

[7.] The seventh difference. Seventhly, A well-grounded assurance
is always attended with three fair handmaids, or with three sweet
companions,

(1.) The first haTidmaid. The first is love. Oh!, the assurance of
divine favour doth mightily inflame a man's love to Christ. Mary
Magdalene loved much ; Christ's love to her drew out her love very
much to Christ, Luke vii. Assurance makes the soul sing it out with
that sweet singer of Israel, ' I will dearly love thee, O Lord, my strength,'
Ps. xviii 2.^ Lovers know not how to keep silence ; lovers of Christ are
full of gracious expressions. Magnes amoris est amor; love is the
attractive loadstone of love. It is impossible for a soul not to love Christ,
that knows he is beloved of Christ. Christ's love constrains the soul to
love, not by forcible but loving necessity. Praxiteles exquisitely drew
love, taking the pattern from that passion which he felt in his own heart.
A believer cannot find the heart of Christ to be beating towards him,
but his heart will strongly beat towards Christ. Divine love is like a
rod of myrtle, which, as Pliny reports, makes the traveller that carries
it in his hand, that he shall never be faint, weary of walking, or loving.*
Love alone overpowereth all power. Love is the diadem ; none but the
queen must wear it. Love is the wedding garment ; none but the spouse
can fit it. Love is a loadstone to draw, as well as a fire to warm. He
that doth not love Christ, was never assured of the love of Christ.

* f|3Nn*1, Vaiithaiwaph in Pihil,^ to shew that the Lord waa greatly angry with
Solomon. The root C|JX, signifies properly to snuff with anger. It notes such anger as
appeareth ia the paleness of the face, and snuj£ng of the nose.

* This made Anselm say, That he had rather be thrust into hell without sin, than go
into heaven with sin.

* OmiN, from Dm, to love intimately and dearly, as a tender mother loves the
fruit of her womb.

* See Index under Myrtle, for former allusions.— G.

5J8 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.t

(2.) The second handmaid, or companion that attends a well-
grounded assurance, is humility. David, under assurance, cries out,
* I am a worm and no man,' ^ Ps. xxii. 6 ; Abraham, under assurance,
cries out, that he is but ' dust and ashes ;' Jacob, under assurance, cries
out, that he was * less than the least of all mercies ;' Job, under assur-
ance, 'abhors himself in dust and ashes;' Moses had the honour and
the happiness to speak with God ' face to face ;' he was very much in
God's books, in God's favour ; and yet a more humble soul the earth
did never bear. The great apostle Paul, under all the revelations
and glorious manifestations of God to him, counts himself ' less than
the least of all saints,' Eph. iiL 8. That is presumption, that is a
delusion of the devil, and no sound assurance, that puffs and sw^ells the
«ouls of men, that makes men prize themselves above the mafket, above
the value that God hath put upon them.

(3.) The third handm/iid or companion that attends assurance, is.
holy joy. Ah ! this assurance causes the strong waters of consolation to
overflow the soul. Assurance raises the strongest joy in the soul :
Luke i. 46, 47, and Mary said, ' My soul doth magnify the Lord, and
my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.' When a man comes to be
assured that God is his Saviour, presently his spirit rejoices in God.
This truth is held forth by three parables in that of Luke xv., so in that
of 1 Peter i. 8, 9, ' Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and
full of glory : receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your
souls.'^ Oh the joy, the joy, the inexpressible joy that attends a well-
grounded assurance ! Assurance raises a paradise of delight in the soul.
In quihus operamur, in illis et gaudem^us, saith TertuUian : in what
things or persons we act, in those things we rejoice.^ A Christian,
under the power of assurance, works all his works in Christ ; in him,
therefore, and in him alone, he rejoice th.

[8.] The eighth difference. Eighthly, and lastly, A well-grounded
assurance sometimes springs from the testimony und witness of the
Spirit of God. The Spirit sometimes witnesses to a believer's spirit
that he is born of Ood, that he is beloved of God, that he hath union
and communion with God, and that he shall reign for ever with God :
Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that
we are the children of God.' The Spirit itself witnesseth not only the
gifts and graces of the Spirit, but the S{Mrit itself witnesseth together with
our own spirit, that we are the children of God.* Sometimes the saints
have two witnesses joining their testimonies together to confirm and
establish them in these blessed and glorious truths, that they are the
sons of God and heirs of glory ; and this is their honour as well as their
comfort, that the blessed Spirit should bear witness at the bar of their
conscience that they are the sons of God : 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' Now we liave

' nV7"in. The Hebrew word tolagnah, that is Ivere rendered worm, signifiea a very
little worm, which a man can haxdly see or perceive.

* ^Aya.xxMffh, to dance aiui leap for joy ; l«J«g«r/«i*>i, glorified already, they haye heaven's
happiness beforehand.

» Apology : frequently, — G.

* nuri ri vnu/iu,, that same spirit. The Spirit's work is not ^agri/^uV, but rvfifta^n/^tT*,
to witness together with our spirit, that is, to confixm and ratify wuat our spiriia iiav©
asserted concerning our adoption, &o.

Rom. VIII. 32-34] heaven on eaeth. 519

received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God ;' that
is, that we may know our election, vocation, justification, sanctification,
and glorification. A man may receive many things that are freely
given of God, and yet not know them till the Spirit comes and makes
them known to the soul.

Quest. But you may say to me. How shall we know the whispering
of the Holy Spirit from the hissing of the old serpent ? How shall we
know the report, the witness, and testimony of the Spirit of Christ,
from that report, witness, and testimony that the old serpent deludes
and deceives many by, in these days wherein he mostly appears in his
angelical robes ?

Ans. I answer, you may know the whispering of the-Spirit from the
hissing of the old serpent, &c., by these following things, which I
desire that you would seriously consider, as you tender the peace and
settlement, the satisfaction, consolation, and salvation of your own
souls.

