HEAVEN OPENED OR A Brief and plain DISCOVERY OF THE RICHES OF Gods Covenant OF GRACE By R. A. London Printed Anno Dom. 1665. To The Reader Reader THe Providence of God hath led mee on to the publication of the ensuing Treatise much beyond my first intentions There came to my hands A Synopsis of the Covenant of Grace on Gods part with a Soliloquie annexed both penned by the worthy Authour of that form of Mans Covenanting with God inserted in my Vindiciae Pietatis attended with the Authours desires and of divers other Christians that this also might bee incorporated into the same book These desires neither being able to resist nor willing to deny I prepared some meditations to bee premised with a purpose to have put forth another Edition of that Book with this addition but finding it to grow into too great a bulk to bee there incerted both this on Gods part and the former on mans part come into thy hands in this distinct Treatise followed with my Prayers that the good Land whereof some Clusters are here presented to thee may be thine Inheritance See and take Thine because the Lords Covenant servant R. A. July 8. 1665. The Contents THe Introduction pag. 1 Chap. 1 God himself granted in the Covenant p. 3 To bee our Friend Portion Sun Shield Chap. 2. Christ in the Covenant 22 As The Light of life The Lord our righteousness Our Lord and King Our head and Husband Chap. 3. The Spirit in the Covenant 35 As a Spirit of Wisdome and Revelation Holiness and Sanctification Truth and Direction Comfort and Consolation Chap. 4 The earth in the Covenant 51 The good things of the Earth The evil things of the Earth 1. The Covenant hath its Cross 2. By vertue of the Convenant the Cross is a blessing The Blessing of the Cross stands 1. In its being separated from the earth 2. In its being sanctified to its ends 3. In its being proportioned to our needs and strength 4. In the special comforts annexed to it Chap. 5. The Angels of light in the Covenant 74 Chap. 6. The powers of darkness delivered over in the Covenant 78 Chap. 7. Death in the Covenant p. 84 Chap. 8. The Kingdome in the Covenant 87 Chap. 9. All the means of salvation in the Covenant 88 1. External means 2. Internal means In special a new heart Chap. 10. An heart to know the Lord. 96 Chap. 11. One heart 114 Chap. 12. An heart of flesh 141 Chap. 13. An heart to love the Lord. 166 Chap. 14. An heart to fear the Lord. 193 Chap. 15 An Obedient heart 221 Chap. 16. Perseverance in the Covenant 249 Chap. 17. A Synopsis of the Covenant of Grace on Gods part by another hand 262 Chap 18. A Soliloquie representing the Believers Tryumph in Gods Covenant and the various conflicts and glorious conquests of faith over unbelief 316 Chap. 19. An exhortation to sinners with directions for their entring into Covenant 342 Chap. 20. A form of words expressing mans covenanting with God 365 Chap. 21. An Exhortation to the Saints 369 Heaven Opened OR A brief and plain discovery of the Riches of Gods Covenant of GRACE The Introduction GOod news from Heaven the day-spring from on high hath visited this undone world after a Deluge of sin and misery behold the bow in the Cloud the Lord God hath made and established a new Covenant and this is it that hath cast the first beam on the dark state of lost and fallen man and hath brought life and immortality to light This Covenant is the hope of Sinners The riches of Saints the Magna Charta of the City of God The forfeited Lease of eternity renewed Gods Deed of Gift wherein hee hath on fair conditions granted sinners their lives and settled upon his Saints an everlasting Inheritance Hear O yee forlorn Captives who have sold your selves to eternal bondage spoiled your selves of all your glory sealed your selves up under everlasting misery you are dead in your sins guilty before God under wrath under a curse bound over to eternal vengeance But behold there is yet hope in Israel concerning this thing the Lord God hath taken compassion upon you hath opened a way for you to escape out of all this misery and bondage Lift up the hands that hang down comfort the trembling knees An Ark an Ark hath God prepared in which is salvation from the Flood A Covenant a new Covenant hath hee made and established which if you lay hold on it will recover all you have lost ransome you from death redeem you from Hell and advance you to a more sure and blessed condition than your original state from which you have fallen This is the hope of sinners This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Glorious tydings good news indeed but what is this Covenant or what is there that is given and granted therein Why in summe there 's all that Heaven and earth can afford all that can bee needed or desired and this by a firm and irrevokable Deed made over and made sure to all that will sincerely embrace it Particularly God hath in his Covenant granted and made over 1. Himself 2. His Son 3. His Spirit 4. The Earth 5. The Angels of Light 6. The Powers of Darkness 7. Death 8. The Kingdome 9. All the means of Salvation CHAP. I. God in the Covenant 1. THe Lord God hath made over himself in this Covenant That 's the great and comprehensive promise Jer. 31.33 I will be their God I am God and what I am 't is all theirs my self my glorious incomprehensible essence all my glorious attributes my omnipotence my omniscience my wisdome my righteousness my holiness mine all-sufficiency my faithfulness c. I will make over my self to them to be henceforth and for ever theirs Their Friend Portion Sun Shield 1. Their Friend I was angry but mine anger is turned away I was an adversary I had a controversie with them but I am reconciled I have found a ransome the quarrel is composed my wrath is appeased I am friends with them I will forgive their iniquity and their sin will I remember no more I will take away their iniquity and receive them graciously I will heal their back-sliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from them Jer. 31.34 Hos 14.4 Glory be to God on high on earth peace good will towards men Fury is not now in me favour and friendship love and good will is all they may henceforth expect from me Sinners what is there to be feared what is there dreadful but an angry provoked God Thence is sorrow and anguish thence is famine and pestilence and sword thence is death and hell he doth not know what the wrath of God means that doth not see in the bowels of it all the plagues above ground and all the vengeance of eternal fire Whatever terrors or torments have seized upon thee upon thy body upon thy soul whatever losses crosses
for eyes They that see pitty the blinde Wee have a little Sister that hath no breasts wee have a poor Brother yea a world of them that have no eyes What shall we do for our poor brethren in the day that they shall bee spoken for Oh! bee eyes to thy blinde bee a light to thy dark souls let them that dwell in darkness see thy great light Sinners those whom you persecute do thus pitty do thus pray for you Lord that their eyes might bee opened will you say Amen to their prayers or will you say Lord regard not their word wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies Christians bee marvels You that have seen marvellous things bee marvellous persons set the world a wondring for some thing Let your light shine let the light which hath shined into your hearts shine forth in all your paths let the Spirit of Light within you bee a Spirit of Glory resting upon you Once you were darkness but now are yee light in the Lord Walk as Children of the light Bee yee holy harmless the Children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked Generation amongst whom yee shine as lights in the World Beclouded Christian thou goest on bemoaning and bewailing thy self complaining that thou art still blinde the light hath shined into thy darkness but thy darkness comprehendeth it not thine eye is yet but tender at least and thou canst see but little but little of Christ the Sun is but as a sparke to thee but little of sin that Mountain looks yet but as a Mole hill It is neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day thou hopeedst that long e're this thy scales would have fallen off the vail would have been removed but they abide upon thee thou waitest for light but behold obscurity for brightness but thou walkest in darkness thou goest on adding darkness to darkness the darkness of sorrow to the dimness of sight Thou fearest that the Gospel is hid from thee thou doubtest 't is still night because 't is not yet noon with thee But hearken as little as thou seest of Christ doest thou see so much that thou prizest and lovest and cleavest to him above all as little as thou seest of sin doest thou see so much that thou loathest and shunnest it above all things doest thou walke in that little light thou hast dost thou love long wait cry for the light Send forth thy light and thy truth lift up the light of thy countenance Sun of Righteousness shine upon mee why are the wheels of thy Chariots so long a coming when Lord Make haste my Beloved O might I once see thy face as the Sun looking over the Mountains Is this thy voice are these the breathings of thy soul Bee of good comfort these are the glimmerings and groanings of that Holy Spirit within thee which hath already delivered thee from darkness and will bring thee forth into his marvellous light thou shalt know if thou follow on to know the Lord. Arise shine thy light is come the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Though yet as to thy sense it bee neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day in the evening there shall bee light 2 As a Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification hee is given as an Holy Spirit and as a Sanctifying Spirit therefore Sanctification is called the Sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thes 2.13 he comes to change us into his own nature to make us partakers of his holiness hee is a Refiner's fire and Fullers sope Mal. 3.2 to purge and work and wash off the filth and corruption of our natures What it is said hee shall bee to the Church Isa 4.4 A Spirit of Judgement and a Spirit of Burning to wash away the filth of the Daughters of Zion and to purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof a Spirit of Judgement that is in the Rulers of Israel stirring them up to do Justice and execute Judgement that so the guilt of blood may bee taken away Isa 32.15,16 and a Spirit of Burning that is in the hearts of the people of Israel to consume and destroying the inward lusts of their hearts that no more such wickedness bee committed amongst them This hee is to every Saint A Spirit of Judgement to give Sentence against their Lusts to condemn them to the fire these must bee cast out to the fire with them away with them get yee hence yee Sons of the Bond-woman you