to Die Because I have newly fallen into a Sin and the Lord I see is offended at it and it is worse than Death to me to be taken away in the Lords Displeasure Jacob had newly fallen into the Sin of Distrust upon his Fear of Esau and his Faith was shaken And for this he saw God was come forth against him in Anger And how terrible was it to him to be cut off by God in Anger He wept So did David Psal. xxxix 12 Hold not thy Peace at my Tears And he made Supplication And his Supplication was much to the like Tenor with that of David in the Verse after O spare me a little that I may recover Strength i. e. That I may recover the Strength of my Faith and the Assurance of God's Favour X. An Inquiry into the Reason of Hezekiah's Tears upon God's Message to him that he must Die EZEKIAH is Sick of the Plague and hath Tidings from God that he must Die of it He receives the Tidings with much Bitterness and Passion He turns his Face to the Wall he Prays he weeps he weeps sore And though it be not exprest yet it may very well be conceived out of his Carriage and the Issue upon it that the Tenour of his Prayers and Tears was that God would spare his Life Esa. xxxviii 2 3. Then Hezekiah turned his Face to the Wall and Prayed unto the Lord and said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy Sight And Hezekiah wept sore Why Hezekiah why weepest thou Art thou so unwilling to part with the World No his Mind hath never been upon the World but upon Religion and God Art thou not fitted to Die and meet the Lord Why He was never unprepared Was he afraid of Judgment and that his Lot in the other World would not be good He was secure against that for he fears not to Appeal to God Remember Lord how I have walked before thee Why What ailes the Man that he Weeps so sadly Many and many a Thousand Men of a less gracious Temper than Ezekiah have taken the Tidings of Death with a great deal more Patience and less Passion And what ails him to take it so bitterly Certainly no bare Concernment of his own either in fear of his Soul or of his Body In truth the main Concernment that moved him was the Concernment of God Our Saviour once said Weep not for me but Weep for your selves Ezekiah weeps not for himself but as I may say he weeps for Christ he weeps for God for the Cause Interest and Concernment of God For I. It was sad for him to think that he must Die of the Plague a dreadful Disease that destroys suddenly and fearfully that separates from the Comforts of Friends and that seems to carry with it Tokens of the Anger of God And it might very well be bitter to him to think of being taken away with a stroke that sounded somewhat of God's Anger But this was not all Wicked and Profane Ones would be ready to scoff at his Piety and Reformation if he were taken away by so fatal a Stroke See this is he that hath kept such a Coil in pulling down Altars purging the Temple and setting up of Religion and now behold what is become of him He has God's Tokens upon him Signs of his Anger and dies not the Common Death of all Men but by the fearful Stroke of the Plague It is no wonder if the horror of such Blasphemy as this against Religion set very sadly upon the Heart of the good Man And he was afraid ungodly VVretches would take occasion of such Blasphemings from the fatal manner of his Death And thus it is the Concern of God and his true Religion and not fear of his own Carcase that did stick so much upon this Holy Man's Thoughts under his dangerous condition A very pertinent and needful Desire for every Christian to beg of God that his Death may not be such as to open the Mouths of Wicked Men to Blaspheme God and Religion II It was sad to Hezekiah to Die before he could see Jerusalem and the People of God intirely delivered from their Danger If you well compute the Times of this King you will find that that very Year that Senacherib was so busie and cruel against the Cities of Judah and Jerusalem was the Year of Ezekiah's Sickness And observe that Passage of Esay to him foretelling him of his Recovery and of Fifteen Years added to his Life Esa. xxxviii 6 I will deliver thee and this City out of the Hand of the King of Assyria It appears there was danger abroad and it grieved the good Man to the Soul to be taken away before he saw any Deliverance A very just Cause to beg of God to spare Life And it shews that a Man does it not out of bare love of Life or of the World if he Pray to God with Submission to his Will to prolong his Life that he may See the Good of his Afflicted Chosen and may rejoice with the Gladness of his Nation and Glory with his Inheritance as is the Psalmist's Petition Psal. cvi 5 III. Ezekiah was now but Nine and Thirty Years Old in his Strength and Prime Young in Comparison of the Ages at which divers then Died. And certainly you can hardly fancy a more probable Reason of his Unwillingness to Die that related to him than this that he thought he had not done enough for God He desired to be yet spared that he might Reform more set up Religion more do more for God and his People A Holy and Blessed desire that aimed at God and his Honour and his Peoples Good regarding nothing the bare Life of this World or his own Carcase in comparison of this Much like is that Psal. lxxi 18 Now Lord when I am Old forsake