(1.) The first difference. First, The Spirit of Christ doth not witness
by any oviward voice, as God did from heaven of Christ, Mat. iii. 17;
nor by an angel, as to the Virgin Mary, Luke i. 80-34; ; but by an
inward, secret, glorious, and unspeakable way he bids believers be of
good cheer, their sins are forgiven them, as Christ said to the palsied
man in the Gospel, Mat. ix. 2. And this truth is to be solemnly minded
against those poor deceived and deluded souls in these days,^ that would
make the world believe that they have had such and such glorious
things made known by an outward, audible voice from heaven. It is
much to be feared that they never found the inward, the sweet, the
secret, the powerful testimony and report of the Spirit of Christ, that
boast, and brag, and rest so much upon an outward testimony. In
1 Kings xix. 11-13, you read of ' a great strong wind that rent the
mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks : but the Lord was not in
the wind : and after the wind there was an earthquake ; but the Lord
was not in the earthquake : and after the earthquake a fire ; but the
Lord was not in the fire : and after the fire there was a still small voice,'
and the Lord spake to Elijah in that still small voice. Ah, Christians !
the Spirit of the Lord makes not a noise, but he comes in a still small
voice, as I may say, and makes a soft and secret report to the soul,
that it is beloved, that it is pardoned, and that it shall be for ever
glorified.

(2.) The second difference. Secondly, The testimony and witness of
the Spirit of Christ is only gained and enjoyed in holy and heavenly
ways, as you may clearly see by comparing the Scriptures in the margin
together.* The Spirit of the Lord is a Holy Spirit, and he cannot, he
will not make any report of the love of the Father to the soul out of a
way of holiness. Verily, all those glorious reports that many boast
they have met with in sinful ways, in wretched and ungodly ways, are
from the hissing of the old serpent, and not from the whisperings of the
Spirit of grace. I think it is little less than blasphemy for any ta
affirm, that the blessed Spirit of Christ doth make reports of the love

* Quakers and Ranters.

* Acts X. 4 : Dan. ix. 20-22 ; lea. Ixiv. 5 ; Acts x. 44, &c.

520 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. YIIT. 32-34.

and favour of God to persons walking in ways of wickedness and
baseness.^

(3.) The third difference. Thirdly, The testimony and witness of the
Spirit of Christ, is a dear, a full, a satisfying testimony and witness,
John xiv. 17, 1 John iii. 24. The soul sits down under the home-
reports of the Spirit, and saith, liord, it is enough ; the soul being full,
sits down and sweetly sings it out : ' My beloved is mine, and I am his.
I am my well-beloved's, and his desire is towards me,' Cant. ii. 16, and
vii. 10. * The Lord is my portion and the lot of mine inheritance,' Ps.
xvi 5. 'I have none in heaven but thee, neither is there any on earth
that I desire in comparison of thee,' Ps. Ixxiii. 25. ' Henceforth is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8. * Make haste, my
beloved,' &c.. Cant. viii. 14. Such power, majesty, and glory, attends
the glorious testimony of the Spirit of Christ, as scatters all clouds, as
resolves all doubts, as answers all objections, as silences the wrangling
soul, &c. If the testimony of the Spirit of Christ were not a full, satisfy-
ing testimony, it could never fill the soul with such joy as is ' unspeak-
able and full of glory,' and with ' such peace as passes understanding ;'
if the testimony were not satisfactory, the soul would still be under fears
and doubts, the heart would still be a-wrangling and quarrelling, I may
perish, and I may be undone, I may have the door of mercy shut against
me, &c. If you bring news to a condemned person that the king hath
pardoned him, and that he will receive him to favour, and confer such
and such dignity upon him, yet this doth not quiet him nor satisfy him,
till he knows it is the king's act, till he is satisfied in that, he cannot
say it is enough, he cannot be cheerful, he cannot be delightful, &c.
But when he is satisfied that it is the king's act, that the king hath cer-
tainly done this and that for him, then he is satisfied, and then sighing
and mourning flies away, and then he rejoices with joy unspeakable.
So it is with a believing soul under the testimony and witness of the
spirit of Christ.

(4.) The fourth difference. Fourthly, Though the Spirit be a wit-
nessing Spirit, yet he doth not always witness to believers their adop-
tion, their interest in Christ, &c. There is a mighty difference between
the working of the Spirit and the witness of the Spirit. There are
oftentimes many glorious and efficacious works of the Spirit, as faith,
love, repentance, holiness, &c., where there is not the witness of the
Spirit. Isa. 1. 10. David at that very time had the Spirit, and many
sweet workings of the Spirit in him and upon him, when he had by sin
lost the witness and testimony of the Spirit, Ps. li. 1 0-1 2. Though
the Spirit of the Lord be a witnessing and a sealing Spirit, yet he doth
not alway witness and seal up the love and favour of the Father to
believers' souls, as you may see by the scriptures in the margin,* and as
the experience of many precious Christians can abundantly evidence.
All believers do not see alike need of this testimony, they do not all
alike prize this testimony, they do not all alike observe it and improve
it ; and therefore, it is no wonder if the Spirit be a witnessing Spirit
to some and not to others. You do but gratify Satan and wrong your

' Yet this age hath many such monsters.

' Job xxiii. 8, 9 ; 1 John v. 13 ; Ps. Ixxxviii., Ixxvii. ; Micah. vii. 8, 9 ; Isa. viii. 17.

Rom. VIII. 32-84.] heaven on earth. 521

own souls, when you argue that certainly you have not the Spirit, because
he is not a witnessing and a sealing Spirit to your souls. Though it be
the office of the Spirit to witness, yet it is not his office always to wit-
ness to believers their happiness and blessedness. The Spirit may act
one way and in one room of the soul, when he doth not act in another.
Sometimes the Spirit works upon the understanding, sometimes upon
the will, sometimes upon the affections, sometimes upon faith, sometimes
upon fear, sometimes upon love, sometimes upon humility, &c. Our
hearts are the Spirit's harps. If a man should always touch one string
in an instrument, he should never play various tunes, he should never
make pleasant music ; no more would the Spirit, if he should be always
a-doing one thing in the soul. Therefore he acts variously. Sometimes
he will shew himself a quickening Spirit, sometimes an enlightening
Spirit, sometimes a rejoicing Spirit, sometimes a sealing Spirit, and
always a supporting Spirit, &c.''

(5.) The fifth difference. Fifthly, The testimony and witness of the
Spirit ia a sure testimony, a sure witness. The Spirit is truth itself;
he is the great searcher of the deep things of God. The Spirit of the
Lord is the discoverer, the confuter, and destroyer of all false spirits.'*
The Spirit is above all possibility of being deceived, he is omnipotent,
he is omniscient, he is omnipresent, he is one of the cabinet-council of
heaven ; he lies and lives in the bosom of the Father, and can call them
all by name upon whom the Father hath set his heart, and therefore his
testimony must needs be true. It is a surer testimony than if a man
should hear a voice from heaven pronouncing him to be happy and
blessed. You may safely and securely lay the weight of your souls
upon this testimony ; it never hath, it never will deceive any that hath
leaned upon it. This testimony will be a rock that will bear up a soul,
when other false testimonies will be but ' a reed of Egypt,' that will
deceive the soul, that will undo the soul ; as I am afraid many in this
deluding age have found by sad experience.