may not bee Heirs with the Sons of the Free-woman The Spirit of the Lord first discovers and convinces of sin judges betwixt light and darkness grace and sin and then gives sentence away with these Lusts they may not bee suffered to live A Spirit of Burning to execute the sentence to consume them in the fire The Spirit of Sanctification is a spirit of Mortification Rom. 8.13 If yee through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body It is the Spirit that kills the Flesh profiteth nothing The Spirit implants the Soul into Christ gives it an Interest in his death brings it under the influence of his death Christus crucifixus est Christus crucifigens 'T is the death of Christ that is the death of sin these Theeves are Crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Our old man is Crucified with Christ that the body of sin might bee destroyed that henceforth wee should no longer serve sin Hell knew not what they did when they Crucified Christ Death with all its Armies were put to death with him The Spirit raises up another party in the soul a party against a party an army against an army brings Grace in to take up arms against sin Grace doth not onely fight against sinne but is in the very nature of it the death of sinne as the Generation of a new is the Corruption of the old form Humility is pride dead meekness is sinful passion and frowardnesse dead patience is impatience slain The Spirit excites and stirs up the soul against sin sets it a praying against it the Spirit of Grace is a Spirit of Supplication fetches down Hail-stones and Thunder bolts from Heaven to destroy these Amorites sets a watch against it presses the soul to deal wisely with it to keep it low by cutting off all provision from the flesh restraining and keeping it short of all those fleshly objects which would keep it in heart and so it 's starved to death It is true our greatest wisdome watchfulness abstinence self-denial and all external means alone will fall short of killing one lust it is the Spirit that killeth without it the flesh profiteth nothing all external attempts for the mortification of the flesh are but a fleshly mortification but if yee through the Spirit do mortifie pray in the Spirit watch in the Spirit curbe and keep short and keep under this body still taking in the assistance of the Spirit then it shall dye Christian thou livest in a weary Land and thou hast but a weary
this world these shall not be thine hire the everlasting God will be thy reward thine exceeding great reward exceeding not thy work only but thy very thoughts also A little is too much for thy earnings but the whole world is too little for his bounty less than nothing might satisfie for thy labours but less than himself will not satisfie for his love the eternal God will be thy reward Oh the unsearchable riches of the poorest of Saints Onimium foelices bona si sua nôrint Poor what and yet hast a God! In want what and yet hast all things Is he a God that is thine and art thou still in straits Would a few sheep and oxen vineyards and olive-yards make thee a rich man and can a God leave thee a beggar Is not a pearl more than pebbles Milk and wine than mud and water Men use to say Money is all things meat and drink and clothes and friends and lands virtually all things And is not God more than money Sure he hath said to his Gold thou art my god that cannot say Let God be mine and then go thou thy way Hast thou a God and yet poor Nay farther would the fatness of the earth and the fulness of heaven if thou hadst both be enough for thee Would corn and wine and houses and lands and pleasures here and eternal life hereafter suffice thee And is not God alone as much as all this Dost thou want Star-light when thou hast the Sun Is the Ocean more full for the Rivers that run into it Or would there be any want there if all these were stopp'd and dry Can they contribute to it which have their rise from it Hath the almighty God a self-sufficiency and hath he not enough to satisfie a poor worm Is he blessed in himself and mayest not thou be blessed in him He that thinks any thing less then God will suffice understands not a soul and he that wants any thing more understands not God God alone is as much as God and all the world and this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord God is their portion If enough be not yet said look a while and consider whence thou art taken up into this blessedness What hast thou left What an exchange hast thou made Thou wert taken with the Prodigal from the trough with the beggar from the dunghil yea as a brand out of the burning there thy lot was fallen Oh where hast thou left the rest of the world Blessing themselves in vanity pleasing themselves with shaddows and apparitions feeding on ashes warming themselves at their painted fires sporting themselves with the wind rejoycing in a thing of nought their crackling thorns their glozing pleasures their drinkings and dancings and riotings their horses and their dogs and their hawks and their harlots making a shift a while to make merry with these whilst they are hasting to the pit To that fire and brimstone which is the portion of their cup. Consider man what is the chaffe to the wheat What is a Comet to the Sun What is the night to the day What are bubbles and childrens toyes to â—…e durable riches What are things that are noâ— to hâ—m whose name is I am But oh what is death and wrath and the curse which was once all thine heritage to that life and love and peace and joy and glory which thou now possessest in that God that is thy portion What a poor wretch wert thou once when thou hadst nothing but sin and shame and misery that thou couldst call thine own these thou mightest call thine sin was thine woe was thine death and the grave and the curse and the pit were thine own but that was all thou hadst thy good things thou livedst upon had they been of never so great value were none of thine thine house and thy lands are none of thine thy gold and thy silver and thy substance are none of thine they are all but borrowed or committed to thee as a Steward and all to be given up upon demand and what thou hast spent of them thou must be brought to a reckoning for a poor wretch thou wert and hadst just nothing all that thou hadst was none of thine But now God is thine own all that he is all that he has is thine never couldest thou lay such a claim to any thing thou possessedst to house or wife or childe or body or soul as now thou mayest to thy God God is as surely thine as thou art thy self as sure as thou art a man thou hast a God Come Christian here 's now thy poâ—tion the light of thine eyes the lifting up of thinehead the joy of thine heart the strength of thy bones thy stock thy treasure thy life thy health thy peace thy rest thy all Whom have I in heaven but thee and in the earth there is none that I desire besides thee My flesh and mine heart faileth but God is the strength of mine heart and my portion for ever Psal 73.25,26 Here is thy portion know it for thy good take it for thine own live upon it and live up to it 1. Live upon thy portion Here thou mayest feed herein thou mayest rejoyce herein thou mayest bless thy self for ever Let him that blesseth himself on the earth bless himself in the God of Truth Let him that rejoyceth in the earth rejoyce in the God of truth Let the strong man live upon his strength let the wise man live upon his wits let the rich man live upon his lands come thou live upon thy God come enjoy God and thy soul enjoy God in thy soul enjoy thy soul in God Thou hast possession what should hinder thy fruition In fruition the Schools tells us there are three things which go to the making it up Cognitio Delectatio Quietatio 1. Knowledge according to the clearness or cloudiness of our apprehensions of any good we more or less take the pleasure or comfort of it and therefore the full fruition of God is not till at last when we shall know as we are known Here we see but as in a glass and darkly we know but in part and while we know but in part we love but in part and joy but in part the dimness of our sight makes an abatement upon our joy When the vail shall be taken away when we shall come to see face to face then we shall fully feel what it is to have a God Christian know thou the God of thy Fathers the more thou knowest the more thou hast The carnal world enjoy not God at all God is not known in their Tabernacles In Jewry is God known his Name is great in Israel at Salem is his Tabernacle and his Dwelling in Zion But what of God in Edom or Ammon or Amaleck or Aegypt those dark Regions wherein neither Sun nor Star appears Leave them to their dunghil gods to the gardens which they have desired and the Oaks which they have chosen The
Lord is before thee know it for thy good Study thy God Christian roul over his sweetness in thy minde as thou dost the sweet morsel in thy mouth see what he is and what thou hast laid up in him read over daylie his glorious names walk through those chambers of his presence his glorious Attributes look into the chamber of his power and see what thou hast laid up for thee there go into the chamber of his wisdome and see what that will afford thee look into the chambers of his goodness mercy faithfulness holiness and behold what treasures are laid up for thee in each of these enter into thy chambers they are all thine enter into the chambers set thine eye be there let thy meditation be there let thy soul be there every day there 's thy portion search it out and know it for thy good This is the first thing contained in Fruition Knowledge 2. Delight Fruition is the taking the pleasure of what we have Frui est cum gaudio uti Augustine We cannot enjoy what we do not love and love hath delight We cannot enjoy that wherein we do not joy Delight thy self in the Lord Psal 37.4 I sate me down under his shaddow with great delight Cant. 2.3 If his shaddow be so pleasant what will his Sun-beams be Psal 34.8 O taste and see that the Lord is good Our senses help our understandings we cannot by the most rational discourse perceive what the sweetness of honey is taste it and you shall perceive it His fruit was sweet unto my taste Dwell in the light of the Lord and let thy soul be alwayes ravished with his love Get out the marrow and the fatness that thy portion yeilds thee Let fools learn by beholding thy face how dim their blazes are to the brightness of thy day Let thy delights in God be pure and unmixed delights Let thy spirit be so filled with God and so raised above carnal joyes and the matters of them that it be no damp upon thee to have nothing but God Thy wine is the more sprightful when not mixed with water Live above in that serene Ayre which is not incrassated with earthly exhalations Sickly bodies and so sickly souls cannot live in too pure an Ayr. Be so wholly