with his words but in a Battel t wil appear how he can handle his Sword Many flourish with their colours when they know their enemies to be far enough off woh change their countenances when they meet them in the field In thy life time thou art walled in and lyest warm in the confluence of creature-comforts no visible Enemy appeareth against thee but when this Champion sheweth himself bidding thee defiance and offering to fight with theef or thy soul and Saviour and Heaven and happiness at the sight of whom the hearts of Kings and Captains have melted like grease before the Sun then then thou wilt perceive what mettle thou art made of whither thou hast the faith and spirit of a David and canst encounter him in the Lord or no. Now thou art a Vessel in the Harbour and so art kept above Water though several things are wanting but when thou launchest into the Ocean the boysterous Waves and tempestuous Winds will soon discover thy leaks and tell thee what is lacking It s like enough thou hast some armour with which thou hopest to defend thy self against the stroaks of death but know for a truth that Death will stab thee through all thy Paper Shields of profession priviledges and performances since thou art a stranger to Christ and the power of godliness Thy life is like the letting down a Fishermans net thy death as the drawing up of this Net while the Net is down a man cannot tell certainly what he shall catch for the Nets may break the Fish may escape whilst thou livest it s not so evident what thine aim is or what thine end shall be but at thy Death when the Net shall be drawn up then thou wilt see what draught thou hast made Though godly men at their Deaths may look up to the Lord of life and say At thy word we have let down our Nets and caught abundantly we fished for holiness and have caught happiness fished for grace and have caught glory and honour and immortality and eternal life yet when the Net of thy life cometh to be drawn up thou mayst say with Peter Lord I have fished all Night all my life time and have caught nothing I fished for honours and pleasures and riches and I have caught nothing but the Weeds of wrath and damnation I blessed my self many a time like the vain confident Husbandman in the goodly shew which my Corn made on the ground but now the threshing time is come I find nothing but Straw and Chaff vanity and vexation It must needs be a trying hour upon this twofold account 1. Because all thy temporal mercies will then leave thee When the hand of death shakes the tree of life all those fair blossoms will fall off We brought nothing into the World and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out of this World 1 Tim. 6.7 The Hedghog gets to a pile of Apples and gathers as many as she can up upon her prickles but when she comes to her resting place her Hole she throweth them all down and carryeth not one in with her Thus men walk in a vain shadow and disquiet themselves in vain heaping up riches which die with them naked they come into the World and naked they go out of the World Plutarch wisely compareth great men to Counters which one hour stand for thousands and the next hour for nothing Hermocrates being unwilling that any man should enjoy his estate after his death made himself in his Will his own heir Athenaeus reports of a covetous Wretch that on his Death-bed swallowed many peices of Gold and sowed up others in his coat commanding that they should be buried with him but who doth not laugh at such folly In that storm of death all thy glory and riches which thou hast taken such pains and wrought so hard for must be thrown overboard As the Great Sultan hath an officer to search all persons that come into his presence and take away all their Weapons so the great God by his Messenger Death will search thee and take away all thy wealth In that day the Crowns of Princes and Shackles of Prisoners the Russet of Beggers and Scarlet of Courtiers the Honours and Offices of the Highest the Meat and Drink and Sleep and Mirth of the Lowest must be laid by As it was said of Sarah It ceased to be with her after the former manner so the time will come that it may be said of thee It ceaseth to be with him after the former manner Now thou canst relish thy food and delight in thy friends ravish thine Ears with melodious sounds and thine eyes with curious sights rejoyce in things of naught and be Titled with vanity and nothing but when Death comes t will cease to be with thee after the former manner Now thou pleasest thy self in thy lovely Relations and pridest thy self in thy stately possessions these weak props preserve thy spirit from sinking at present but Ah what will become of thee when they shall all be taken away from thee when thou shalt bid thy Wife and Children and Friends Farewell for ever and say to thy House and Lands and Credit and Sports and Pastimes Adieu to Eternity or as dying Pope Adrian did O my soul the loving Companion of my body thou art going into a solitary place where thou shal never never more take pleasure At the hour of Death thy most costly jewels and most pleasing delights will be as the Pearl in an Oyster not thy priviledge or perfections but thy disease and destruction When those carnal comforts are gone thy spiritual comforts if thou hast any will be known When the hand which held thee up by the Chin and kept thee above Water is taken away thy own skil in swimming will be discovered When the vertue of those Cordials which supported thy spirits for a time is spent t will appear whither Nature hath any strength or no. 2. Because thy spiritual enemies will then assail thee Those Adversaries which before were hid and lay lurking as it were under the Hedge will then appear openly and wound thee to the very heart Thy sins will then assault thee When the Prisoner appeareth before the Judge then the Evidence is produced and the Witnesses which were never before thought of shew themselves When thou goest to stand before the Judge of the whole Earth thy sins will bear thee company In the Night of Death those frightful Ghosts will Walk Thy Lusts which are now Lyons Dormant will then be Rampant Thou mayst say to Death as the Woman to the Prophet Art thou come to call my sins to remembrance and to slay my Son Art thou come to call my sins to remembrance and to slay my soul While the Hedgehog walketh on the land she seemeth not so uncomly but when she sprawleth in the waters her deformity appeareth Whilst men walk up and down they usually look in false glasses and judge themselves fair because some may