(6.) The sixth difference. Sixthly, The testimony of God's Spirit is
always acconripanied with the testimony of our own.^ These may be
distinguished, but they can never be separated. When the Spirit of
God gives in witness for a man, his own spirit doth not give in witness
against him. Look, as face answers to face, so doth the witness of a
believer's spirit answer to the witness of the Spirit of Christ. Rom. viii.
16, ' The Spirit witnesseth together with our spirits that we be the sons
of God.' Now, if our own consciences do not testify first, that we are
sons and heirs, the Spirit doth not testify ; for the Spirit bears witness
together with our spirits. St John is very express in 1 John iii. 21,
' But if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God. But if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts,
and knoweth all things,' 1 John v. 8-J 2, and ' There are three that

* A man may be a-doing in one room, when he is not in another. So is the Spirit in
the heart of a saint.

» Titus i. 2 ; John xiv. 17 ; 1 Cor. ii. 10 ; 1 John iv. 1-6.

' I do not say that the testimony of our spirits i.s always accompanied with the testi-
niony of the Spirit, No; for a believer hath often the single testimony of his own spirit,
when he wants the testimony of the Spirit of Christ, and the single testimony of his own
conscience will afford him much courage and comfort, 2 Cor. i. 12. Yea, it will make
a paradise of delight in his soul, &c.

522 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these
three agree in one.' The Spirit doth witness eminently and efficiently,
but water and blood materially, and our spirits and reason instrument-
ally. By the Spirit we may understand the Holy Ghost, by whose
strength we lay hold on Christ and all his benefits. By water we may
understand our regeneration, our sanctification ; and by blood we may
understand the blood and righteousness of Christ, that is imputed and
applied by faith to us. ' And these three agree in one,' that is, they
do all three of one accord testify the same thing.

(7.) The seventh difference. Seventhly, The witness of the Spirit is
ever according to the word. There is a sweet harmony between the in-
ward and the outward testimony, between the Spirit of God and the
word of God. The scriptures were all indited by the Spirit, 2 Peter
i. 20, 21 ; and therefore the Spirit cannot contradict himself, which he
should do, if he should give in any testimony contrary to the testimony
of the word. It is blasphemy to make the testimony of the Spirit to
contradict the testimony of the word. The Spirit hath revealed his
whole mind in the word, and he will not give a contrary testimony to
what he hath given in the word. The word saith. They that are born
again, that are new creatures, that believe and repent, shall be saved.
But thou art bom again, thou art a new creature, thou believest and
repentest ; therefore thou shalt be saved, saith the Spirit. The Spirit
never looseth where the word bindeth, the Spirit never justifies where
the word condemns, the Spirit never approves where the word dis-
approves, the Spirit never blesses where the word curses. In the Old
Testament all revelations were to be examined by the word, Deut. xiii.
1-4. Isa. viii. 20, ' To the law and to the testimony : if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light (or no morn-
ing) in them.' ^ So in that of John xvi. J 3, ' The Spirit shall lead you
into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself ; but what he shall
hear, that shall he speak.' Here the Holy Ghost is brought in as some
messenger or ambassador who only relates things faithfully according
to that he hath in charge. Such as look and lean upon the hissing of
the old serpent, may have a testimony that they are happy, against the
testimony of the word ; but wherever the Spirit of Christ gives in his
testimony, it is still according to the word. Look, as indenture answers
to indenture, or as the counterpain* exactly answers to the principal
conveyance; there is article for article, clause for clause, covenant for
covenant, word for word ; so doth the testimony of the Spirit exactly
answer to the testimony of the word.

(8.) The eighth difference Eighthly, It is a holy witness, a holy
testimony.^ It is formally, it is originally holy, it is effectually holy.
Nothing makes the heart more in the love, study, practice, and growth
of holiness, than the glorious testimony of the Holy Spirit; and the more
clear and full the testimony is, the more holy and gracious it will make

' int? IT^^N. We are not only blind, but lame too ; therefore the Spirit shall lead us
to the knowledge and practice of all necessary saving truths.

» ' Counterpain,' «. e. counterpart, adds another to Halliwell's examples of the rare use
of this word. See Halliwell, tub voce G.

' Nil nisi sanctum <2 saneto Spiritu prodiere potest, nothing can come from the Holy Spirit
but that which is holy.

Rom. VIIL 32-34.] heaven on earth. 528

the soul. Nothing puts such golden engagements upon the soul to
holiness, as the Spirit sealing a man up to the day of redemption, as the
Spirit speaking and sealing peace, love, and pardon to the soul, Ps.
Ixxxv. 8; 1 Cor. xv. 31; 2 Cor. v. 14. Nothing makes a man more
careful to please Christ, more fearful to offend Christ, more studious
to exalt Christ, and more circumspect to walk with Christ, than this
testimony of the Spirit of Christ. Verily, that is not the blessed whis-
pering of Christ's Spirit, but the hissing of the old serpent, that makes
men bold with sin, that makes men dally with sin, that makes man a
servant to sin, that breeds a contempt of ordinances, a neglect of holy
duties, a carelessness in waljiing with God. And from those hissings of
the old serpent, Lord, deliver my soul, and the souls of all thy servants
that put their trust in thee !

(9.) The ninth difference. Ninthly and lastly, Assurance ia a jewel,
a pearl of that price, that God only bestows it upon renewed hearts.
The Spirit never sets his seal upon any, but upon those that Christ hath
first printed his image upon. God gives to none the white stone, Rev.
ii. 1 7, but to those from whom he hath taken the heart of stone ; Ezek.
xxxvi. 25, 26, 27 compared. Christ never tells a man that his name is
written in tlie book of life, till he hath breathed into him spiritual life,
Luke x. 20. Christ never says, Son, be of good cheer, thy sin is par-
doned, till he hath first said, Be thou healed, be thou cleansed, Luke v.
18-20. Christ never gives a man a new name, that is better than the
names of sons and daughters, till he hath made them new creatures,
Isa. Ivi. 5 ; 2 Cor. v. 17. Of slaves Christ first makes us sons, before
we cry Abba, Father, Rom. viii. 15. Of enemies, he first makes us
friends, before he will make us of his court or counsel, Eph. ii. 13-20.
Christ will never hang a pearl in a swine's snout, nor put new wine into
old bottles, nor his royal robes upon a leprous back, nor his golden
chain about a dead man's neck, nor his glistering crown upon a traitor's
head. The Spirit never sets his seal upon any, but upon those that
Christ hath first set as a seal upon his heart, Eph. i. 1 3 ; Cant. viii. 6.
The Spirit only bears witness to such as hate sin as Christ hates it,
and that love righteousness as Christ loves it, that hate sin more than
hell, and that love truth more than hfe, Ps. xlv. 7. A soul sealed by
the Spirit will pull out right eyes, and cut oft" right hands, for Christ ;
such souls will part with a Benjamin, and offer up an Isaac, for Christ.
And this is to be seriously minded against those deceived and deluded
souls, that remain yet in their blood, and that wallow in their sins, and
yet boast and brag of the seal and of the witness and testimony of the
Spirit.