spiritual that spiritual joyes spiritual delights may be suited to thee and sufficient for thee Do not say I want the joy of the Vintage and of the Harvest I want the joy of the Bridegroom and of the Bride I want the sound of the Milstones and the light of the Candle to make my comfort full Let the joy of the Lord be thy strength and thy life Say with the Prophet Habbak 3.17,18 Although the Fig-tree shall not blossome neither shall fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yeild no meat the Flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no Herd in the stalls yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation This is the second thing in Fruition Delight 3. Satisfaction The quiet or resting of the soul in its portion Therefore the Schools say it is onely the ultimus finis the last end that is the proper object of fruition The carnal world whatever they possess yet they cannot be said properly to enjoy it though they be their gods that they live upon their dragg is their god their yarn is their god their plough and their plenty and their pleasure is their god they burn incense to them though they be their gods that they live upon yet they cannot enjoy them there is no rest for them in their god Psal 25.12,13 What man is he that feareth the Lord his soul shall dwell at ease In the Original 't is shall lodge in goodness The soul is never in ease whilest 't is in want every want wrings it can never take up its lodging where it cannot take its rest His soul shall be at ease shall lodge that is shall take up its rest in the goodness of God and when we finde rest in our beds then we enjoy them Is thy soul lodg'd in God O enjoy thy lodging Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee As it was said to so let it be said by the Church and every Saint This is my rest here will I dwell for ever Here thou mayest find rest when thou hast no other rock to lean upon thou mayest be at rest in thy God in thy most restless state in a weary land in a barren wilderness in a tempestuous Ocean how ever it was in the vision of the Prophet yet thou mayest say if the wind rise the Lord is in the wind if after the wind an earthquake the Lord is in the earthquake if after the earthquake a fire the Lord God is in the fire and where-ever thou findest God thou mayest find rest If thou findest God in a wilderness thou wilt find rest in the wilderness if thou find God in the earthquake or the tempest or the fire even there also thy soul shall find rest when thou canst not rest in thy bed nor in thine house nor in thy land thou mayest still rest in thy God Say Christian say again Return to thy rest oh my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me Though my helps fail me and my friends fail me and my flesh and my heart fails me God is the strength of mine heart and my portion for ever this is my rest here will I dwell for ever To these I might add a fourth thing wherein Fruition stands The making use of our Portion He enjoys that uses what he hath though the Schools distinguish betwixt frui and uti yet in a sense especially with a respect to our present estate the latter may be comprehended under the former We then enjoy our portion when we have a power and heart to make use of it on all occasions I am thine soul come and make use of me as thou wilt Thou mayest freely I have nothing but 't is for thee thou mayest freely come to my store and the oftner the better welcome have thou not a God lying by thee to no purpose let not thy God be as others gods serving only for a shew Have not a name only that thou hast a God since he allows thee having such a friend use him daily my God shall supply all your wants never want whilest thou hast a God never fear or faint whilest thou hast a God go to thy treasure and take what-ever thou needest there 's bread and clothes and health and life and all that thou needest O Christian learn the divine skill to make God all things to make bread of thy God and water and health and friends and ease he can supply thee with all these or which is better he can be instead of all these
iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness and so to bring us to God What-ever difficulties there appear in thy way what-ever doubts arise in thine heart from thy sins from thy guilt from thy poverty from thy impotence what-ever objections thy fears may hence put in there 's the blood of the Lamb that will answer all Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us 2. As a merciful and faithful high Priest Heb. 2.17 who hath made an attonement for us in the earth and appears for us in heaven who hath made reconciliation for us and makes intercession for us Heb. 9.24 to appear in the presence of God for us we read Exod. 28.12.29 That Aaron as the type of Christ was to bear the names of the children of Israel engraven in stones upon his shoulders and upon his breast-plate when he went into the holy place for a memorial before the Lord continually Our Lord is entred into the Heavens to appear in the presence of God with our names upon his shoulders and upon his heart for a memorial before the Lord there is not the least of Saints but there his name is engraven Here 's my ransome Lord and behold my ransomed ones Here 's my price and my purchase my redemption and my redeemed What-ever accusers there be what-ever charge be laid against them what-ever guilt lies upon them here are the shoulders that have born all that was their due and payd all that they owe and upon these shoulders and in this heart thou mayest read all their names and when thou readest remember what I have done for them and acquit absolve and let them be accepted before thee for ever Remember the tears of these eyes the stripes on this back the shame of this face the groans of this body the anguish of this soul the blood of this heart and when thou remembrest what-ever name thou findest engraven upon this heart and upon these shoulders they are the persons whose all these are and what-ever these are what-ever acceptance they have found with thee what-ever satisfaction thou hast found in them put it upon their account never let me be accounted the accepted if they be rejected never let me be accounted righteous if they lye under the imputation of wicked If they be not righteous in my righteousness I must be guilty under their guilt What-ever I am what-ever my satisfaction is all is theirs for them they plead for them they pray my tears stripes wounds groans anguish soul blood they all cry and say Father forgive them Father accept them Of all cryes there are no such strong cries as the cry of blood and that whether it be against or for the guilty its voice shall be heard on high Thy brothers blood cryeth unto me from the ground Gen. 4. and what followed Wo to those persons against whom blood cryeth but where blood such blood cries for them for pardon for mercy blessed are those souls Christian this blood is for thee it speaks better things than the blood of Abel Heb. 12. it pleads sues presses for thy discharge from all that is upon thee Thou hast many cries against thee Sathan cries thy sins cry thine own heart thy conscience cries against thee and thou art amazed at the dreadful noise they make but behold the blood of the Lamb the blood of God cries for thee Thou hast an accuser but thou hast an acquitter thou hast adversaries but thou hast an advocate An Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for thy sins 1 John 2. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth 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 Rom. 8.33,34 Nay farâ—her thou hast not onely a righteous but a merciful high Priest that is provided of a Sacrifice and hath an heart to offer it for thee thy name is in his heart as well as on his shoulders in his bowels as well as on his back He hath blood for thee precious blood and he hath bowels for thee pitiful bowels He can have pity and compassion on the miserable Heb. 5.2 if he can finde no other he can finde arguments enough from thy wo and thy misery to draw forth his soul towards thee He is merciful and his mercies are tender mercies he is pittiful and his compassions are tender compassions thou art not so tender of the wife of thy bosome of the childe of thy bowels thou art not so tender of thine own flesh of the apple of thine eye of thine own soul as thy Lord is of thee His spirit is moved for thee his soul melts over thee he bleeds in thy wounds he suffers in thy sorrows his eye weeps his heart breaks over thy broken and undone state fear not his forgetting thee his bowels will remember him of thee He is a merciful and a faithful high Priest No dignity to which he is exalted above thee no distance to which he is removed from thee can make him forget his friends He is gone into the heavens and there exalted far above all Principalities and Powers and set down at the right hand of God He is gone but he hath carried thy name with him as a perpetual memorial for thee Thou art unfaithful shame to thee thou forgettest thy Lord at every turn every business that comes every trouble that comes every pleasure that comes every companion that comes in makes thee forget thy Lord forget his love forget thy duty Oh how small a matter will steal thy heart from him yea stir up tumults and rebellions against him Thy comforts thy hopes thy needs thou hast daily of him will not all prevail to hold him in remembrance with thee Thou forgettest thy Lord but he will not forget thee though thou hast been unfaithful in many things yet he is in nothing 2 Tim. 2.13 Yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself he should not be true to himself if he be not faithful to thee his interest lies in thee thou art his his possession a member of his body fear not if he should be unfaithful to thy soul he is therein unfaithful to his own body If thy case be such that he can help thee if there be any thing wherein he can stead thee if all that he hath his blood his righteousness his interest with the Father will be sufficient for thy help he hath undertaken to procure it for thee and secure it to thee Faithful is he that hath called you and will do it This now is that Jesus that is given unto us as our propitiatory Sacrifice as our merciful and faithful high Priest who suffered on the earth and is gone into the heavens for us standing in his red robes garments rolled in blood with those glorious whites upon the red pardon peace absolution acceptance with the names of his ransomed ones engraven