he might have gone lightly under it but when Enemies approached and God depaated he must needs be greatly distressed The Creature may well be full of frights and feares that stands in the open fields where bullets flie thick and fast without any shelter or defence Davids foes had proved their conclusion to the full had their medium been true Persecute and take him for God hath forsaken him Psal 71.11 If God leave a man dangers and Devils may quickly find him No wonder that Micah cried out so mournfully Ye have taken away my gods and doe you ask me what I ail At the loss of his false God much more will the loss of the true God make men mournful As t was said of Coniah Write this man childeless Jer. 22. ver ult It may be said of every godless Man write this man comfortless helpless hopeless and that for ever Vast is the difference betwixt the case of the good and bad in distress the former as cloaths died in grain may keep his colour in all weathers the latter like quick silver may well be ever in motion and like a leaf tremble at the smallest wind Naturalists observe this difference between Eagles and other Birds are in want and distress they make a pitiful noise but the Eagle when in straights hath no such mournful note but mounteth aloft and refresheth her self with the warm beames of the Sun Saints like true Eagles when they are in necessity mount up to God upon the wings of Faith and Prayer and delight themselves with the golden raies and gracious influences of his favour but the sinner if bereft of outward comforts dolefully complains The snail take him out of his shell and he dieth presently the godless person is like the Ferret which hath its name in Hebrew from squeaking and crying because he squeaketh sadly if taken from his prey when the godly man as Paulinus Molanus when his City was plundred by the Barbarians though he be robd of his earthly riches hath a Treasure in Heaven and may say Domine ne excrucier ob aurum argentum tu enim mihi es omnia Lord why should I be disquieted for my silver and gold for thou to me art all things having nothing yet He possesseth all things 2. Cor. 6. CHAP. XIV The Difference betwixt the Portions of Gracious and Graceless persons in this World 2. IT informeth us of the difference in their portions The wicked man hath a portion of goods 2. Use informeth the difference betwixt the sinners and Saints Portion Father give me the Portion of goods which belongeth to me Luke 15. and 12. But the godly man only hath the good portion I shall instance in three particulars wherein the Portion in this world of a sinner differeth from the Saints First Their Portion is poor The Sinners Portion is Poor It consisteth in toys and trifles like the estate of mean women in the City who make a great noise in crying their ware which is only a few points or pins or matches But the portion of a Saint lieth though he do not proclaim it about the streets as the rich Merchants in staple commodities and jewels The worldlings portion at best is but a little airy honour or empty pleasure or beggarly treasure But the Christians is the beautiful Image of God the incomparable Covenant of Grace the exceeding rich and precious promises of the Gospel the inestimable Saviour and the infinitely blessed God The sinners portion is nothing ye have rejoyced in a thing of nought Amos 6.13 a fashion a fancy 1 Cor. 7.29 Acts 25.23 but the Saints portion is all things All things are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3.22 23. As Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his Concubines and sent them away but he gave all he had to Isaac so God giveth common gifts of riches or friends or credit to wicked men which is all they crave and sendeth them away and they are well contented but he gives grace glory his Spirit his Son himself all he hath to his Isaacs to the children of the promise Gen. 25.5 6. He giveth earth into the hands of the wicked Job 9.24 All their portion lyeth in dust rubbish and lumber all they are worth is a few eares of corn which they glean here and there in the field of this world but he giveth heaven into the hearts of the godly their portion consisteth in gold and silver and diamonds the peculiar treasure of Kings in the love of God the blood of Christ and the pleasures at his right hand for evermore Others like servants have a little meat and drink and wages but Saints like sons they are a congregation of the first-born and have the inheritance O the vast difference betwixt the portion of the prodigal and the pious the former hath something given him by God as Peninnah had by Elkanah though at last it will appear to be little better then nothing when he gives the latter as Elkanah did Hannah a goodly a worthy portion because he loves them 1 Sam. 1.4 5. Their portion is piercing 2. Their portion is piercing as it is compared to broken cisterns for its vanity so to thornes for its vexation Jer. 2.13 Matth. 13.22 A sinner layeth the heavy lumber of his earthly portion on his heart and that must needs oppress it with care and fear and many sorrows whereas the Saints portion the fine linnen of his Saviours righteousness lying next his flesh is soft and pleasing The abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep Eccles 5.12 his portion hinders his peace his riches set him upon a wrack His cruelty in getting it his care to increase it and the secret curse of God accompanying it do like the importunate widow allow him no rest day or night When the Godly mans portion makes his bed easie lays his pillow soft and covers him warm I will lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord makest me to dwell in safety Nay such an excellent sleeping pill is this portion that by the vertue of it David when he was pursued by his unnatural son and was in constant danger of death when he had the earth for his bed the trees for his curtains the stars for his candles and the heavens for his canopy could sleep as sweetly as soundly as ever he did on his bed of down in his royal pallace at Jerusalem Thou O Lord art a shield for me my glory and the lifter up of mine head I laid me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me Psal 3.3 and 5. Psal 4. ult The sinners portion is termed wind Hos 8.7 If wind get into the bowels of the earth it causeth concussions and earthquakes his riches and honours and friends lie near him are within him and thereby cause much anxiety and disquietness of spirit his portion like windy fruit fills his belly with pains It is smoak in his eyes