And thus I have shewed you the difierence between the whisperings
of the Spirit and the hissing of the old serpent, between a true testimony
and a false.

CHAPTER VII.

^ Containing answers to several special questions about assurance,
[1.] The first question. But methinks I hear some precious souls

524 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

saying, Sirs ! we have, after much praying, weeping, and waiting, gained
this pearl of price, assurance ; but oh, how shall we do to strengthen it,
how shall we do to keep it ? Satan will labour to weaken our assurance,
and to rob us of this jewel that is more worth than a world ; what means
must we use to strengthen our assurance and to secure it ? &c.

Inow to this question I shall give these following answers :

First, If you would have your assurance strengthened and maintained,
then keep close to soul-strengthening ways, be serious and sincere, be
diligent and constant in tlie use of those means and ways wherein
you first gained assurance, as prayer, the word, breaking of bread,
communion of saints, &c.^ A conscionable and cordial use of holy and
heavenly means is blessed, not only with a preservation of assurance, but
likewise with an addition and increase of it. The ways of God, and his
goings in the sanctuary, have wrought wonders upon thee, when thou
wast dead, how much more will they work upon thee and for thee, now
thou art by grace made alive ? He that will not apply himself to God's
strengthening methods will quickly find his assurance weakened, if not
wholly wasted. He that thinks himself too good for ordinances, will
quickly grow weak in his assurance. The choicest prophets, and highest
apostles, if I may so speak, that had attained to the fullest assurance, kept
close to the ways and precious institutions of Christ.* Verily, those
that pretend to live above ordinances-, and yet live below them, never
knew by experience what a mercy it was to have a well-grounded
assurance, or else they have lost that blessed assurance that once they
had, &c.

Secondly, If you would strengthen- and maintain your assurance,
then dwell much upon your spiritual and eternal privileges, viz.,
your adoption, justification, reconciliation, &c., 1 Peter ii. 9'. This you
shall find by experience will mightily tend to the strengthening and
maintaining of your assurance. He that neglects this rule will quickly
find his sun to set in a doud, his harp to be turned into mourning, and
his organ into the voice of them that weep,^ Job xxx. 31.

Thirdly, If you would strengthen and maintain your assurance, then
look that your hearts run more out to Ghi'ist than to assurance ; to
the sun than to the beams, to the fountain than to the stream, to the
root than to the branch, to the cause than to the effect, Cant. i. 13.
Assurance is sweet, but Christ is more sweet. Assurance is lovely, but
Christ is altogether lovely. Cant. v. 16. Assurance is precious, but
Christ is most precious, Prov. iii. 15. Though assurance be a flower
that yields much comfort and delight, yet it is but a flower. Though
assurance be a precious box, yet it is but a box. Though assurance be
a ring of gold, yet it is but a ring of gold. And what is the flower to
the root, what is the box to the ointment, what is the ring to the pearl ?
No more is assurance to Christ. Therefore let thy eye and heart, first,
most, and last, be fixed upon Christ, then will assurance bed and board
with thee ; otherwise thou wilt quickly find thy summer to be turned
into winter.

' The old mle was, B.oe age,

• A cool spirit is always a losing spirit ; the doing heart, the diligent heart, turns the
spark into a flame, the mite into a million, &c.

» Holy and heavenly privileges are the food by which assurance ia cherished and
maintained.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eabth. 525

Fourthly, If you wouid strengthen and maintain your assurance, then
look that your hearts are more taken up with ChHst than with your
graces. Though grace be a glorious creature, yet it is but a creature ;
therefore let grace have your eye, but be sure that Christ have your
heart. Christ must have your heart. Christ will not allow your very
graces to be corrivals with him. He that minds his graces more than
Christ, or that sets his graces upon the throne with Christ, will quickly
find what it is to lose the face and favour of Christ. Your graces are but
Christ's servants and handmaids ; you may look upon them, but you must
not match with them. It is a reproach to Christ, that those who have mar-
ried the master, should at the same time match with the servant.' The
queen may look upon her glistering courtiers, but she must live upon the
king ; the wife may take pleasure in her lovely babes, but she must live
upon her husband, and be most observant of her husband. So gracious
souls may look upon their graces, but they must live upon king Jesus ; they
may take pleasure in their graces, but they must live upon Christ, and
be most observant of Christ. This is the way to keep Christ and assur-
ance, and he that walks contrary to this rule will soon find the loss of
both. • Christ will be Alexander or Nemo ; he will be all in all, or he
will be nothing at all. Though his coat was once divided, yet he will
never suffer his crown to be divided, John xix. 23, Isa. xlii. 8.

Fifthly, If you would have your assurance strengthened and main-
tained, then labour to improve it to the strengthening of you against
temptations, to the fencing of you against corruptions, to the raisii^g
of your resolutions, to the influming of your affections, to tlie better-
ing of your conversations} Assurance is a pearl of price ; he that
will keep it must improve it. The ready way to maintain our natural
strength, and to increase it, is to improve it. Assurance is one of the
choicest and chiefest talents that ever God entrusted man with, and
he that doth not improve it, and employ it, will quickly lose it, &c. God
will not suffer so golden a talent to gather rust, Mat. xxv, 28. Win gold and
wear gold, improve gold and keep gold ; win assurance and wear assur-
ance, improve assurance and keep assurance. Dionysius the elder, being
advised of one that had hidden great store of money, commands him upon
pain of death to bring it to him, which h^ did, but not all ; but with
the remainder he went and dwelt in another country, where he bought
an inheritance, and fell upon some employment, which, when Dionysius
heard, he sent him his money again which he had taken from him, say-
ing, Now thou knowest how to use riches, take that I had from thea I
shall leave you to make the application.