me not until I have shewed thy Strength to this Generation That I may more Praise thee more impart the Knowledge of thee and thy Power to this Generation and those to come DECAD II. I. An Inquiry what Strength that was David requested when he prayed to God to spare him that he might recover STRENGTH Psal. xxxix 13 WHAT David's present Affliction was we cannot tell whether Sickness of Body some Dejection of Spirit or some sore Trouble from his Enemies It seems most likely to be some sore Sickness of Body at which his Enemies would rejoice and so add to his Trouble Imagine it his deadly Palsie in his old Age when he could feel no Warmth either from his wearing Cloaths or Bed-Cloaths Be it which it will do we think he prays heartily for the Recovery and Strength of his Body Doubtless more especially for refreshing and strengthning in Soul before God should take him That which is rendred Recover Strength in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Word is translated by
so much the Fire that the Romans burnt their City and Temple with as that dreadful Fire and Fury of God's Indignation that consumed all But the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great Noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent Heat the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up Ver. 10. And in that dreadful Passage concerning the Damned Their Worm never dieth and their FIRE never goeth out We need not dispute what kind of Fire the Fire of Hell is whether Material Fire whether it gives Light whether it is of our Fire-colour With such Disputes some needlesly trouble themselves and others God's Indignation is Fire enough and Hot enough to devour those wretched Souls and we need look no further VI. Some Description of the Death and Doom of an Ungodly Man I. IF any ask what it is an Ungodly Man Dies of it may very well be answered of the Lord's Indignation It was the Threatning of God to Adam Moriendo morieris Thou shalt Die the Death The Ungodly Dies and Dies the Death Natural and Eternal And in his Natural Death he Pays two Debts a Debt to Nature because of the Sin of Adam and a Debt to God's Anger because of his own Sins The Chaldee Paraphrast renders those Words Deut. xxxiv 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 At the Kiss of the Lord which we read At the Word of the Lord And the Jews speak much of Dying at the Kiss of God thereby not only expressing a Person 's Dying in his Favour but to shew how sweet the Death of God's Saints are to them They are at the Kisses in the Embraces of God as they are Dying They reap Sweetness Comfort Happiness from him even in Dying But where are the Ungodly at that Time Under the Flaming of his Fire and the Scorching of his Wrath. As it is Psal. lxxxviii 31. The Wrath of God comes upon them and slays the Fattest of them It is the Wrath of God that tears the Soul from the Body and devours the Life like a Lion and there is none to deliver It is Wrath that cuts him off to make an end of his Sinning You oft meet with Cutting off threatned to such as commit such and such Sins as that in Numb xv 30 That Soul shall be Cut off from among the People Some conceive it means nothing but Cutting off from the Congregation by Excommunication but it means God's Cutting them off by his Wrath and Vengeance And the Expression is Emphatical to shew their Thread is cut which they would have drawn out in Sinning ever if they might have been let alone Thus every Ungodly Man even in his Death carries God Tokens Dies of God's Anger II. As we have considered the Wretch Dying and having given up the Ghost now let us consider the Soul Departed out of the Body Ah! VVretched Soul where art thou Come into another VVorld into a strange VVorld and such an one as he never Dreamed of and is now confoundded to see Into what a World he is fallen A World where there is neither VVine nor VVomen nor Sport nor Pleasure nor use of any Creature And what a case is that Carnal and Voluptuous Soul in then A worse Place than that that Israel complains of Numb xx 5 How are we come into this evil Place It is no Place of Seed nor Figs nor Olives nor Pomgranates nor any Water to Drink Nay this is a Place where is no Sun nor Moon nor Light a Place where there is no Friend to Comfort no Creature to Refresh no use of any Thing that is Earthly and Bodily This must needs be a sad Change to that Soul that never took any Delight that never thought it lived but in the use of such But this is the least part of Indignation that such a wretched Soul meets withal The Holy Souls of the Saints of God meet with the like Deprivation of the Use of Earthly Creatures and if they had always made them their Life and Delight and had nothing else to feed upon but Meat and Drink and Money and Pleasure the Case would be much the same But there is the Indignation from the Creator meets the Cursed Soul as well as the Deprivation of the Creature and that we shall consider in these several Particulars First Think of that Luke xvi 22 And it came to pass that the Beggar Died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom the Rich Man also Died and was Buried And do you not think the Devils carried the Soul of the Rich Man to Hell In the Text indeed is not exprest so much but that left it to be