secretly to her Vault and with the skirt of his Manâ—le wiped the moysture from the Carcass and still at the return of his temptation laid it before him saying Behold this is the beauty of the Womad which thou didst so much desire And the Man at last with that moysture of the Corps put out the Fire The godliness of the World its whole glory and gallantry is but a curious Picture drawn on Ice which affords no good footing for whilst we are standing on it we are sliding from it and who would lay the stress of his felicity upon so slippery a foundation No wise man ever put his chiefest goods and riches in such low damp rooms where they will corrupt and putrifie Hipocrates affirmeth that all immoderations are Enemies to the health of the body Sure I am they are to the health of the soul The amity of the World is emnity against God All the Water is little enough to run in the right Channel therefore none should run beside The time is short use the World as net abusing it 1 Cor. 7.29 Secondly That you chuse the good part that shall never be taken from you Mans heart will be fixt on somewhat as its hope and happiness God therefore puts out our Candles takes away Relations that we may look up to the Sun and esteem him our chiefest portion When we are Digging and Delving in the Earth to find out content and comfort he sendeth damps purposely to make us call to be drawn upward Till the Prodigal met with a Famine he regarded not his Father If the Waters be abated the Dove is apt to wander and defile her self but when they cover the face of the earth and allow her no rest then she returneth to the Ark. I hope there is a good work begun in you which shall be finished at the day of Christ But every one stande h or falleth to their own Master Get Scripture on your side and you are safe for ever The Romans when they parted from the bones of their Dead friends for they burnt them took their leave in such language Vale Vale Vale Noste ordine quo natura permiserit sequemur Farewel Farewel Farewel We shall follow thee in the time and order which nature alloweth us You may say of your Husband as David of his Child I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Prepare therefore for your dying hour Labour to be rich in godliness Grace alone is special bayl against death It is such wealth as will be currant in the other World lay up your treasure in Heaven where neither Thief nor Moth neither Men nor Divels can rob you of it Take God in Christ for your Heaven and you are happy in spight of the World Death and Hell You know the living comfort of your dying Husband was that though his flesh and heart failed him yet God was the strength of his heart and his portion for ever And it was a memorable speech of His when some Friends came to him and commended the richness and magnificence of Hampton Court newly trimmed and adorned for the reception of her Majesty One drop of the blood of Christ is more worth then all the World I must tell you there is no such Cordial in a day of Death as this Covenant-Relation to the Lord of life The Child may walk in that dark entry without fear if he have but his Father by the hand Though I walk in the Valley of the shadow of Death I will fear none ill for thou art with me Death indeed is strong it overcometh Principalities and Powers but as strong as it is it cannot separate God and the godly person It may dissolve the natural union betwixt soul and body but not the mystical union betwixt God and the soul The Saints dye in the Lord they sleep in Jesus O Couzen be married to Christ and you are made for ever Heaven is the Joynture and Death one of the Servants or slaves of her that is the Spouse of this Lord. Death is yours ye are Christs 1 Cor. 3.21 Other men are Deaths it hath dominion over them but Death is yours your servant to strip off your rags of sin and misery and to cloath you with the Robes of joy and glory The ensuing Discourse was for the substantial part of it delivered at the Funeral of your dearest Relation on earth You gave me the Text and my indisposition of body allowed me then but little time which caused me now to make some enlargements and additions but it s the same body possibly in a little neater far from gaudy dress which was prepared for the Pulpit I present it to you not doubting of its acceptance for his sake whose death was the occasion of it The good Lord bless it to you requite your love to me and them that fear him make up the want of streams in the more abundant enjoyment of the fountain fill you with all the fruits of righteousness enable you to persevere and encrease in godliness and so to live with a good conscience that you may dye with much comfort and be a follower of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises so prayeth Your Servant for Jesus sake George Swinnock TO THE Right VVorshipful THE Mayor with the Recorder Jurats Common Council and the rest of the Inhabitants of his Native Town Maidstone in Kent Honoured and Beloved IT is a general observation that all creatures have propensity and inclination towards those places where they receive their births and beings Vegetatives which stand in the lowest rank of life thrive best because they delight most in those grounds whence they first grow Sensitives as they have an higher being so a stronger inclination to those parts where they are born The Prince of Philosophers telleth us that Fish usually stay with pleasure in those Waters in which they are bread Arist Hist Animal l. 4. c. 8 and Beasts in those Woods in which they are brought forth and that neither of them will remove without force and violence Nature hath planted in them both this principle of affecting their native places Hence it comes to pass that even these creatures have manifested their thank-fulness after their manner Trees acknowledge that sap which they borrow from the earth in which they stand in the tribute of leaves which they pay back to the same in Autumn The Storks are said to leave one of their young in that part of the Earth where they are hatched Patriam quisque amat non quia pulchram sed quia suam Sen. Men as they have a Nobler life so a greater love to their Native Country Heathen themselves have been famous for this Pericles the Athenian did so affect his Country-men that his usual speech was If none but my self should lead them to the shambles Plut. in vit as much as lyeth in me they shall be immortal When Cleomenes King of Sparta being greatly distressed had