Sixthly, If you would have your assurance strengthened and main-
tained, then walk humbly with your God, Micah vi. 8. God makes
the humble man's heart his house to dwell in : Isa. Ivii. 15, ' Thus saith
the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ;
I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite

1 Christ is the pot of manna, the cruse of oil, the bottomless ocean, the most sparkling
diamond in the ring of glory, &c. When Darius sent to Alexander that he would be
willing to divide the kingdom, No, saith Alexander, there is but one sun in tlie firma-
jment. and there can be but one king in a kingdom. So saith Christ, &c.

* We have, saith Cyprian, no such notions as many philosophers have, but we are
philosophers in our deeds ; we do not speak great things, but we do great things in our
iivea.

526 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. YIII. 32-34.

and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones.'' The highest heavens and the lowest
hearts are the habitations wherein the Holy One delights to dwell Now
this phrase, ' I will dwell with the humble,' takes in several things :
1. It includes God's overlooking* the humble. 2. It takes in God's assist-
ing and strengthening of the humble. 3. It takes in God's protection ;
I will dwell with the humble, that is, I will protect him and secure
him, Job xxii. 29. 4. It takes in God's sympathizing with the humble.
5. It takes in God's appl)ang all suitable good to the humble, Isa.
Ivii. 18, and Ixiii. 9. 6. It takes in God's ruling and overruling the
heart and the affections of the humble. 7. It takes in God's teaching
and learning of the humble. But, 8, and lastly, It includes and takes
in a clearer, a fuller, and a larger manifestation and communication
of God to humble souls, Ps. x. 17, and xxv. 9. Ah ! saith God, I will
dwell with the humble ; that is, I will more richly, more abundantly,
and more gloriously manifest and make known my grace and glory, my
goodness and sweetness, my loving-kindness and tenderness, to humble
souls. Now tell me, humble souls, will not God's dwelling thus with
you contribute very much to the strengthening and maintaining of
jour assurance ? James iv. 6, * But he giveth more grace : wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud' (or as the Greek word emphatically
.signifies, avrndagerai, he sets himself in battle array against the proud),
' but giveth grace to the humble.' Humility is both a grace, and a
vessel to receive grace. God pours in grace into the humble souls, as
men pour liquor into an empty vessel And verily, the more grace you
have, the more will your assurance be strengthened and maintained.
Well ! remember this, the humble man's mercies are the sweetest mer-
cies, the greatest mercies, the most growing and thriving mercies, the
most blessed and sanctified mercies, and the most lasting and abiding
mercies. Therefore, as yotr would have your assurance strengthened
and maintained, walk humbly with your God ; I say again, walk hum-
bly, walk humbly with your God, and you shall wear the crown of
assurance to your grave.

Seventhly, If you would keep and maintain your assurance, then take
heed and watch a,gainM those very 'particular sins by which other
saints have lost tJieir assurance. Take heed of carnal confidence and
security. David lost his assurance by not guarding his heart against
those evils, Ps. xxx. 6, 7. Again, take heed of a light, slight, careless,
and negligent spirit in holy and spiritual things. The spouse in the
Canticles lost her assurance, and her sweet communion with Christ, by
her slightness of spirit. Cant. v. 2, 3, 6, compared. Again, take heed
of a stout and unyielding spirit under the afflicting hand of God ; this
made God hide his face from them, Isa. Ivii. 17. In a word, take heed
of tasting of forbidden fruit, remembering what Adam lost by a taste.

Eighthly, If you would maintain and keep your assurance, then fre-
quently and seriously consider of the wonderful difficulty of recover-
ing assurance when it is lost. Oh ! the sighs, the groans, the complaints,
the prayers, the tears, the heart-renting, the soul-bleeding that the

^ niT^DB'l, low of spirit, nvnn?, to quicken or make to live the spirit of humble
ones, Isa. xli. 10.

• ' Looking over,' = superintending. — G.

■Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on earth. 627

recovery of thy lost assurance will cost. The gaining of assurance at
first cost thee dear, but the regaining of it, if thou shouldst be so un-
happy as to lose it, will put thee to more pains and charge. Of the
two, it is easier to keep assurance now thou hast it, than to recover it
when thou hast lost it. It is easier to keep the house in reparations,
than when it is fallen to build it up.^

Ninthly, and lastly. Consider solemnly the sad and wofvl evils and
inconveniences that will certainly follow upon the loss of your assur-
ance!^ I will only touch upon a few.

(1.) None of the precious things of Christ will be so sweet to thee as
formerly they have been.

(2.) You will neither be so fervent in duty, nor so frequent in duty,
nor so abundant in duty, nor so spiritual in duty, nor so lively in duty,
nor so cheerful in duty, as formerly you have been.

(3.) Afflictions will sooner sink you, temptations will sooner over-
come you, oppositions will sooner discourage you.

(4.) Your mercies will be bitter, your life a burden, and death a
terror to you ; you will be weary of living, and yet afraid of dying, &c.

Now, the second question is this : Suppose souls have not been so careful
to keep and maintain their assurance as they should have been, but
upon one account or another have left that blessed assurance that once
they had ; how may such sad souls be supported and kept from faint-
ing, sinking, and languishing under the loss of assurance ?

To this question I shall give these following answers :

First, Souls that have lost that sweet assurance that once they had,
may be supported and kept from fainting and sinking, hy considering,
that though they have lost their assurance, yet they have not lost their
son^hip; for once sons and always sons. You are sons, though dejected
sons ; you are sons, though comfortless sons ; you are sons, though
mourning sons, Rom. viii. 15-17. Once children, and always children;
once heirs, and always heirs ; once beloved, and always beloved ; once
happy, and always happy •? 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, ' Although my house be
not so with God ; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my
desires, although he make it not to grow.' Well, says David, though
neither myself, nor my house, have been so exact and perfect in our
walkings before God as we should, but we have broken our covenants
with him, and dealt unworthily by him, and turned our backs upon
him, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, he hath
engaged himself to an everlasting covenant, that he will be my Father,
and that I shall be his son. And this is my salvation and everlasting
ground of consolation and supportation to my soul.

The second support is this. Consider, that though your comfort, joy,
and peace, doth depend much upon your assurance, yet your eternal

' A man may easier make a seeing eye blind than a blind to see ; a man may soon
put an instrument out of tune, but not soon put it in again ; a man is easily borne down
the stream, but cannot swim so easily up the stream, &c.