gathered by the Rule of Contrary if Angels carry good Souls to Heaven Devils carry bad Ones to Hell Acts i. 18 Falling headlong he burst asunder and all his Bowels gushed out The Devil had been two or three Days Bodily in Judas and when he burst in sunder the Devil broke out of him having torn him And do you not think he carried his Soul with him as well as took away his Life It is true indeed that the Devil is not in the Ungodly so Bodily as he was in Judas yet he is said Eph. ii 2 To work in the Children of Disobedience Their Souls are under his Acting and Power to carry them into all Evil. He is the Mover and Actor of their Souls to do his Will VVell when they are Dying is not the Devil busie there waiting for his Prey and for what he hath looked for all along Is he not busie to keep that Soul for his own and that it be not taken out of his Hand Psal. xlviii 14 For God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide unto Death He that hath made God his God for ever he may be sure to have God his Guide even to and in his Dying And on the contrary he that hath made the Devil his God and Ruler and Guide all his Time he must expect that he will be with him at his Death As the terrible Apparition to Brutus in Italy told him he would be sure to meet him at Philippi where he was to Die VVell the Ungodly VVretch Dies The Devil hath Led and Ruled and Acted him to the last Gasp And now the last Gasp hath slipt the Soul out of the Body is not the Devil there still looking after his Prey Do you think the Devil hath done and looks after that Soul no more No then is the time that he hath got his Prey and now is seized on the Game that he had been ever hunting after The Dragon Rev. xii 4 stood waiting before the VVoman to devour her Child as soon as it was Born And when the Child was delivered he was frustrate of his Prey because God took care of the Child and Mother for both Child and Mother were his Beloved But in this Case this great Red
And in one and the same Year both Father and Son dye Divers such Passages as these you will find in this Story of the Kings if you will but cast it into Annals after this manner as be these Ahaziah Two Years older than his Father 2 Chron. xxii 2 Baasha fighting Nineteen Years after he is dead 2 Chron. xvi 1 Jotham reigning Four Years after he is buried 2 King xv 30 Joram crowned King in the Seventeenth Year of Jehoshaphat 2 King i. 17 compared with 1 King xxii 51 And in the Two and Twentieth Year of Jehoshaphat 2 King viii 16 And after Jehoshaphat's Death 2 Chron. xxi 1 Variety of such strange things are to be found by taking this course which otherwise you can never see nor doubt of For Resolution of such Ambiguities when you have found them the Text will do it if it be well searched Conference with some Man or other learned and practiced in this way will soon resolve and remove all Scruples One Month or two spent thus with a living Guide will profit more than Seven Years Study spent according to the common way of reading the Bible This way attained to will guide you it self in what else is agreeable to profitable reading As in marking those things that seem to be Contradictions in the Text or Slips of the Holy Ghost in which always is admirable Wisdom Parallels of Times Places and Persons c. Which if you once fix sadly to make a Scripture-Chronicle you cannot slip unmarked and it will be enough to me to see you Doubt I know your Doubting will not rest till resolved I have here briefly run before you the Order of Scripture as I conceive the Continuance of the History requires it to lye If you will but settle to make a Scripture Chronicle this is needless for that will search out the Order for you So that you may spare your Labour of reading this that I have written and then I need not to excuse my Confusedness in it for haste Yet if you do read it it may shew you the Necessity of that that I so instantly urge viz. Skill in the Chronicle For if there be whole Chapters and Books laid out of their Places and the reason thereof commonly most sweet what may we expect in smaller Bulk of things as Genealogies Names Speeches Years Quotations c. but strange Variations yet always Divine Admirable it is to see how the Holy Spirit of God in Discords hath shewed the sweetest Music. But few Men mark this because few â—ake a right course in reading of Scripture Hence when Men are brought to see flat Contradictions as unreconciled there be many in it they are at amaze and ready to deny their Bible A little Pains right spent will soon amend this wavering and settle Men upon the Rock whereon to be built is to be sure SECT II. THE Canonical Books of the Bible are Seventy if the Psalms be parted into Five like the Seventy Souls that built up the House of Israel The Apocrypha speaks for it self that it is not the Finger of God but the Work of some Jews Which got it so much Authority among Christians because it came from them from whom the lively Oracles of God indeed came also But the Talmud may be read to as good Advantage and as much Profit and far more Leviathan reserved to be eaten 2 Esdra vi 52 is Judaism in Targ. Jonath in Gen. R. Sol. Elias 〈…〉 of all tastes in Wisd. xvi 20 21. is Jewish R. Sol. in Num. xi Paradise created before the World is Judaism in Targ. Jonath in Gen. ii Pirke R. Eliezer R. Nephtali Bel and the Dragon is a Jewish Parable from Jer. li. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon and I will bring forth out of his Mouth that which he hath swallowed up c. 〈◊〉 blessing Simeon for the Slaughter of 〈◊〉 is worse than Jewish Jud. ix 2 c. flat against Jacob who curseth the Fact and against Moses who for it leaves him out of his Blessings Deut. xxxiii Tobit's Chronology is worse than Heathenish Tob. xiv 4 and 15. making the Ruin of Nineveh by Nebuchadnezzar to depend upon Jonah's Prophecy Whereas since Jonah's Prophesie that City had been deâ—â—royed by Arbaces and Belosus and built again and stood the Succession of Seven or Eight Kings and near about Two Hundred Years before it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar So might one censure the rest but Verbum Sapienti Believe not every Spirit SECT III. GENESIS CHAP. I. THE Law begins with the Creation because by the Creature is our first Step to the Knowledge of God Rom. i. 20 Ps. xix It teacheth the end from the beginning the Resurrection from the Creation For if God made Man of Dâ—st he can raise him our Spiritual Union with God in Glory even in our Body by the Union of our Spirit and Body in Creation God not named Jehovah till the Creation be perfect for special Reason The second Days Work not approved but the third twice Heaven and Earth created in one and the same instant as Center and Circumference The First Day The Heavens are made perfect and move as soon as ever they are made and with them are created the Angels But the Earth is unformed and vast all covered over with Water And the Spirit of God by the Motion of the Heavens cherisheth the inferior Creature of Earth and Waters Twelve Hours did the Heavens move in Darkness and then by God's Appointment Light appeared in that Hemisphere in which God had decreed that the Light of Religion should first shine And there it gave Lustre for Twelve Hours more declining by degrees with the Motion of the Heavens to the other Hemisphere where it also shone Twelve Hours So that the first Day to that part of the World was †So long was Joshuah's Day when the Sun stood still and so long was Christ under Death Six and Thirty Hours long The Second Day As soon as ever the Light was gone off from this upper Horizon God commanded that instead of that Vacuity which was between the Waters that covered the Earth and the Clouds which were created full of Water in the same instant with the Heavens the Air should be spread abroad throughout the Universe And in Four and Twenty Hours the Command is accomplished The Third Day The Waters that cover the Earth at God's Command recoil Westward into those Channels which God had appointed them And still as they go away and dry Land appears Herbs Plants and Trees with their ripe Seed and Fruit upon them grow instantly out of the Earth This Day God plants the pleasant Garden of †The Story of Eden Gen. 11. ver 9 10 11 12 13 14. in proper Order should lye between ver 12 and 13. of this Chapter But Moses hath reserved the History of that to be handled at Adam's being placed in it Because he would dispatch his Treatise of Generals before he come
away God and the Soul Their best Office now is to shed Tears III. There is the Wantonness of the Ears As there be Itching Ears so there be Wanton Ears Ears that delight in Filthy Talk Eph. v. 3 Let it not be once Named amongst you as becometh Saints neither Filthiness nor Foolish talking c. That is 't is not fit to be spoken of among Christians Not fit for Christians to hearken to any such thing Auribus Vestris medendum Mens Ears do want a Cure How many are there that endure not Serious Grave Conference But he that speaks Lasciviously he is a Prophet to this People Let these sayings sink into your Hearts saith our Saviour So do these wanton Discourses too much they sink and drain down from the Ear into the Heart And therefore as it is reported of Ulysses that he stopped his Ears against the Syrens that they might not by their inchanting Voices insnare him So should we decline such dangerous Discourses It is a needful Lesson Take heed how ye hear See Prov. ii 16 The strange Woman flattereth with her words And Ch. v. 3 The Lips of a strange Woman drop as a Honey-comb and her Mouth is smoother than Oyl Satan by such talk is an Agent in the business Evil words corrupt good Manners IV. There is a wanton Tongue This is a Relative a Husband to the other This is a Broker to a wicked Heart that vents from an Evil Heart to an Evil Heart Some there are that have Tongues tipt from Hell that delight in no other Language than Ribaldry The Tongue and the Heart are created for Noble Ends. The Heart to be a Present for God his Habitation his Delight And does the Heart become the Sink and Jakes of all Filthiness The Tongue that was created to be Man's Glory Namely to praise God that was created to be the Interpreter 'twixt Men for Love and Friendship this to be so much degenerate as to be a World of Iniquity set on Fire from Hell To Curse Blaspheme Lie Swear Flatter Boast Talk filthily Ah! what Mouths do too many carry They that speak the Language of Ashdod were but Bastards So they that with their Tongues say they are Christians and yet let their Tongues be