dye he screeched out dreadfully O that I had never raigned O that I had never been King for then I should not have now to Answer for my neglect of doing the good I might and my not hindering the evil I ought in my Government Sirs I beseech you give me leave to be faithful to you Will it not be a dreadful time with you when you are tumbling on your dying beds and neer your eternity if conscience should flye in your faces for your falseness and unfaithfulness in your places and make you cry out O that I had never been Mayor of Maidstone O that I had never been Justice O that I had never been Jurat for then I should not have now to Answer before the dreadful tribunal of a righteous God for all the Oaths Fornications Prophanation of the Lordâ— day and other evils which I might have hindred and did not and for all the good which I might by my holy pattern and encouraging others in piety have done and would not Alass ye cannot imagine the dreadfulness of such a mans condition on such a day Therefore now be Terrors to evil doers and encouragements to them that do well if ye would find comfort then for as in Philosophy so in Divinity They who mind not the premises make but mad but sad conclusions The Naturalists assure us that the Ashes of a Viper applied to that part of the body which is stung will draw the venome out of it natural attraction as it were calling home that poison which injury and violence had misplaced the serious consideration that you must dye and be turned into dust and ashes will be a soveraign medicine against the poison and pollution of sin it will make you both good men and good Magistrates The Latter part of the Treatise containeth the Gracious Persons Glorious Portion Therein I have endeavoured so to set forth the vastness of the Saints estate though I must confess neither men nor Angels can cast up its total sum that I might prevail with you to desire the felicity of Gods Children and the Inheritance of his chosen ones This is the portion which is as the Spanish Ambassadour said of his Masters treasure in the Indies without a bottom Though the seven streams of Nilus are known yet the head of it was never found out Much of the riches and beauty and perfections of the ever blessed God may be read in the book of the creatures more may be seen in the glass of the Scriptures but the longest line of humane or Angelical understanding can never fathom his boundless bottomless nature and being yet there is so much to be known of him even in his life as may draw out your hearts to chuse and close with him The World is ready to wonder what the people of God see or enjoy in him that they are so fearful of his fury and so joyfully in his favour as the ignorant wretch could see nothing in the Picture of Helena why Nicostratus should admire it so much but as Nicostratus told him O friend if thou hadst my eyes thou wouldst wonder at it as much as I do so had the World but the Saints eyes could they see what a Crown of glory What a Paradice of pleasures What a Mine of riches What a loving able and faithful friend God is could they but behold that beauty and bounty grace and peace love and life which are in the infinite God they would admire him too yea their eyes would affect their hearts Qui Venetias non vidit non credit quiae aliquandi ibi non vixit intelligit that they could not but love him and delight in him but Satan with his black hand like Swallows dung puts out mens eyes that they not seeing so great a good might not desire him The Italians have a Proverb He who hath not seen Venice doth not beleive and he who hath not lived there some time doth not understand what a City it is This is most true of God he who hath not with Moses seen him that is invisible doth not beleive and he who never had fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ his son cannot understand what a vast alsufficient and infinite portion the eternal God is O friends did your eyes with Isaiah see this Lord of Hosts or with Israels Magistrate beheld but his back parts or had you with Paul ever been caught up into the third heavens ye would quickly trample on all the honours and pleasures and treasures of this lower World as toys and trifles and say with David whom have we in heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that we desire besides thee I have undertaken briefly in the ensuing discourse to shew also the vast difference between the Christians and the Worldlings portion by which you may understand that if any one among you could enjoy the wealth of Craesus the wisdom and glory of Solomon the beauty of Absolom the strength of Sampson the pleasures of Sardanapalus and to all the long life of Methuselah yet in the midst of all these his soul would be as beggerly as the body of Lazarus and as restless and unsatisfied as the stormy tempestuous Ocean No Water say Naturalists will quench the Dragons thirst No creature can fill the vast desires of a capatious immortal soul As among all the Beasts of the field there was not a meet Companion for man Adam was solitary and alone notwithstanding their numerous society so amongst all the creatures in the World there is not a meet portion for the soul its poor and beggerly without God in the midst of all its possessions your heads may be solicitous and your hearts industrious to heap up creature-comforts and when ye have got what the World can give ye would be but as hungry men in a Room full of Stones or Chips That which is unsutable to the souls nature cannot be satisfying to the spirits desires There is a nourishment proper to every Animal Spiders feed on Flies Moles on Worms the Horse on Grass the Lyon on Flesh there is also food proper to mans soul Spiritual Meat and spiritual Drink my flesh is Meat indeed my blood is Drink indeed all other is bibi potus tantummodo umbra this this is that which when the soul comes once to feed on it it s filled it s satisfied Philosophers observe that the matter of the Heavens desireth no other form whereas in all sublunary things it constantly doth and the reason is because of the Actuality and Perfection of that heavenly form While the soul fasteneth on any sublunary thing as its happiness it desireth more and better but when it doth once chuse the blessed God it desireth no more no better because of those infinite perfections which are in God One God answereth all the souls desires and necessities Plut. in vit To keep you no longer out of the body of the book It is Recorded of Marcus Cato that after