* How can the bird fly without wings, and the wheels go without oil, and the workman
work without hands, and the painter paint without eyes ? &c.

» Ps. Ixxxix. 30-32, 84 ; John xiii. 6 ; Jer. xxxi. 8.

528 BEAVEN ON EARTIL [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

happiness and blessedness doth not depend upon your assurance. If
it did, you might be happy and miserable in a day, ay, in an hour.
Your happiness lies in your union with God, in your communion with
God, in your interest in God, and not in your seeing and knowing
your interest; your joy and comfort lies in your seeing and knowing
your interest in God, but your everlasting happiness lies in your being
interested in God. The welfare and happiness of the child lies
in the interest that he hath in his father, but the joy and comfort
of the child lies in his seeing, in his knowing of his interest in his
father. It is so between the Lord and believers : Ps. cxliv. 15, 'Happy
be the people that be in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose
God is the Lord.' Among the philosophers there were two hundred
and eighty opinions concerning happiness, some affirming happiness to
lie in one thing, some in another. Ah ! but by the Spirit and word we
are taught that happiness lies in our oneness with God, in our nearness
and dearness to God, and in our conformity to God, &c.' Mark, the
Scripture pronounces him happy, whose hope is in God, though he
want assurance : Ps. cxlvi. 5, ' Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.' Again, he is happy
that trusteth in the Lord, though for the present he want assurance :
Prov. xvi. 20, ' And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.' Again, be
is happy that feareth the Lord, that hath set up God as the object of
his fear, though he want assurance of the love of God : Prov. xxviii,
14, ' Happy is the man that feareth always ;' that fears to offend, that
fears to disobey, that fears to rebel, &c. Again, he is happy that
believes in Christ, that rests and stays upon Christ, as the Scriptures
everywhere testify, though he may want assurance.

Happiness lies not in any transient act of the Spirit, as assurance is,
but in the more permanent and lasting acts of the Spirit. The philo-
sopher could say, * That he was never a happy man that might after-
wards become miserable.' If a man's eternal happiness did lie in the
assurance of his happiness, then might a man be crowned with Xerxes's
steersman in the morning, and beheaded with him in the evening of
the same day.

But this is the believer's blessedness, that his condition is always good,
though he doth not always see it to be good ; that his state is always
safe, though it be not always comfortable.*

The third support to keep those precious souls frbm fainting and
sinking that have lost that sweet assurance that once they had, is to
consider that though their loss be the greatest and saddest loss that
could befall them, yet it is a recoverable loss, it is a loss that may be
recovered, as the scriptures in the margin do clearly evidenced And

^ Nemo aliorum aensu miser ett, ted suo. — Salvian, de Onb. Dei, lib. i. A godly man's
happiness or misery is not to be judged by the world's sense or feeling, bxit his own.

* To make up happiness, these things must concur : first, it must be a convenient
good, a suitable good to our natures ; secondly, it must be an excellent good, a good that
hath worth and excellency in it ; thirdly, it must be a sufficient good ; a few scrapings of
gold will not make a man rich, &c. ; fourthly, it must be a permanent good. It is per-
manency that sets the greatest price, and hath the greatest influence, into our happiness
and felicity.

» Ps. Ixxi. 20, 21, and xlii. 6, 7, 8 ; Isa. liv. 7, 8 ; Micah vii. 18, 19 ; Cant, iii 4 ; Ts.
Izzxiv. 11 J &c.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eaeth. 529

doth not this age, as well as former, furnish us with many instances of
this kind ?^ Doubtless many there are among the precious sons and
daughters of Zion that have lost this pearl of price, and after waiting,
weeping, and wrestling, have found it again ; therefore be not discouraged,
O sighing, losing souls ! In the loss of temporals, it is a great support
to men's spirits that their loss may be made up, and why should it not
be so in spirituals also?

The fourth support to keep tlieir hearts from sinking and breaking
that have lost that sweet assurance that once they had, is, seriously to
consider that your loss is no greater, nor no sadder, than what the
Twblest and the choicest saints have sustained, as you may see by com-
paring the scriptures in the margin together.^ Those that were once
the worthies of this world, and are now triumphing in that other world
among the princes of glory, have lost that sweet assurance and sense of
divine love and favour that ouce they enjoyed; therefore let not your
spirits faint and fail. In temporal trials it is a comfort and a support
to have companions with us ; and why should it not much more be so in
spirituals ? Acts xvi.

The Jifth support to bear up their spirits that have lost that sweet
assurance that once they had, is for them to remember, and seriously
mind, that though they have lost assurance, yet they have not lost the
blessed breathings and sweet influences of the 8pirit upon them. Wit-
ness their love to Christ, their longing after Christ, their fear of offending
Christ, their care to please Christ, their high esteem of Christ, and their
mourning for the dishonours that by themselves or others are done to
Christ, &c.^ A man may enjoy the warmth, heat, and influence of the
sun, when he hath lost the sight of the sun. David had lost his assur-
ance, he had lost the sight of the sun ; and yet he enjoyed the warmth
and influences of it upon his heart, as is evident in Psalm li.

Though thy sun, Christian, be set in a cloud, yet it will rise again,
and in the interim thou hast and dost enjoy the warmth and influences
of the sun ; therefore sorrow not, mourn not, as one without hope.
Those warm influences that the Sun of righteousness hath now upon thy
heart, are infallible evidences that he will shine forth and smile upon
thee as in the days of old ; therefore let thy bow still abide in strength,
Ps. xlii. 5, 7, 8, 11.

The sixth support to keep their hearts from fainting and sinking that
have lost that sweet assurance that once they had, is seriously to consider,
that it will be but as a day, but as a short day, before the loss of thy
assurance shall be iniade up with a more clear, full, perfect, and com-
plete enjoyrfient of God. Ere long, O mourning soul, thy sun shall rise
and never set, thy joy and comfort shall be always fresh and green ;
God shall comfort thee on every side, it shall be night with thee no
more, thou shalt be always in the bosom of God, Isa. Ivii. 18-20. Ps.
Ixxi. 20, 21, 'Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt

1 Glover, and many others, yea, a cloud of witnesses, might be found to testify this
truth. [Glover : Clarke, as before. — G.]

2 Ps. XXX. 6, 7, and li. 12 ; Job xxiii. 8, Q ; Isa. viii. 17.

< « Cant. iii. 6 ; Micah. vii. 7-9, compared, Isa. viii. 17, 1. 10.