wanton and unclean they are but Bastards no true Christians How shall the tune of wanton Tongues be once changed V. There is a wanton Gesture Courting Dalliance mixt Dancing what are these but Tinder to Lust Avoid all appearance of Evil. And these are the several kinds of VVantonness To conclude Consider these two or three things First VVhat proportion is there betwixt VVantonness and the Purity of the Gospel Secondly VVhat is the Fruit of VVantonning but Guilt and Sin and Shame Thirdly How unlike is this to the Divine Purity that is in Heaven VIII The Fear which Seized our Saviour at his Passion Innocent FEAR to Die may be so circumstantiated as it may be Sinful with a VVitness But simply in it self considered it is not sinful at all For Peter to be afraid to Die so as that Fear put him upon denying his Master this was sinful and sinful again But for his Master who had no Sin who could not Sin to be afraid to Die could that be Sinful Let us take up the Case of Christ as to this Matter which will help to clear his Case the better Consider that in Heb. v. 7 Who in the Days of his Flesh when he had offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong Crying and Tears unto him that was able to save him from Death and was heard in that he Feared The last Clause in the Original is short and doubtful and by some read as you have it in the English Text He was heard in that he feared and by some as you have it in the Margent He was heard for his Piety This latter is undoubtedly true that Christ's Piety and Devotion was such as that his Prayers could not but be heard But certainly the other is the Apostles Meaning and more pertinent to his Discourse The Greek is short he was heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his Fear Like that Expression Psal. xxii 21 Thou hast heard me FROM the Horns of the Unicorns That is thou hast heard me when I was upon the Horns of the Unicorns Or thou hast heard me so as to deliver me from them So Christ was heard when in his Fear or heard so as to be delivered from it But the Question is in fear of what Of what but Death That some will not allow because it might seem to speak some Diffidence or Distrust in Christ. But as there is a Fear of Distrust so there is a Fear in Nature A Sinful Fear and a Natural Fear without Sin Adam in Innocency though Death was not then in Being as the Wages of Sin yet it was Natutural to him to fear every thing that might be destructive to his Body or Person or injurious to it The Saints in Glory 't is true are past any such Fear because they are beyond the possibility of any such Danger But wheresoever there is such a Possibility 't is Natural to have such a Fear The Brute Beasts that are free enough of Sin yet will they never be without such Fear because Nature hath put into all Living Creatures a Natural and Essential Instinct to seek and serve their own Preservation And Christ had not been a true Man had he not had such a Natural Fear of Death as is Essential to Man as he is Man and was Essential to Man befor he was a Sinner So that to fear to Die simply considered is not sinful and answerably to desire to have a Man's Life prolonged simply considered is not sinful neither It was not Sin at all for David to beg of God O spare me a little Psal. xxxix 13 Nor for the poor Afflicted in Psal. cii 24 to Pray Oh my God take me not away in the midst of my Days But the Warrant upon which a Man comes with such a Request had need to be right and current and indeed such as amount to a consideration above meer Living still IX The Case of JACOB when he Wrestled with the Angel explained IT was the Angel CHRIST that wrestled with Jacob Gen. xxxii 24 That he was then in danger of being killed by this Angel is apparent enough by this that his best come off was that he was Lam'd by him to his Grave And it is apparent also by what Hosea saith of his Demeanour at that time that he Wept and made Supplication Hos. xii 4 Jacob why weepest thou Thou art in the Arms of Christ himself But he wrestleth with me seeking to kill me As it was in the case of Moses Exod. iv 24 where the Lord is said to meet him and to have sought to kill him And what is it that thou makest Supplication for That he would yet spare me and not take me away And what is the matter thou art so unwilling
iii. 3 Thou shalt be for me and not another and I will be for thee saith the Lord. Observe that Expression 1 Cor. vi 17 He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit Here is Union and Communion Joined to the Lord Beza renders it Agglutinatus There is Union And Communion One Spirit He takes some Comparison before from a married Couple But this is nearer there must be an Union betwixt Man and Wife nay there is betwixt Man and Whore Know ye not that he which is joined to an Harlot is one Body For two saith he shall be one Flesh. But it may be no Communion of Hearts and Affections But he that is joined to God is one Spirit II. Observe this Communion by the Expression of the Members of his Body Which the Apostle follows in 1 Cor. xii especially see ver 27. Now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular Ye are the Body in gross and every particular Christian a particular Member Now the Body and Members relate to the Head which is Christ. Eph. iv 