Lord hath rebounded on his own head Though hee be as Gad a serpent in the way yet you may now tread upon this serpent and it shall not hurt you The strong man is now bound if hee be a god still hee 's a God in chains a prince in fetters he must ask leave of your father ere he can touch one hair of your heads Hee cannot tempt you nor cast a bank against you nor shoot an arrow at you without a commission from heaven The devils are subject to you He is cast out and in your Lords name you may cast him out In my name shall ye cast out devils out of possessed bodies out of possessed souls you may be instruments to bring many a soul to repentance that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil who are held captive by him at his will Every sinner that is converted by you you have cast out a devil out of that soul Though he be an adversary still yet such an adversary as may be resisted whom resist stedfast in the faith 1 Pet. 5.9 And if you will resist hee shall flee from you James 4.17 Stand and your enemy runs Nay more hee is not only a conquer'd enemy but made your servant This viper shall yield you medicine against his own poyson His smitings shall be an excellent oyl his messengers he sends to buffet you his thorns he sticks in your flesh shall be a prevention of greater evils The very destruction he intends to bring upon you shall promote your salvation 1 Cor. 5.5 Deliver such an one to Sathan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Behold the devil is the Churches servant and such a servant as in their present state they cannot well want The executioner of their censures A Common-wealth may as well want a Jaylour or an Hang-man as the Church a Devil Behold Sathan divided against Sathan the devil without against the devil within the destroyer of souls become the destroyer of sin Deliver such an one to Sathan for the destruction of the flesh Though much against his mind his hand is against his own party Hee 's made to kill his own friends which otherwise would kill the soul Whether he will or no the very tormentour is made a saviour that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christians as much as you feel of the devils malice you could ill want his service there 's many a soul lost and undone by a sleeping that might have been recovered and rouzed by a raging devil His winds shall blow off your chaff his floods shall wash away your filth his earth-quakes shall open your prison-doors his tempests shall drive you to harbour Some men want a tempest to save them from a wrack Nay once more he is not low enough yet he shall be yet brought lower You have assurance of his total and final overthrow Rom. 16.20 The god of peace shall tread Sathan under your feet shortly Rev. 20.10 The devil shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone 'T is but a little while and when he hath done his work he shall be sent to his place where he shall be shut up and a seal set upon him whence he shall come out no more for ever He shall tempt no more vex no more deceive no more destroy no more torment you no more he shall be thrust out he shall be chain'd up the tormentour shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Stand Christians stand your ground a little while follow your work hold up your holy profession hold on your holy course keep your hearts keep your garments keep on your armour keep under corruption resist temptation bear your affliction hold out faith and patience fight against your adversaries watch with your Lord this one hour and behold hee that shall come will come he cometh quickly and hee that is in the world shall bee consumed with the breath of his mouth and destroyed with the brightness of his appearing Hee shall bee cast out hee shall bee cast down and rise no more for ever CHAP. VII Death in the Covenant 7. GOd hath put Death into the Covenant 1 Cor. 3.21 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the World or Life or DEATH all are yours Death there is a great purchase you 'l say what advantage is that yes death is advantage To dye is gain For 1. The Commission of Death is changed 'T was once take him Jaylour away with him carry him down to Prison with him there to bee reserved to the Judgement of the great day It is now take him Janitour take him Porter take him in give him an entrance into his Master's joy Death doth but take the Bride when shee is ready and lodges her in the Chamber of the Bride-groom this made death the Apostles desire Philip. 1.23 I desire to depart and to bee with Christ which is far better 2. Death is conquered What does this mean Your enemie is yours other than this your enemy is conquered to you a conquered enemy is made a Tributary death is dis-armed it hath lost its sting when a Serpent hath lost its sting you may take it into your bosome Hee that can say Death where is thy sting may go on and add Thankes bee to God which hath given me the victory A Signet sent from Heaven with a Death's head is a precious token Come Christians bee of good courage set your feet on the neck of this King of terrours 3. Death is at once The destruction of all their enemies when once death hath done its office upon them then farewel Edom and Ammon and Amaleck and Aegypt fare-well the pricking bryer and the grieving thorne then farewel sin and sorrow for ever the Egyptians they have seen and fear'd and felt to day they shall never see again for ever It destroys it self their last enemy by destroying them it hath its welcome and farewell the same moment it is but welcome death and farewel death for ever Death dies with them once dead they dye no more for ever mortality is swallowed up of life death is cast into the lake of fire that is its Region there there they die and dye and dye again over and over for ever and ever but for the Saints it doth but set them on the banks of that good Land whether it cannot follow them our Lord by death by ours as well as his own hath delivered those who for fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Christians you may now not onely with patience but with desire expect the assault of this King of terrours What shall tribulation and persecution and famine and nakedness and peril and sword shall sorrows and fears and mortality dye with mee yea shall sin dye with mee then welcome death Lord strengthen me this once let mee dye with the Philistines Would it bee good for
thee to bee with thy Father in the bosome of thy bridegroom the presence chamber of thy Lord and Love would it bee a mercy to thee to weep no more fear no more suffer no more bee tempted no more sin no more to bee uncloathed of corruption and be cloathed upon with immortality and incorruption then bid death welcome Blessed souls when you come a shoare and see the light the love the joy the rest the glory that is on the other side you will then more fully understand what this meaneth Death is yours Hee knew something who said I cannot tell you what sweet pain and delightsome torments are in Christs love I often challenge time that holdeth us asunder I have for the present a sick life much pain and much love-sickness for Christ O what would I give to have a bed made to my wearied soul in his bosome O when shall wee meet O how long is it to the dawning of the Marriage-day O sweet Lord Jesus take wide steps Come over the Mountains at one stride O my Beloved flee as a Roe or a young Hart upon the Mountains of separation O if hee would fold the Heavens together like an old Cloak and shovel time and daies out of the way and come away CHAP. VIII The Kingdome in the Covenant 8. GOd hath put the Kingdome into this Covenant Matth. 5.3 Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Luke 12.32 It is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdome Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God I might here enlarge in describing the glory of this Kingdome but when I had said all I must at last leave it within the Vail and therefore shall only tell you from the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him c. Ephes 1.18 When by the Spirit of Wisdome and Revelation the eyes of your understandings are opened yee shall know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches of the glory of his Inheritance in the Saints CHAP. IX All the means of salvation in the Covenant both outward and inward in special the blessing of a new heart LAstly God hath put into the Covenant all the means of salvation And all things on their parts necessary to the obtaining the everlasting kingdome 1. All the outward means of salvation Ordinances Word Sacraments and Prayer Officers Prophets Apostles Evangelists Pastours and Teachers Ephes 4.11,12 1 Cor. 3.22 2. All the inward means of salvation Every grace every duty their obtaining the one and performing the other and perseverance in both These are all comprehended in the second part of that great promise They shall be my people Which though it be properly the matter of their own stipulation yet for this also the Lord himself undertakes You shall be my people Two things are hereby signified 1. I will account you and reckon you for mine You shall have the priviledge and the blessing of my people I will set you apart and separate you to my self out of all the tribes and kindreds of the earth and will avouch you for my portion and peculiar possession I will set you as the apple of mine eye as a seal upon mine heart and upon mine arm I will mark you out for the people of my love of you will I take care for you will I provide with you are my delights over you will I rejoyce with you will I dwell and you shall dwell with me for ever 2. I will not only reckon you for my people but I will undertake for you that you shall consent to me accept of me own me follow me and cleave to me as my people I will not only separate you to my self but I will fashion you for my self I will sanctifie you and guide you and teach you and help you I will fulfill in you all the good pleasure of my will I will work all your works in you I will avouch you for my people and you shall avouch me for your God You shall love me fear me obey me I will keep you from falling and preserve you to my heavenly kingdome Particularly the Lord hath promised to give them 1. A new heart 2. An heart to know the Lord. 3. One heart 4. An heart of flesh 5. An heart to love the Lord. 6. An heart to fear the Lord. 7. An heart to obey the Lord. 8. An heart to persevere to the end 1. A new heart Ezek. 36.26 A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you This new heart I take it is the genus of all the following graces and therefore the less shall suffice to be spoken of it here A new heart that is not physically new in regard of substance but morally onely in regard of qualities This new heart signifies both another heart and a more excellent heart 'T is said of Caleb Numb 14.24 that he had another heart And this other heart is declared to be a more excellent heart than was in the rest of the people Whilest they either followed not the Lord or but haltingly hee followed the Lord fully Prov. 17.27 A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit There is another heart that is not a new heart Nebuchadnezzer had another but no new heart the heart of a beast for the heart of a man an evil heart grown worse is not a new heart but the old heart grown older We read 1 Sam. 10.9 that when Saul was anointed King God gave him another heart this was a more excellent heart than he had before and yet not the heart here promised He gave to him another heart that is the spirit of government the heart of a King for the heart of a private person a more publick raised heroick heart the heart of a King fitted to the station and office of a King The excellencies of this new heart are not natural but spiritual excellencies as will appear more in the handling of the particular graces promised and are such as fit them for their new state work reward 1. For their new state Christians are made the children of God vessels of honour a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people and God gives them an heart answering the dignity of their high calling 2. For their new Work a Christian hath other work to do than other men whilest their business lies all here below in this earth in their fields and vineyards c. Christians work lies above with their God and their Jesus and within about their nobler and immortal part their work is spiritual and such is the heart that 's given to them 3. For their new reward God intends better things to them a better portion a better hope better comforts joyes delights here and a better inheritance hereafter and he prepares them better hearts to receive these better things he will not put his new