VOL. II. L 1

530 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depth of the
earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every
side.' The day is at hand, O perplexed soul, when thou shalt have
smiles without frowns, light without- darkness, day without night, wine
Avithout water, sweet without bitter, and joy without sorrow.

The year of jubilee is at band. Thou now sowest in tears, thou
shalt shortly reap in joy ; yea, ' everlasting joy shall be upon thy head,'
and ' sorrow and sighing shall flee away,' therefore faint not.'

The third question is this, viz., What means must souls use to recover
assurance when it is lost ?

I shall give a few short answers to this question, and so draw to a
close.

First, If thou wouldst recover assurance, then thou must labour
diligently to find out that sin, that Achan, that hath robbed thee of
thy wedge of gold, of thy assurance.^ Surely it is not for infirmities,
but enormities, that God hath put out thy candle, and caused thy sun
to set at noon. Surely thou hast been feeding, I say not tasting, of
forbidden fruit, that God hath stripped thee of thy robes, and taken the
crown from off thy head, and turned thee out of paradise. But this i.s
not all.

Therefore, in the second place, weep much, mourn much, over the
Achan, over those wickednesses that have turned thy day into night,
thy rejoicing into sighing, &c. David doth thus in Psalm li., and
God takes him up from his knees, and restores to him ' the joy of his
salvation.' Though God be displeased with your sins, yet he is well-
pleased with your tears.' The promise is, that he will ' revive the spirit
of the contrite,' Isa. Ivii. 15. It is said of Adam that he turned his
face towards the garden of Eden, and from his heart lamented his fall.
Ah ! losing souls, turn your face towards heaven, and from your hearts
lament your fall, lament your loss. Nothing puts God to it like peni-
tent tears. No sooner doth Ephraim weep over his sins, but the bowels
of God are stirring towards him, and God cannot hold but he must pro-
claim to the world that mourning Ephraim, bemoaning Ephraim, is his
dear son, his pleasant child, and that he will ' surely have mercy on
him ; or, as the Hebrew hath it, Rahhem arahhamenu, ' I will have
mercy, have mercy on him,' or, * I will abundantly have mercy on him,'*
Jer. xxxi. 18-20. When our hearts are set to weep over our sins, God
will so act in ways of love towards us, that it shall not be long night
with our souls. God will never suffer them to be drowned in sorrow
that are set upon drowning their sins in penitential tears. The Jews

* Lev, XXV. ; Ps. cxxix. 5 ; Isa. xxxv. 2.

» Austin eaith, Humanvm est peccare, diabolicum pergeverare, et angelicum resurgere, it
is a human thing to fall into sin, a devilish to persevere therein, aod an angelical or
supernatural to rise from it.

' Rev. ii. 4. 6. When ancient Rome was heathenish, if the malefactor brought to be
whipped fell upon his knees at his feet whom he had offended, it was held a sin if he
suffered him to be whipped.

* It is an excellent expression of Basil, It grieves, it irks, it is tedious to our most
munificent, great, glorious King. If we ask anything little of him, he would have us
ask great things of him.

Rom. VIIL 32-34.] heaven on earth. 531

have a saying, that since the destruction of Jerusalem, the door of
prayers hath been shut ; but the door of tears was never shut, saith one.
God hath by promise engaged himself that those that ' sow in tears
shall reap in joy,' Ps. cxxvi. 5. The tears of the saints have such a kind
of omnipotency in them, that God himself cannot withstand them :
2 Kings XX. 5, ' I have seen thy tears, behold, I will heal thee ; on the
third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.'*

Thirdly, If you would recover assurance, then sit not down dis-
couraged, hut he up and doing. Remember what a pearl of price thou
hast lost, and ' repent and do thy first works,' Rev. ii. 4, 5. Fall close
to the good old work of believing, meditating, examining, praying,
hearing, mourning, &c.* Begin the world again, and set afresh upon
those very ways by which at first thou didst get assurance ; fall upon
family duties, apply thyself to public ordinances, be much in closet ser-
vices ; stir up every gift that is in thee, stir up every grace that is in
thee, stir up all the life that is in thee, and never leave blowing till
thou hast bio wed thy little spark into a flame ; never leave turning
thy penny, till thou hast turned thy penny into a pound; never leave
improving thy mite, till thy mite be turned into a million. God will
be found in the use of means, and he will restore our lost mercies in the
use of means, Ps. xxii. 26. But this is not all.

Therefore, in the fourth place, wait patiently upon the Lord. David
did so, and at length the Lord brought him out of a horrible pit, or out
of a pit of noise and confusion, and set his feet upon a rock, and estab-
lished his goings, and put a new song of praise into his mouth, Ps. xl.
1-3. God never hath, nor never will fail the waiting soul. Though
God loves to try the patience of his children, yet he doth not love to
tire out the patience of his children ; therefore he will not contend for
ever, neither will he be always wroth, lest the spirits of his people should
fail, Isa. Ivii. 16-19. Assurance is a jewel worth waiting for. It is a pearl
that God gives to none but such as have waited long at mercy's door. It
is a crown that every one must win by patient waiting before he can
wear. God doth not think the greatest mercies too good for waiting souls,
though he knows the least mercy is too good for impatient souls. .The
breasts of the promises lie fair and open to waiting souls, Isa. xxx. 18,
and Ixiv. 4, and xlix. 23. The waiting soul shall have anything of God,
but the froward and impatient soul gets nothing of God but frowns,
and blows, and wounds, and broken bones. Sad souls should do well
to make that text their bosom companion, John xiv. 18, ' I will not
leave you comfortless,' or orphans, ogpawu^, ' J will come to you.' And
that Heb. x. 36, 37, * For ye have need of patience, that after ye have
done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little
while' (as it is in the Greek), ' and he that shall come will come, and
will not tarry.'

Fifthly and lastly, If you would recover assurance, then take heed of
refusing comforts when God hrings them to your door ; take heed of

1 Ps. xxxix. 12 ; Job xvi. 20 ; Mark ix. 24, 25, &c.

* A man that hath been recovered formerly out of such or such a disease, if be be
relapsed, he will to the same means again, he will apply the same remedies again ; this
did once do me good, I will try it again.