15 That ye may grow into him in all things which is the Head even Christ. From whom the whole Body fitly joined together And Col. i. 18 He is the Head of the Body the Church So that here you may first see the Union 'twixt Christ and his Members and then the Communion The Union as the Head to the Body the Communion as betwixt Head and Members So what nearer Union or Communion can be in the World And this asserts what I said that Communion with God and Christ is founded in Union with God No Member if not in Union with the Head and if a Member so in Union it cannot but have Communion Members cannot but derive Virtue from the Head and cannot again but be serviceable all they can to it Such a Communion is there 'twixt a Saint and God And what the particular Nature or Virtue of it is learn by observing how it comes and how a Saint comes by it For the Discovery of which we will take up this Question to speak to Quest. How should I do to come in Communion with God I know it is good and happy but how shall I come by it Ans. Learn this from civil Converse 'twixt Friend and Friend Abraham was the Friend of God and he came into that Nearness after the manner as Friend doth with Friend Observe two Expressions in Scripture Knowing of God 1 Chro. xxviii 9 Thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Father And Acquainting one's self with God Job xxii 21 Acquaint now thy self with him So is the Case with two that come to converse as Friends I know such a Person and I make my self acquainted with him I. So that the first Step to Communion with God is to know him But under what Notion or what Knowledge 1. Not a distant Knowledge As wicked Men know there is a God This is far from bringing into Acquaintance Every one of us know there is a Turk and Pope but this is far from being in Converse with them Nay nearer we all know the King is our Soveraign and own him so yet this is far from conversing with him It is said God beholds the Wicked afar off So they tho' they knew him they knew but afar off As he that was newly cured of his Blindness in the Gospel saw Men walk but they seemed to him like Trees As Balaam saith of his seeing of God Num. xxiv 17 I shall see him but not now I shall behold him but not nigh 2. Nor is it barely to know God in his Attributes That he is terrible glorious just The Devils know all this but as far from Communion with God as Hell is from Heaven 3. But so to know God is to love and desire him and his Communion He that would be acquainted with one looks not on him barely as one he knows nor barely as one worthy to be acquainted with but as by whose Acquaintance to have Comfort Benefit and Delight and which he cannot comfortably be without Such is that Knowledge of God that begins Communion with God To make it our Work to know God as without Knowledge of whom and acquaintance with whom we are undone To desire his Knowledge and Acquaintance above all things in the World and to account nothing in the World worth our Study Knowledge and Acquaintance but himself So the Apostle professeth over and over 1 Cor. ii 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified For nothing else in comparison of him is worth the Study and Labour to know And Phil. iii. 8 Yea doubtless without any dispute and I count all things but Loss for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. This is that that makes me justly to move the Question Do you seriously ask how I may come in Communion with God Because that requires the Preparative of the most affectionate Desires to come into Communion with him Such a Desire breathes the Heart of a true Saint Esai xxvi 8 9. The Desire of our Souls 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 II. The second Means to come into Communion with God is to be acquainted with him Now to make your selves acquainted with God be not strange to him The Wicked are estranged from the Womb. Not only not knowing God but not making himself known to God The Word in Job xxii 21 which we translate Acquaint is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Accustom thy self to God The Word is used elsewhere Num. xxii 30 The Ass said unto Balaam Am not I thine Ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this Day Was I ever wont or accustomed to do so unto thee So that the Word signifies Accustoming Frequenting A Saint acquaints himself with God by frequent coming to his Presence in Prayer and hearing and attending on him As Acts iii. 10 All knew the poor Creeple which sat for Alms at the beautiful Gate of the Temple because there he constantly sat so God knows the Face of a Saint he is ever and anon in the Presence of God Oh! I know thee by Name thou art always at my Footstool thou art always in my School I know thee Moses by Name saith God And very good Reason for it he was always in his Presence Ps. lxxxiii 23 I am continually with thee Was it possible then but that God should know him God at the Judgment will say to the Wicked I know you not And no wonder for he never saw their Faces in his Family You are none of my Children I never saw you owning your Dependance upon me knowing me as the Father None of my Servants I never saw you doing my Work None of my Scholars I never saw you in my School studious and taking out your Lesson Your Faces