get it Why have recourse to the Covenant there it lies for thee But how shall I get it thence why hath the Lord promised to give it thee take the word from his mouth and put it into thine own turn the word of promise into a prayer Doth he say I will give let thy soul answer give Lord give me this new heart I am weary Lord and thou art weary also of this wicked heart at once ease thy self and me Take away this and give me a better heart Turn the word of promise into a prayer and then turn the word of Prayer into a word of Faith He says I will give let thy Faith say thou wilt give I shall have it since thou hast said thy servant also may boldly say Thou wilt do it Thou wilt give me a better heart Farewell my old sins lusts and companions farewell mine old pleasures and ways now for heaven in earnest now welcome the strait gate the new and living way Old things are past away all things shall become new Turn the word of promise into a prayer turn thy prayer into a word of Faith and God will turn the word of Faith into a word of Command Bee it according to thy word Let there be a new light let there bee a new law let there bee a new power let there no more bee a spirit of fear in this heart but a spirit of power of love and of a sound mind And as when he said in the creation of the great world Let there bee light let there bee a Firmament let there bee a Sun and Moon It was so so when he shall say in the new creation of this little world let there bee light let there bee love let there bee power let us again make man in our image after our own likeness It shall be so The Lord hath said I will let thy Prayer say Do it Lord let thy Faith say thou wilt do it and God will say Amen so be it CHAP. X. An heart to know the Lord. 2. AN heart to know the Lord Jer. 24.7 I will give them an heart to know me The knowledge of God is the first excellency of the new heart As in the old so in the new creation as was said before the first word is let there bee light There is not so glorious a preheminence of day above night as of the knowledge above the ignorance of God As the Firmament without a Sun as the body without an eye so is the soul without knowledge What this knowledge of God here promised is will appear if wee consider It s Object Act. 1. The Object of this Knowledge is God not only the Nature or being of God manifested in his Essential Perfections his Glorious Attributes his Infiniteness Eternity Omnipotency c. In his Personal Relations the Subsistences in the Godhead but God in Christ God in Covenant yea the whole Minde and Will of God all that which God hath revealed to us as our Duty or Happinesse God known in the heart is the whole Bible opened The Law opened the Gospel opened Duties Comforts Priviledges made manifest Christ opened in his Sufferings in his Satisfaction in his Spirit in all the Riches of his Glory the whole mystery of Godliness revealed The Heart opened man made known to himself all the depths of the heart all the deceits of the heart all the faculties and powers of the heart with their motions operations inclinations the rectitude or obliquities of them Heaven opened the Crown the Kingdome known everlasting rest glory honour immortality brought to light Hell opened sin known the devil known wrath temptations the curse eternal fire known All this even all that God is and all that hee hath revealed in his Word and Works are the object of this Knowledge of God 2. The Act. To know is to apprehend or understand God and the things of God Jer. 9.24 Let him that glorieth glory in this that hee understandeth and knoweth mee Ephes 3.18,19 That yee may comprehend with all Saints what is the heighth and length and breadth and depth that yee may know the love of Christ This apprehension of God doth not barely note our having received some natural or metaphysical Notions of God and the Truths that are in him But farther it notes 1. An Approbation of him an approving or liking the things that are excellent Phil. 1.9,10 That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all Judgement that yee may approve the things that are excellent 2. Appropriation The knowing of God as a reconciled God a God and a God to mee good and good to mee wise and wise for mee My Lord and my God To know God in Christ reconciled through Christ propitious through Christ this is saving knowledge To know and not possess to see and not eat to know an angry God a wrathful God a God lost to know goodness mercy loving-kindness compassion alsufficiency and to have the heart recurre what is this to thee this is none of thine the damned thus know and dye 3 Affection As Psal 9.10 Those that know thy Name shall trust in thee So those that know thy Name will love thee and fear thee and rejoyce in thee and bless thy Name to know and hate God to know and contemn God to know and fly from God to know and Blaspheme and curse God the Devils thus know and tremble But especially that which distinguishes this saving from common knowledge is Its Power Savour 1. It s Power the Knowledge of God is mighty my preaching was not weak but mighty in you 2 Cor. 13. It hath A Transforming A Fructifying Power 1. A Transforming Power 2 Cor. 3.18 Wee all with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image Rom. 12.2 Bee yee not conformed to this present world but bee yee transformed by the renewing of your mindes by the renewing of your mindes the renovation of the minde both is this change and works it farther upon the whole soul this new light is the new creature old things pass away all things become new where the minde is savingly enlightned God known in the soul is God united to the soul Christ revealed in the heart is Christ formed upon the heart there 's life in this light it is no other than the light of life The Knowledge of God comprehends in it and is involved in and Spirits and animates every grace and duty as the same soul in the eye sees in the ear hears in the palate tastes as the same juyce which is in the Olive fatness in the Fig-Tree sweetness in the Oake strength in the Rose fragrancy in the Lillie beauty So the same grace which in the minde is light in the heart is love holy desire holy fear holy joy and one says that as feeling is inseparable to all the Organs of sense the eye feels and sees the ear feels and hears the palate feels and tastes
and eat up all thy pleasant things and what have they left thee Such are their complaints and their very complaints are their comfort and the witness of their sincerity whilst they can with openness of heart make their approach and appeal to God yet thou art my Lord thou art my God and I will serve thee I have chosen thee as mine heritage for ever and I will wait for thy salvation Hear the sighing of thy prisoner deliver thy captive mine heart is with thee let not this flesh intrench upon thy light let sin no longer reign in my mortal body let mee have no more to do with the Throne of iniquity unty the cords loose the fetters bring my soul out of prison search mee O Lord and know mine heart prove me and know my thoughts Is there any way of wickedness in mee do I willingly go after the Commandments Do I regard iniquity in mine heart Here it lies 't is true it warres and raises tumults and insurrections against thee but do I resign up my self to it is it a pleasure to mee am I at peace with it O Lord thou knowest I cannot get rid of it I cannot doe the things that I would I cannot pray as I would nor hear as I would nor think nor speak nor live as I would whither I goe sin goes with mee where I lodge it lodges If I sit still it abides with me If I run from it it follows me I can neither rest nor work I can do nothing for it I can do nothing for it and yet blessed bee thy name this one thing I do what I cannot attain I follow after I cannot conquer yet I fight against it I wrestle with it though it so often give mee the fall I trust it not though it flatter me I love it not though it feed mee I prostitute not my self unto it though it commits so many a rape upon mee my heart is with thee Lord my foot is making after thee I groan I travel in pain waiting for thy redemption till I die I vvill not give over I will die fighting I will die hoping I vvill die praying Save me O Lord make no long tarrying O my God And thus you have the description of this one heart It pitches on one end and God is that end It gives him the place of the end hee is its first and last It gives him the power of the end this one thing the obtaining of God to be theirs draws them on guides governs them in their whole course and is accepted by them as their onely and exceeding great reward This instructs them this rules and encourages them calls them off from sin calls them on to duty carries them out in suffering all their powers are united in this one business all their arguments are resolved into this one argument all their rewards are summ'd up in this one reward God shall bee glorified and therein my soul shall bee satisfied God shall bee mine and glory shall bee his In all this wee see what this one heart means but oh how little of this Grace have wee received how many hearts have wee how many gods have wee to divide these hearts betwixt them how small a corner How low a place must the Lord take up with us if hee will have any at all how