532 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.

throwing gospel cordials agavnst the wall. This was Asaph's sin : 'My
soul refused to be comforted.'^ God comes and offers love to the soul,
and the soul refuses it ; God comes and spreads the promises of con-
solation before the soul, and the soul refuses to look upon them ; God
comes and makes tenders of the riches of grace, and the soul refuses to
accept of them. Sometimes the hand, the man that brings the cordial,
is not liked, and therefore men refuse it. Well ! remember this : when
gold is offered, men care not how great or how base he is that offers
it. Neither should we care by whom the cordials and consolations
of the gospel are offered to us, whether they are offered by the hand
of Isaiah, a prophet of the blood-royal, as some think, or by Amos,
from amongst the herdsmen of Tekoa. If the sweetmeats of heaven
are set before thee, it is thy wisdom and thy duty to taste of them,
and to feed upon them, without stumbling at the hand that presents
them.

Now for a close I shall make a few short uses of what hath been said,
and so conclude,

[1.] The first use. You that have as,surance, be thankful for it. It
is a jewel more worth than heaven and earth ; therefore be thankful.
Assurance is a mercy nobly-descended ; it is from above. Man is not
bom with it in his heart, as he is with a tongue in his mouth, James i.
17. Assurance is a peculiar mercy ; it is a flower of paradise that God
sticks only in his children's bosoms. Assurance is a mercy-sweetening
mercy ; it is a mercy that puts the garland upon all our mercies.
Assurance makes every bitter sweet, and every sweet more sweet. He
enjoys little that wants it, he wants nothing that enjoys it ; therefore
be you thankful that have and do find the sweetness of it.

If Philip rejoiced that Alexander was born in the days of Aristotle,
how much more cause have you to rejoice, upon whose heads the Lord
hath put the crown of assurance, a crown of more worth and weight
than all princes' crowns in the world.*

[2.] The second use. If God hath given you assurance, then do not
envy the outward felicity and happiness of the men of the world, Ps.
xxxvii. 17, 18 ; Prov. xxiii. 17. Alas !^ what are mountains of dust to
mountains of gold ? what are the stones of the street to rocks of pearl ?
what are crowns of thorns to crowns of gold, &c. ? No more are all
the treasures, honours, pleasures, and favours of this world to assurance.
The envious man hath so many tortures as the envied hath praisers.*
It is the justice of envy to kill and torment the envious. The men of
the world are real objects of pity, but not of envy. Who envies the
prisoner at the bar ? Who envies the malefactor that is going to execu-
tion ? Who envies the dead man that is going to his grave ? God hath

' Ambrose saith, If I would offer thee gold to-day, thou wouldst not say, I will come
to-morrow. And wilt thou lightly and slightly put God off when ho offers peace and
comfort to thy soul ?

* Plato was very thankful that God made him a man, and not a woman ; a Grecian
and not a barbarian ; a scholar to Socrates, and not to any other philosopher. Oh what
cause then have you to be thankful for assurance "?

3 See Glossary under ' Alas.* — G.

* Socrates wished that envious men had more eyes and more ears than others, that
they might be more tormented than others, by beholding others' happiness.

Rom. VIII. 32-34.] heaven on eauth. 533

done more for thee by giving thee assurance than if he had given thee
aU the world, yea, ten thousand worlds.

When the Spanish ambassador boasted that his master was king of
such a place, and of such a place, and of such a place, &c., the French
ambassador answered, My master is king of France, king of France,
king of France ; signifying thereby that France was of as much worth
or more worth, than all the kingdoms under the power of the king of
Spain. Ah, Christians ! when the men of the world shall cry out, Oh,
their riches! oh, their honours! oh, their preferments! &c., you may
well cry out, Oh, assurance, assurance, assurance! &c. ; there being more
real worth and glory in that than is to be found in all the wealth and
glory of the world ; therefore do not envy the outward prosperity and
felicity of worldly men, &c.

[3.] The third use. If God hath given you assurance, then give no
vjay to slavish fears. Fear not the scorn and reproaches of men, fear
not wants. God will not deny him a crust to whom he hath given a
Christ ; he will not deny him a crumb upon whom he hath bestowed
a crown ; he will not deny him a less mercy upon whom he hath be-
stowed assurance, which is the prince of mercies. Fear not death, for
why shouldst thou fear death, that hast assurance of a better life 1 ^

[4.] The fourth use. If God hath given you a well-grounded as-
surance of your everlasting happiness and blessedness, then question
his love no raore. God doth not love to have his love at every turn
called in question by those that he hath once assured of his love ; he
doth expect, that as no sin of ours doth make any substantial alteration
in his affections to us, so none, no, not his sharpest dispensations, should
make any alteration in our thoughts and affections towards him, Ps.
Ixxxix. 30-35 ; Jer. xxxi. 3 ; Eccles. ix. 8.

[5.] Ihe fifth use. If God hath given you assurance, then live holUy,
live angelically, keep your garments pure and white, walk with an
even foot, be shining lights, Rev. iii. 4 ; Mat. v. 16. Your happiness
here is your holiness, and in heaven your highest happiness will be
your perfect holiness. Holiness differs nothing from happiness, but
in name. Holiness is happiness in the bud, and happiness is holiness at
the full. Happiness is nothing but the quintessence of holiness. The
more holy any man is, the more the Lord loves him, John xiv. 21-23.*

Augustine doth excellently observe, in his tract on John i. 14, ' that
God loved the humanity of Christ more than any man, because he was
fuller of grace and truth than any man.' The philosopher could say,
' that God was but an empty name without virtue.' So are all our
professions without holiness.^ Holiness is the very marrow and quintes-
sence of aU rehgion. Holiness is God stamped and printed upon the

* Saul had but fivepence to give the seer ; the seer after much good cheer gives him
freely the kingdom, 1 Sam. ix. 8, and x. 1. So God deals with his.

* Vive ut vivas, live, that thou mayest live. Live in such sort, saith Periander, king
of Corinth, that thou mayest have honour by thy life, and that after thy death men may
account thee happy. [Diog. Laert., sub rwmine. — G.]

' Ille non est bonus qui non vult esse nelior. The loose walking of many Christiana
was, as Salvian complains, made by the pagans the reproach of Christ himself, saying,
Jf Christ had taught holy doctrine, surely his followers had led better lives. [Salvian,
D. G,, lib. iv.— G.]

534 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34-.

soul ; it is Christ formed in the heart ; it is our light, our life, our
beauty, our glory, our joy, our crown, our heaven, our all. The holy
soul is happy in life, and blessed in death, and shall be transeendently
glorious in the morning of the resurrection, when Christ shall say,
Lo, here am I, and my holy ones, who are my joy ; Lo, here am I, and
my holy ones, who are my crown ; and therefore, upon the heads of
these holy ones will I set an immortal crown. Even so, Amen ! Lord
Jesus.

END OF VOL. II.

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