not the worth of them None look off the world but they that can look beyond it The Turtle saith the Philosopher brings forth her young blind The most quick-sighted Christian brings forth blind children now they not being able to see afar off into the other world prefer these poor things which they may have in present possession before these unsearchable riches which are offered them in reversion Hence it is also that the Devil as the Raven when he seizeth the carcass as soon as he layeth hold on any person Prov. 33.17 2 Cor. 4.4 the first thing he doth is to peck out his eyes knowing that as soon as they come to see the blessed God and the happiness which is to be enjoyed in him they will quickly turn their backs on these shadows and face about towards this eternal substance O how dull would the worlds common glasse be in his eye who had once beheld the true Christal The loadstone of earth will not draw mans affections whilst this Diamond of heaven is in presence When Moses had once seen him that was invisible how low did the price of the honours and treasures and pleasures of Egypt fall in his judgement Knowledge is by one well expressed to be Appetites taster for as he that hath eaten sweet-meats cannot rellish the strongest beer so he that hath fed on the heavenly banquet cannot savour any thing else A man that is born in a dark dungeon and there continueth a long time when he comes after twelve or fourteen years to see a candle he wonders at the excellency of that Creature what delight will he take in beholding it and enquiring into the nature of it But bring this man afterwards into the open air and let him behold the glorious Sun his admiration of the candle will cease and all his wonder will be at the beauty and glory of this great Luminary of the World Every man is naturally in darkness hence it is that when he comes to behold the candles of creature comforts he is so ravisht and taken with them but let him once come to see the Sun of righteousness the Alsufficient and Eternal God he despiseth those glimmering rushes and all his wondering is at the excellency and perfections of this Glorious being That which was glorious before hath now no glory in comparison of this glory that excelleth All things are small and little in his eye who hath once had a sight of the great God The great Cities of Campania are but small cottages to them who stand on the top of the Alpes Philosophers observe that lumen est vehiculum influentiae Light is the convoy of heat Certain it is Reader that this light of knowledge would quickly cause heat in thy affections Couldst thou but see God with an eye of faith thine eye would so affect thine heart that as some who have beheld Mahomets Tomb have put out their eyes least they should be defiled with common objects after they have been blessed with so rare a sight thou wouldst shut thine eyes at those gilded poysons and wink ever after on those specious nothings Couldst thou see this God as he is visible in the glasse of the Creatures Couldst thou compass the earth which he hath made the several Islands and Continents which are in it Couldst thou like the Sun so surround it as to see all the Nations in it their several languages carriages customes their number order natures and the creatures in every Kingdome and Country the various plants birds minerals beasts and savage inhabitants in wildernesses their multiplicity variety dispositions subordination and serviceableness each to other and all that concerneth them what thoughts wouldst thou then have of this God for a portion Couldst thou behold at one view the vast Ocean discern the motion of the huge waters in the cause of its ebbing and flowing all the stormes and tempests which are there raised and all the persons and goods which have been there ruined Couldst thou see how those proud waves are laid with a word how when they swell and rage it is but Peace be still Matth. 8 as a mother will hush her crying Infant and all is quiet how they are kept in vvith bars and doors and for all their anger and povver cannot go beyond their decreed place Couldst thou dive into it and see the many vvonders that are in that great deep the vast riches vvhich are buried there out of the sight of covetons mortals the Leviathan whose teeth are terrible round about him whose scalâ—s are his pride shut up together as with a close seal by whose neesings a light doth shine and whose eyes are the eye-lids of the morning whose breath kindleth coals and a flame goeth out of his mouth who esteemeth iron as straw and brasse as rotten wood who maketh the deep to boyl like a pot and the sea like a pot of ointment Couldst thou behold the innumerable fish both small and great that are there Good Lord what wouldst thou think of having the Author and Commander of the Earth and Ocean for thy portion Couldst thou ascend up to the skie and fully perceive the beauty glory nature and order of that heavenly hoast how they march in rank and file come forth when called in their several courses know the time of their rising and setting couldst thou know the Sun perfectly in his noon-day dresse and what influences those higher Orbes have on inferiour bodies what wouldst thou then give to enjoy him who gave them their beings who appointeth them their motions who knoweth the number of the stars and who calleth them all by their names for thy portion But Oh! were it possible for thee to hold aside the vail and look into the holy of holies to mount up to the highest heavens and see the royal pallace of this Great King the stately Court which he there keeps the noble entertainment which he there gives to his Friends and Children Couldst thou know the satisfying joy the ravishing delight and the unconceivable pleasure which the spirits of just men made perfect have in his favour and fruition Couldst thou see him as he is there visible like a pure sweet light sparkling through a christal-lanthorn in the glorified Redeemer and know him as thou art known of him then then Reader what wouldst thou think of this God for a portion what poor apprehensions wouldst thou have of that beggarly portion which thou now admirest what dung what dogs-meat would the world be to thee in comparison of this God As Alexander when he heard of the Indies and the riches there divided the Kingdome of Macedonia amongst his Captains so thou wouldst leave the swine of the earth to wallow in the mire of brutish comforts the foolish children of disobedience to paddle in the gutter of sensual waters and wouldst desire that thy portion might be amongst Gods Children and thy heritage amongst his chosen ones Then then Friend all thy love would be too little and