often is hee made to stand aside or to stoop to a lust God made to give place to the devil Is God our All indeed have wee none else to please have wee none else to serve have wee no portion no inheritance no other God but the Lord Is hee out Alpha and Omega our first and our last our spring and our ocean our summe and our scope the rise and the rest of all our motions what-ever our tongues speak do our hearts also and our lives say To mee to live is Christ none but God none but Christ nothing but heaven and glory when wee are driving so hard for our flesh for our pride for our ease for our gain when wee are so busie this vvay and so hearty and so zealous this vvay vvhen these must have so great a share in our Religion Is this still the voice To me to live is Christ Oh how little power hath the Lord vvith us hovv far is it that the single interest of God vvill carry our souls hovv little is done purely for God wee have often many strings to our bow there are some services wherein there is something coming to the flesh as well as to the name of God Some credit or honour some outward advantage to bee gotten by Religion but when all the other strings crack but this one when there 's nothing to move us but God oh how weak do our motions grow The flesh often goes partner with God there 's a double trade driving in the same actions a trade for heaven and a trade earth together there 's something to bee gotten by our religion besides what 's coming to God there are fields and vineyards and olive-yards friends and honours and preferments as it sometimes falls out when godliness is in the rising side and when 't is thus we go smoothly and vigorously on Come see the zeal that I have for the Lord of Hosts But when the interest of God and the flesh divide and part asunder when the flesh is like to bee a loser by our Religion when God puts us on such duty as will spend upon the flesh and eat out and devour its interest when our hearts tell us as Deborah did Barak Judg. 4. This will not bee for thine honour or this will not bee for thine ease or thy safety then what becomes of our zeal oh how heavily do we then drive on how seldome is it that this word yet God shall bee glorified will ballance all the prejudices and confute all the cross reasonings of the flesh and carry us on our way without and against it How little hath the Lord of the government of us if hee doth govern as a King yet how little as our end how little doth goodness govern how little will love do with us wee must have rigour and severity wee must have spurres and goads and rods and stripes and scorpions too and all little enough to drive us back from those other gods which wee have chosen and to bring us on after the Lord. If the Law be not made for the righteous if they need not a Law then what are we whom a Law will not suffice if commands threatnings terrours penalties judgments can do no more upon us if wee are yet so loose and so carnal and so earthly and so froward and so false and so formal under severest discipline if wee will not bee whip'd into more humility spirituallity self-denial watchfulness care activity zeal but are such drones and such sleepers such earth-worms and such sensuallists still under all the corrections and compulsions of the law oh what should we be did wee want a law were there
are over and wee make our returns from Heaven to Earth How much work have wee to keep our hearts by the Lord how do they slink away e're wee are aware and whilst wee are in his Presence how seldome do wee rejoyce in his Presence What hungry meals what jejune feasts do wee make before the Lord Wee relish not his Daintys his Wine is but lees his Marrow and his fat things are but leanness to our Souls a little love would sweeten every drop would season every morsel that comes from his Table would make our very Fasts to bee pleasant bread Wee feed upon the dish or the trencher and not the meat on the bone and not the marrow Ordinances and the external Exercises of Religion are but the bone or the shell or the dish it is God that is the Kernel the Marrow and Fatness How little Communion have wee with the Lord in our approaches to him and how little sweetness do wee finde in the little wee have Communion is the pleasure of Love and Love is the sweetness of Communion Now I am where I would bee O! how amiable are thy Tabernacles very pleasant art thou to mee O Lord that is the voice of Love Had wee more love wee should bee more spiritual and spiritual things would bee more grateful to spiritual hearts Divine Love is like the fire it rarifies and changes hearts into its own likeness and then there 's sweetness O we are carnal and that 's enough to evidence that there 's little of the love of God abiding in us Consider these things and you will see that love is a rarity there 's but little true love in the world O prize the love of God let its want make it prized shall it bee so rare and yet so cheap prize it and press on after it What do these hearts below are they not still below so cold such clods of clay and yet above so carnal so sensual and yet in Heaven so hungry and so greedy in sucking the juice of this earth in taking in its pleasures so busy in digging out the Wealth of the earth and searching for its treasures hearts so busy this way and yet not here how canst thou say I am walking with the God of Glory when thou art still worshipping the Gods of the Earth how canst thou say this heart is risen it is not here when it may bee said to thee behold the place where it lyes it is still in the field in the ridges and furrows thereof it is still in the Mines in the heart of the earth see the place where it lyes we sow our hearts with our seed we send them down to dig in the heart of the Earth But what do these hearts below sursum corda get you up get you up leave nothing but the Mantle here your carkasses Earth to Earth Dust to Dust Come heave these souls Heaven-ward let them take the wing and be gone O that I had the wings of a Dove that I might fly up and be at rest Be lower than ever by humility but let love be on high Behold those cords of love that are let down in every Ordinance in every Providence there 's a cord let down to gather up hearts hearken to those calls of love come up hither come up hither we come Lord thou bid'st us come O lend us thy hand and lift us up Come on Christians come let 's be happy if wee love wee are happy Come let 's rejoyce if wee love wee joy come let 's live wee dye wee dye while wee linger on this earth if wee love wee live let 's live and let our life bee love let our works bee labours of love our sufferings seals of love our sorrows the sorrows of love our wounds loves scars our prayers the cryes of love our praises love songs to our Lord and God Let every duty every exercise let every member every power let our bodies let our souls bee loves Sacrifices as we see in all his so let the Lord see love in all our waies Canst thou not love look till thou canst look up to thy God send up thy thoughts thither let thy Meditations bee of him these will not bee long before the Throne e're they fetch up thy heart Look on thy Jesus behold his hands and his feet come and put thy finger into the print of the Nails and thrust thine heart into his side and there let it lie till thou feel it warm Look up to thy Jesus lift up a prayer Lord let mee love thee if thou lovest let mee love thee I will seek till I can see let mee see till I can love What have I here Lord my all is with thee my help my hope my treasure my life is hid with Christ in God And yet behold this all is nothing to mee while mine heart is no more with thee take it Lord take it up where my treasure is there let mine heart bee also Doubting Christian who because thou lovest so little fearest thou lovest not at all cry for more but bee thankful for what thou hast bee ashamed thou lovest no more but bee not dismayed thou complainest thou canst not love God but dost thou love his Image his Saints his Word his Works his Waies Whilst thou sayest thou lovest not God dost thou love Godliness if thou canst not love can'st grieve can'st lament after him hast thou chosen dost thou hang upon trust in the Lord If thou canst not love can'st fear and follow the Lord If he be not sensibly in thy affection is he in thy thoughts in thy mouth in thine eye Is hee thy aim and thy scope doth thy course bend towards him Comfort thine heart in these things thou mayest see though thou canst not feel thou lovest CHAP. XIV An heart to fear the Lord. AN heart to fear the Lord Jer. 32.40 I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me I shall proceed to the opening of this by these steps I shall shew 1. That the Lord God is a dreadful God 2. That the Lord hath put the dread of himself upon the hearts of all the earth 3. That yet by sin the heart of man is much hardned from the fear of the Lord. 4. That God will recover his Honour and again put his fear into the hearts of his people 5. What this fear of the Lord is that he will put into them 1. The Lord God is a dreadfull God he is dreadfull in the Excellency and Glory of his Majesty Job 13.11 Shall not his Excellency make you afraid and his dread fall upon you His Power is dreadfull Fear ye not me saith the Lord Will ye not tremble at my presence Which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetuall decree that it cannot pass it and though the Waves thereof toss themselves yet they cannot prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it Fear ye not me saith