no labour too great wouldst thou think for such a peerless and inestimable portion How willingly should the Ziba's of the world take all so thy Lord and King would but come into thy soul in peace How earnestly how eagerly wouldst thou cry with Moses after he had known somewhat of Canaan O Lord God thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand for what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to thy works and according to thy might I pray thee let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan that goodly mountain and Lebanon Lord though others be put off with common bounty let me partake of special mercy though they feed on husks give me this bread of life Let me not for this whole world have my portion in this world but be thou the portion of my cup do thou maintain my lot whatsoever thou deny to me or howsoever thou deal with me give me thy self and I shall have enough Though strangers and enemies to thee scramble for the good things which thou scatterest here below and desire no more yet let me see the felicity of thy chosen rejoyce with the gladness of thy nation and glory with thine inheritance O Friend it is eternal life to know this only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent John 17.3 Were I able to set this God forth in the thousandth part of that grace and glory wherewith he is cloathed as with a garment could I present him to thee in any degree sutable to his vast perfections and give thee eyes to behold him it were impossible but that thou should choose him for thy portion but Alas all the Angels in heaven cannot draw him at length surely then we who are clogged so much with flesh know lesse of this Father of Spirits Simonsdes being askt by Hiero What God was required some time to consider of it and as much more at the end of that time and double at the end of that Of which delay Hiero asked a reason he answered Quo magis inquiro eo minus invenio The farther I search the more I am at a losse There can be no finding God out there being no equal proportion between the faculty and the object If I had been in heaven and seen him face to face I should know him to my perfection but could not know him to his perfections But suppose I had been there and seen those infinite beauties and glories according to the utmost of my capacity yet my tongue would not be able to tell it thee nor thine eares to hear it O what an unspeakable losse am I at now I am speaking of this infinite God! my thoughts run into a labyrinth I am as a little cock-boat floating on the Ocean or as an infant offering to reach the Sun My meditations please me exceedingly O how sweet is this subject I could dwell in this hive of honey and happiness Lord let me whilst I have a being How pleasant are thy thoughts to me O God thou true Paradise of all pleasure thou living Fountain of felicity thou original and exact pattern of all perfections how comely is thy face how lovely is thy voice While I behold though but a little of thy beauty and glory my heart is filled with marrow and fatness and my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips My soul followeth hard after thee O when shall I come and appear before thee When wilt thou come to me or when rather will that blessed time come that I shall be taken up to thee Sinners misse thee walking in the mist of ignorance Ah did they know thee they would never crucifie the Lord of glory When they come once into that blackness of darkness where they shall have light enough to see how good thou art in thy self and in thy Son to immortal souls and to see their misery in the losse of an eternal blessed life how will they tear their hairs and bite their flesh and cut their hearts with anguish and sorrow for their cruel folly and damnable desperate madness in refusing so incomparable and inestimable a portion Saints blesse themselves in thee and rather pity then envy the greatest Potentates who want thee for their portion having not seen thee they love thee and in whom though now they see thee not yet believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory But Reader Whither doe I wander I confesse I am a little out of my way but I wish as Austin when preaching forgat his subject he was upon and fell to confute the Manichees by which meanes Firmus at that time his Auditor was converted so that my going a few paces astray may be instrumental to bring thee home What shall I say unto thee or wherewith shall I perswade thee Could I by my prayer move God to open thine eyes as the Prophet did for his servant 2 Kings 4. to see the worth and worthinesse the love and lovelinesse of this portion thou shouldst not an hour longer be alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in thee But be of good comfort Read on he that made the seeing eye is willing to open the eyes of the blind and thou mayst possibly before thou art come to the end of the book meet with that eye-salve of the Sanctuary which may doe the work What I have farther to offer to thee in relation to this choice shall be to encourage thee to it by four properties of this portion In the handling of which I shall put the world in one scale with all its mines of gold and allow them as many grains as can be allowed them and put this One God in the other scale and then leave thy own reason to judge which scale is most weighty CHAP XVIII God is a satisfying and a sanctifying portion Motives to choose God for our portâ—on God is satisfying FIrst God is a satisfying portion The things of this vvorld may surfet a man but they can never satisfie him Most men have too much but no man hath enough As ships they have that burden vvhich sinks them vvhen they have room to hold more He that loveth silver is not satisfied with silver nor he that loveth gold with increase Eccles 1. Worldlings are like the Parthians the more they drink the more they thirst As the melancholy Chymist they vvork eagerly to find the Philosophers stone rest and happiness in it though they have experience of its vanity and it hath already brought them to beggary The world cannot satisfie the senses much lesse the soul The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing As the Apes in the story finding a Gloworm in a frosty night took it for a spark of fire gathered some sticks and leaped on it expecting to be warmed by it but all in vain so men think to find warmth and satisfaction in creatures but they are as the