firm belief of Scripture Revelation 3. It 's built on the highest and weightiest Reasons 4. It 's the result of the most mature and deep deliberation 1. A sincere resolution flowes from an inward rooted inclination Psal 119.112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes Our new purpose is from our new nature It is not produced by some sudden fright or sence of danger or meerly by a present force of Argument but by a Divine power working the heart to a suitableness to the will and waies of God and an habituall propension and inclination thereto Resolution for holiness without an holy inclination is a Blade without a Root as fresh and as green as it looks 't will wither and come to nothing no Ropt no Fruit nor lasting The heart is the root of action and grace is the life of the root When our Resolutions are the Blade sprouting forth of this living Root then they will abide and bring forth the Ear and an Harvest 2. A sincere resolution is bottomed on a firm Assent to the truth of Scripture Revelation A Christian resolves for godliness because he believes God that he is as he hath said the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him He is built on the Scriptures as his hopes so his purposes have the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles on which they stand Whatever Resolution hath not this Foundation is but as an house upon the Sands 3. A sincere Resolution is founded on the highest Reason Where we resolve without Reason we will quickly find a Reason to change Where we resolve we know not why we shall change we know not how soon To resolve we know not why and to resolve on we know not what will be alike unstable Though there be Reason for Religion yet Religion may be taken up without Reason Whatever Reason there be for it yet if it be not understood or considered 't is all one as if there were no Reason at all And if there seem some Reason for it yet if it be not the highest Reason when a stronger then it comes we quickly change our purpose The Reasons we have for our serving and following God are the highest of all Reasons and that whether we respect it as our duty or our happiness For 1. There 's none can lay such claim to us as God Whos 's am I Who hath made me Who hath bought me 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are his Psal 100.2,3 Serve the Lord with gladness For the Lord he is God it is he that hath made us not we our selves we are his people and the sheep of his Pasture What reason have you to serve men or to serve sin or the world Men think they have reason for it but what reason Are any of these Gods Are men your Gods Is sin or the world God Do you owe your selves to them It is he that hath made us and his we are As the Apostle concerning obedience to Parents much more may it be said here Children obey your God for this is right This is his due and your duty if any one can lay as good a claim to you let him carry you away for servants 2. There 's none can be better to us then God None can require and none can reward our obedience as he Where can you be better then with God Hee l require no more then that you serve him till you can find a better Master He that saith 't is best to serve sin and the world is a fool and hath said in his heart there is no God If God be God he is the chief yea the onely good If any thing in the world upon what account soever be thought better then the Lord that 's set up for a God in his room 3. Whomsoever we serve 't is God must pay us our Wages at last God is Judge he is the Rewarder both of the evill and the good both of those that serve him and those that serve him not If you receive the Lord he will be your reward if you serve him not he will reward you but what reward have you Those mine Enemies which will not have me to reign over them bring them and slay them before me There 's their reward Sin hath its rewards but what are they but vanity and vexation Or if they were better how long will they last But when sin hath paid the most it can Oh what a reward is there behinde that God hath to pay you This shall ye have of mine hand ye shall lye down in sorrow 4. The Wages which God will give shall certainly be blessed or dreadfull according to our Obedience or Disobedience The reward that God hath to give is an eternal reward Eternal salvation to them that obey him everlasting destruction to him that serveth him not I have a soul this carkass is the least part of me there 's another world a world to come a few years is the most I have to spend in this I must abide eternally eternally in the other world How inconsiderable is it what I have here whether little or more better or worse in a short time that will come all to one But oh my eternity what 's that like to be Why t is God that must determine it and he will certainly reward every man according to his works Rom. 2.6,7,8,9,10 Who will render to every man according to his deeds To them which by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternal life But to them that are contentious and obey not the truth tribulation and anguish c. There 's glory and shame mercy and wrath life and death set before me there 's no third state one of the two must be my lot and this is it that doth determine which If I obey I live if I disobey I die for ever Now when my resolution is founded on such Reasons as these then which none can be imagined higher and more weighty till eternity become of less regard then time and an immortall soul be set below a perishing body and when the question being put Shall I follow God or not God or the world God or my lust Speak soul give in thy Answer when this is the Answer it gives Why there 's none can lay such claim to me as God there 's none can be as good to me as God whomsoever I serve its God must be my Rewarder my everlasting blessedness or eternal ruine depends on him and must be infallibly determined according to my obedience or disobedience This is the plain case Obey and Live Obey or die for ever And therefore what can I say less or more but that I am the Lords and will be his Servant Let others chuse whom they will serve as for me O my soul serve thou the Lord. This resolution thus founded is like to stand 4. A sincere Resolution is the fruit of mature deliberation Deliberation gives Reason
is sin that sins so may it be said of duty It is no more I that do it but Christ that dwelleth in me Though both be the act of the Person both the sin and the duty yet the Principle of the one is Lust the Power of the other is of Christ Christians cannot go through and they dare not set upon a duty without looking up to Christ and leaning upon him for assistance They cannot go through and therefore they will not set forth but it the strength of the Lord. All tâ—eir Acts of Obedience are exhibited and offered up in the name of Christ Their services are their sacrifices to God and Christ is their Altar What is a sacrifice without an Altar Christ is our Altar which sanctifies our gift God looks on all and so do they as nothing worth without Christ God will not accept and therefore they will not offer other then the Lamb for their sacrifice All their acts of Obedience are acknowledged to the praise of Christ It is no more I that do it but the grace of God which was with me Grace does the work and Grace shall carry away the praise Christ is all in the race and therefore on his head the Crown is set Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the pra se Not of us and therefore not unto us of him and therefore unto him If I am any thing what others are not if I have done any thing more then others no thank to me and therefore no praise To him be all who is All in all to me Christians Obedience is their walking in Christ Christians Obedience is their walking in the Spirit They have received the Spirit and they walk in the Spirit Gal. 5.16 they have not received the spirit of this world their spirit is not flesh but the Spirit which is of God 1 Cor. 2.12 They are dead to things carnal the spirit of the world is departed they have given up this ghost 'T is the Spirit of the living God that lives in them and in this they live and walk They walk in the Light of the Spirit in the Power of the Spirit the Spirit of the Lord steets their Course and fills their Sails is their Pilot and their Star and their Wind that carries them on When they pray they pray in the Spirit when they hear they hear in the Spirit through the Spirit they mortifie the flesh are crucified to the world they obey they suffer they fight they overcome through the Spirit of the living God that is in them They live in fellowship with the Spirit and by him with the Father and the Son They dwell in the invisible world their acquaintance and converse is in Heaven thither they have access and there they have acceptance thither they have their recourse and thence they have their returns Duties and comforts are the tokens that are passing betwixt Heaven and Earth Their life is Love and Joy and Praise these are the most noble acts of their Obedience and these give Wings to their hearts carry them on more swiftly and more sweetly through all their course Oh how heavily do we drive on how slowly do our Wheels move when the Spirit of the living God is not in the Wheels Oh how dead are our Duties how lame are our walkings what low and poor spirited creatures are we How weak are our hearts how unripe our fruits we do but half do what we do there is no heart in our life we are as bodies without souls whilest our soul is without a Spirit Oh how sad is it with many of us upon this account By our estrangement from God we have even lost our selves we are not what we are because we are no more where he is By our distances from Heaven we are even choaked with the damps of the Earth We are fit for little we prosper in nothing God takes no pleasure and we take no comfort in any thing we do our spirits are so chil'd and benummed within as that we neither make sign in our work not ridance of our way And what are we in our Societies To how little profit do we meet How little heat do we get yea how much do we lose at our brethrens fires We serve often but to damp and cool each others spirits as if it might be no longer said Wo to him that is alone but wo be to him that is in company alone hee 's more warm Christians I solemnly profess I am ashamed of my self and my heart is pained within me to observe how insipid how spiritless how carnal our converses are how often may we meet How long may we sit Christian with Christian ere any thing that savours of the spirit of a Christian comes from us Oh how hard must we strain for a few gracious words How little does come How heartless when it comes How very few of us are there whose ordinary converse speaks us to be men of another world whose business and whose delight lyes above and are in good earnest pressing on towards Heaven How seldom and how short-breath'd are our spiritual discourses How little must suffice How quickly are we diverted to things carnal and sensual Sure 't is our little communion with God that hath thus incarnated and communion of Saints Oh let us live more in the fellowship of the Spirit and we shall have fellowship one with another to better purpose Le ts warm our selves at the Sun le ts dwell more in his Beams and we shall get and give more Light and Heat Thus must it be considered ere we resolve what there is in this Obedience 2. It must be considered What it is like to be attended withall from without What suffering it may cost us what scorn and contempt and reproaches and persecutions of all sorts it 's like to set Earth and Hell upon our backs if carnal counsels and fleshly policies if all the powers of darkness if might and malice can do it this way will be made too hot and too hard for thee Tribulation great tribulation thou must expect and canst not escape and the more strict and circumspect the hotter must thou look thine Assaults will be Professors of Religion that are of the largest size that are not so strict to their Rule but they can dispence with Duty nor so forward in point of Zeal and Activity but they can remit and abate as occasion serves may escape this persecuting world the better but he that will be faithful who ever escape is sure to be made a Prey This also must be well considered I will follow Christ but can I drink of the Cup that he drank of Can I be baptized with the Baptisme the Baptisme of Blood that he was baptized with There are persons who sometimes take up the profession of Religion and resolve all on a sudden they will follow Christ not understanding what there is in it or what Christianity may stand them in who by