of dirt his earthly portion hath possession of it but the heart of a godly man is worth millions because its the Cabinet where this inestimable jewell is laid up The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour Pro. 12.26 because he partaketh of the divine nature God like gold enricheth whatsoever he is joyned to hence it is that things which excell in Scripture are usually said to be things of God as the garden of God Ezek. 28.13 The hill of God Ps 61.15 The mountains of God Ps 36.6 a city of God Jonah 3.3 the cedars of God Ps 80.10 That is the most excellent garden hill mountain city and cedars God is the perfection of thy Soul and therefore would if thy portion advance it to purpose O what an height of honour and happiness wouldst thou arrive at if this God were thine Now like a worm thou crawlest on and dwellest in the earth the meanest and basest of all the Elements that which brutes trample under their feet but then like an Eagle thou wouldst mount up to Heaven contemning these toys and leaving those babies for children and as an Angel alwaies stand in the presence of and enjoy inspeakable pleasure in him who is thy portion Thy life at present is low little differing from the life of a beast consisting cheifly in making provision for that which should be thy slave the flesh but thy life then would be high and noble much resembling the lives of those honourable Courtiers whose continual practice is to adore and admire the blessed and only Potentate Dost thou not find by experience that earthly things obstruct holiness and thereby hinder thy Souls happiness Alas the best of them are but like the wings of a butterfly which though curiously painted foul the fingers but if thine heart had but once closed with God as thy portion it would be every day more pure and nearer to perfection Thou hast it may be gold and silver why the Midianites camels had chaines of gold and were they ever the better Judg. 8.26 Many Brutes have had silver bells but their natures brutish still but O the excellency which God would adde to thy Soul by bestowing on it his own likeness and love CHAP. XIX God an universal and eternal portion 3. Gâ—d a perfect or univâ—â—sal portion Operaâ—i seqâ—tâ—r esse THirdly God is a universal portion God hath in himself eminently and infinitely all good things and Creatures are bounded in their beings and therefore in the comfort which they yeild Health answereth sickness but it doth not answer poverty Honour is an help against disgrace but not against pain Money is the most universall medicines and therefore is said to answer all things but as great a Monarch as it is it can neither command ease in sickness nor honours in disgrace much less quiet a wounded spirit At best Creatures are but particular beings and so but particular blessings Now man being a compound of many wants and weaknesses can never be happy till he find a salve for every sore and a remedy which bears proportion as well to the number as nature of his maladies Ahab though in his Ivory Pallace upon his Throne of glory attended with his noble Lords and swaying a large Scepter was miserable because the heavens were brass Haman though he had the favour of the Prince the adoration of the people the sway of 127. Provinces yet is discontented because he wanted Mordecai's knee If the worlds darlings enjoy many good things yet they as Christ told the young man alwayes lack one thing which makes them at a loss But God is all good things and every good thing he is self-sufficient alone-sufficient and all-sufficient nothing is wanting in him either for the Souls protection from all evill or perfection with all good Reader if God were thy portion thou shouldst find in him whatsoever thine heart could desire and whatsoever could tend to thy happiness Art thou ambitious he is a crown of Glory and a royall Diadem Art thou covetous he is unsearchable riches yea durable riches and righteousness Art thou voluptuous He is rivers of pleasures and fulness of joy Art thou hungry He is a feast of wine on the lees of fat things full of marrow Art thou weary He is rest a shadow from the heat and a shelter from the storm Art thou weak In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Art thou in doubts he is marvellous in counsell Art thou in darkness He is the Sun of righteousness an eternall light Art thou sick He is the God of thy health Art thou sorrowfull He is the God of all consolations Art thou dying He is the fountain and Lord of life Art thou in any distress His name is a strong tower thither thou mayst run and find safety He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an universal Medicine against all sorts of miseries Whatsoever thy calamity is he could remove it whatsoever thy necessity he could relieve it He is silver gold honour delight food rayment house land peace wisdome power beauty father mother wife husband mercy love grace glory and infinitely more then all these God and all his creatures are no more then God without any of his creatures Quid quaeris extra illum quid desideras praeter illum quid plâ—cet cum illo Bern. serm de misce com As the Jews say of Manna that it had all sorts of delicate tastes in it it is most true of God he hath all sorts of delights in him This tree of life beareth twelve manner of fruits Revel 22.2 every month There is in it both variety and plenty of comforts The former prevents our loathing the latter our lacking One being desirous to see the famous City of Athens was told Viso Solone vidisti omnia see but Solon and in him you may see all the rarities and excellencies in it Reader wouldst thou see all the wealth and worth of sea and land wouldst thou be upon the pinacle of the Temple as Christ was and behold and have the offer of all the kingdomes of the world and the glory of them nay wouldst thou view heavens glorious City the royal Pallace of the Great King the costly curious workmanship about it and the unheard of rarities and delights in that Court which infinite embroydered Wisdome contrived boundless Power and Love erected and infinite Bounty enriched thou mayst both see and enjoy all this in God See but God and thou seest all enjoy but God and thou enjoyest all in him As a Merchant in London may trade for and fetch in the Horses of Barbary the Canary Sacks the French Wines the Spanish Sweet-meats the Oyles of Candie the Spices of Egypt the artificial Wares of Alexandria the Silks of Persia the Embroyderies of Turkey the Golden-wedges of India the Emeraulds of Scythia the Topazes of Aethiopia and the Diamonds of Bisnager so mightst thou were but this God thy portion fetch in the finest bread to feed thee the choicest wine
to comfort thee oyl to chear thee joy to refresh thee raiment to cloath thee the jewels of grace to beautifie thee and the crown of glory to make thee blessed nay all the wealth of this and the other world If all the riches in the Covenant of Grace if all the good things which Christ purchased with his precious blood nay if as much good as is in an infinite God can make thee happy thou shouldst have it If David were thought worth ten thousand Israelites how much is the God of Israel worth This one God would fill up thy soul in its utmost capacity it is such an end that when thou attainest thou couldst go no further shouldst desire no more but quietly rest for ever The necessity of the creatures number speaks the meanness of their value but the universality of good in this one God proclaims his infinite worth As there are all parts of speech in that one verse Vae tibi ridenti quia mox post gaudia flebis So there are all perfections in this one God What a portion is this Friend Fourthly God is an eternal Portion 4. God is an eternal poâ—tion The pleasures of sin are but for a season a little inch of time a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a season is a very short space Hebr. 11. but the portion of a Saint is for ever God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever The greatest estate here below is a flood soon up and soon down but if God once say to thy soul as to Aarons I am thine inheritance Numb 18.20 neither men nor devils can cozen thee of it The Lord knoweth the dayes of the upright and their inheritance shall be for ever Psal 37.18 The Prodigal wasted his portion and so came to poverty the Glutton swalloweth down his portion burying it in his belly the Drunkard vomiteth up his portion the ambitious person often turneth his portion into smoak and it vanisheth in the air those whose portion continueth longest will be turned out of possession when Death once comes with a Writ from Heaven to seal a Lease of ejectment for all these portions are dying gourds deceitful brooks and flying shadows But ah how contrary hereunto is the portion of a believer God is an eternal portion If he were once thy portion he would be for ever thy portion When thy estate and children and wife and honours and all earthly things should be taken from thee He is the good part which shall never be taken from thee Luke 10. ult Thy Friends may use thee as a suit of apparel which when they have worn thredbare they throw off and call for new thy Relations may serve thee as women their flowers who stick them in their bosomes when fresh and flourishing but when dying and withered they throw them to the dunghill thy riches and honours and pleasures and wife and children may stand on the shore and see thee lanching into the Ocean of Eternity but will not step one foot into the water after thee thou mayst sink or swim for them only this God is thy portion will never leave thee nor forsake thee Hebr. 13.5 O how happy wouldst thou be in having such a friend Thy portion would be tied to thee in this life as Dionysius thought his kingdome was to him with chains of Adamant there would be no severing it from thee The world could not thou shouldst live above the world whilst thou walkest about it and behave thy self in it not as its champion but conquerour He that is born of God overcometh the world 1 John 5.9 Satan should not part thee and thy portion thy God hath him in his chain and though like a Mastiffe without teeth he may bark yet he can never bite or hurt his children I have written unto you young men because ye have overcome the wicked one 1 John 2.13 Nay it should not be in thine own power to sell away thy portion thou wouldest be a joynt heir with Christ and co-heirs cannot sell except both joyn and Christ knoweth the worth of this inheritance too well to part with it for all that this beggarly world can give Rom. 8.17 The Apostle makes a challenge which men nor devils could never accept or take up Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword nay in all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loves us Rom. 8.35 36 37 38. Nay at death thy portion would swim out with thee in that shipwrack death which parts all other portions from men will give thee full possession of thine Then and not till then thou shouldst know what it is worth yea even at the great day the fire which shall burn up the world shall not so much as singe thy portion thou mightst stand upon its ruines and sing I have lost nothing I have my portion my inheritance my happiness my God still Other portions like summer-fruit are soon ripe and soon rotten but this portion like winter fruit though it be longer before the whole be gathered yet it will continue Gold and silver in which other mens portion lieth are corruptible but thy portion like the body of Christ shall never see corruption When all earthly portions as meat over-driven certainly corrupts or as water in cisterns quickly groweth unsavoury this portion like the water in Aesculapius his well is not capable of putrefaction O Friend what are all the portions in the world which as a candle consume in the use and then go out in a stink to this eternal portion It is reported of one Theodorus that when there was musick and feasting in his Fathers house withdrew himself from all the company and thus thought with himself Here is content enough for the flesh but how long will this last this will not hold out long then falling on his knees O 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 O let me live eternally to praise thee I must tell thee Reader to be eternally happy or eternally miserable to live eternally or to die eternally are of greater weight then thou art aware of yea of far more concernment then thou canst conceive Ponder this motive therefore throughly God is not only a satisfying portion filling every crevis of thy soul with the light of joy and comfort and a sanctifying portion elevating thy soul to its primitive and original perfection and an universal portion not health or wealth or friends or honours or liberty or life or house or wife or childe or pardon or peace or grace or glory or earth or heaven but all these and infinâ—tely more but also he is an eternal portion This God would be thy God for ever and ever Psal 48.11 O sweet word Ever thou art the crown of the Saints crown and the glory