reviled and your name is cast out as evil Yea then doubly blessed t t Mat. 5.10,11,12 My choisest blessings greatest good and richest sweets will I put into your evill things u u 1 Pet. 4.13,14 Luk. 6.20,21,22 These happy Immunities these glorious Liberties of the sons of God by this immutable Charter I do for ever settle upon you and do in and with my Covenant unalterably irrevocably everlastingly convey unto you and confirm upon you The Priviledges and Prerogatives of â—he Covenant Yea I will not onely free you from your miseries but will confer upon you Royal Priviledges and Prerogatives and in state you into higher and greater happiness then ever you have fallen from Lo I give my self to you and all things with my self He gives himself to us for our God Behold O ye sons of men Behold and wonder Be astonished O Heavens Be moved ye strong foundations of the Earth For you shall be my witnesses This day do I by Covenant bestow my self upon my servants w w Gen. 17.7 I will be your God for ever and ever x x Psal 48.14 Jer. 32.38 Rev. 21.3 Your Own God y y Psal 67.6 Psal 16.2 Nothing in the world is so much your own as I. The Houses that you have built that you have bought are not so much yours as I am Here you are Tenants at will but I am your eternal Inheritance z z Psal 16.5 with 73.26 These are loans for a season but I am your dwelling place in all generations a a Psal 90.1 You have no where so great a Propriety so sure and unalterable claim as you have here What do you count your own Do you count your bodies your own your souls your own Nay these are not your own they are bought with a Price b b 1 Cor 6.19,20 But you may boldly make your claim to me you may freely challenge an Interest in me c c Jer. 3.19 Esay 63.16 Come near and fear not where should you be free if not with your own where should you be bold if not at home You are never in all the world so much at home as when you are with me You may freely make use of me or of any of my Attributes when ever you have need d d Psal 50.15 Jer. 49.11 Psal 145.18 I will be all to you that you can wish To be to us instead of all Relations Our friend e e Esay 41.8 Jam. 2.2,3 I will be a friend to you f f Psal 25.14 Ioh. 15.15 My secrets shall be with you and you shall have all freedom of access to me and liberty to pour out all your hearts into my bosom g g Eph. 3.12 Heb. 4.16 Our Physitian I will be a Physitian to you I will heal your back-slidings and cure all your diseases h h Hos 14.4 Psal 103.3 Fear not never did soul miscarry that left it self in my hands and would but follow my prescriptions Our Shepherd I will be a Shepherd to you i i Psal 23.1 and 80,1 Be not afraid of evil tidings for I am with you my rod and my staff shall comfort you You shall not want for I will feed you you shall not wander to be lost for I will restore you I will cause you to lie down in green Pastures and lead you beside the still waters k k Psal 23. I will gather you with mine arms and carry you in my bosom and will lead on softly as the flock and the children be able to endure l l Esay 43.11 Gen. 33.31,14 If Officers be careless I will do the work my self I will judge between cattel and cattel I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away and bind up that which was broken and strengthen that which was sick but I will destroy the fat and the strong and will feed them with judgement m m Ezek. 34.16,17 with verse 2 3 4. I will watch over my flock by night n n Esay 27.3 Behold I have appointed my Ministers as your Watchmen and Overseers that watch for your souls o o Heb. 13.17 Act. 20.28 Yea mine Angels shall be your Watchers and shall keep a constant Guard upon my Flock p p Dan. 3.17,23 Psal 34.7 And if peradventure the servants should sleep q q Mat. 13.25,27 mine own eyes shall keep a perpetual watch over you by night and by day r r Psal 34.15 and 33 18. 2 Chron. 16.9 The Keeper of Israel never slumbreth nor sleepeth Å¿ Å¿ Psal 122.3,4,5 nor withdraweth his eyes from the righteous t t Job 36.7 I will guide you with mine eye I will never trust you out of mine own sight u u Psal 32.8 Our Soveraign I will be a Soveraign to you The Lord is your Judge the Lord is your Lawgiver the Lord is your King w w Esa 33.22 Fear not the unrighteousness of men I will judge your cause I will defend your rights x x Deu. 32 36. Psal 140.12 and 9,4 You shall not stand at mans Bar you shall not be cast at their Vote y y 1 Cor. 4.3,5 2 Cor. 10.18 let them curse I will bless let them condemn I will justifie z z Esay 50.9 Gen. 12.3 When you come upon tryal for your lives to have your eternal state decided you shall see your friend your father upon the Bench. a a Psal 88.9 Eccles 3.16,17 Into my hands shall your cause be cast and you shall surely stand in judgement and be found at the right hand among the sheep and hear the King say Come ye blessed inherit the Kingdom b b Matt. 25.33,34 Matt 10.32 Our Husband I will be an Husband to you c c Esay 54.5 In loving kindness and in mercies will I betroth you unto me for ever d d Hos 2.19,20 I will espouse your Interest and will be as oâ—e with you and you with me e e Matt 25.40,45 Acts 9.4,5 Zach 2.8 You shall be for me and not for another and I also will be for you f f Hos 3.3 Though I found you as an helpless Infant exposed in its blood all your unworthiness doth not discourage me Lo I have look'd upon you and spread my skirt over you and washed you and put my comeliness upon you Moreover I swear unto you and enter into Covenant with you and you shall be mine g g Ezek. 16.4 to the 10 Behold I do as it were put my self out of my own power and do here solemnly in this my Marriage-Covenant make away my self to you h h Jer. 24.7 and 30.21,22 31. â—3 34 and with my self all things i i Rev. 21.7 I will be an everlasting Portion to you k k Ezek. 44.28 Jer. 51.19 Psal 119.57 Lift up now your
to abide in my house for ever o o Ioh. 8.35,36 Whatever love or care children may look for from their father that may you expect from me p p Mat. 6.31,32 and so much more as I am wiser and greater and better then any earthly parents If earthly fathers will give good things to their children much more will I give to you q q Luke 11.13 If such cannot forget their children much less will I forget you r r Esay 49 15. What would my children have your Fathers heart and your Fathers house Å¿ Å¿ â—ob 7.17 Ioh. 14 2 your Fathers care and your Fathers ear t t 1 Pet. 5.7 Mat. 7,9 your Fathers bread and your Fathers rod u u Luk. 12.30,31,32 Heb. 12.7 these shall be all yours He promiseth his fatherly affection You shall have my fatherly affection my heart I share among you my tenderest loves I bestow upon you w w 1 Iohn 3.1 Ier. 31.3 Esa 54.8 His fatherly compassion My fatherly compassion As a Father pittieth his children so will I pittie you x x Psa 103.13,14 I will consider your frame and not be extream to mark what is done amiss by you but cover all with the mantle of my excusing love y y Psal 78.39 His fatherly instruction My fatherly instruction I will cause you to hear the sweet voice behind you saying This is the way z z Esay 30.21 I will tender your weakness and inculcate mine admonitions line upon line and seed you with milk when you cannot digest stronger meat a a Esay 28,13 1 Cor. 3.2 I will instruct you and guide you with mine eye b b Ps 32.8 His fatherly protection My fatherly protection In my fear is strong confidence and my children shall have a place of refuge c c Prov. 14.26 My Name shall be your strong Tower to which you may at all times flie and be safe d d Prov. 18.10 To your strong hold ye prisoners of hope e e Zec. 9.12 I am an open refuge a near and inviolable refuge for you f f Ps 48.3 Deut. 4.7 Ioh. 10.29 His fatherly provision My fatherly Provision Be not afraid of want in your Fathers house there is bread enough g g Ps 34.9 Luk. 15.17 I will care for your bodies Cark not for what you shal eat drink or put on Let it suffice you that your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all things h h Mat. 6.25 to the end Luke 12.22 to the 34. I wil provide for your souls Meat for them and Mansions for them and Portions for them i i Ioh. 6.32 to 59. Ps 15.12 Lam. 3.24 Behold I have spread the Table of my Gospel for you with priviledges and comforts that no man taketh from you k k Esay 25.6 Mat. 22 4. Prov. 9.2 I have set before you the bread of life and the tree of life and the water of life l l Joh. 6.48 Rev. 2.7 and 22.17 Eat O friends drink abundantly O Beloved But all this is but a taste of what I have prepared You must have but smiles and hints now and be contented with glimpses and glanses here but you shal be shortly taken up into your Fathers bosom and live for ever in the fullest viewes of his glory m m 1 Thes 4.17 His Fatherly Probation My Fatherly Probation I will chasten you because I love you that you may not be condemned with the world n n 1 Cor. 11.32 Prov. 3.11.12 God the Son to be a husband to us My Son I give unto you in a Marriage-Covenanâ— for ever o o Esay 9.6 and 42.6 2 Cor. 11.2 I make him over to you as Wisdom for your Illumination Righteousness for your Justification Sanctification for the curing of your Corruptions Redemption for your Deliverance from your Enemies p p 1 Cor. 1.30 I bestow him upon you with all his fullness all his merits and all his graces He shal be yours in all his Offices I have anointed him for a Prophet Are you ignorant he shal teach you he shal be eye-salve to you q q Esay 49.6 and 42.16 Rev. 3.18 I have sent him to Preach the Gospel to the poor and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised r r Luk. 4 18. I have established him by Oath as a Priest for ever Å¿ Å¿ Psal 110 4. If any sin he shall be your Advocate He shal expiate your guilt and make the Atonement t t 1 Joh. 2.1,2 Zech. 13.1 Have you any sacrifice any service to offer bring it unto him and you shal receive an Answer of Peace u u 1 Pet. 2.5 Heb. 13.15 Present your Petitions by his hand him will I accept w w Ioh. 14.13.14 Having such an High Priest over the house of God x x Heb. 10.19,20,21,22 you may come and wellcome come with boldness Him have I set up as King upon my holy Hill of Sion He shal rule you he shal defend you y y Esay 9.6,7 Mat. 1.21 He is the King of Righteousness King of Peace and such a King shal he be to you z z Heb. 7.2 Jer. 23.6 Eph. 2.14 I will set up his Standard for you a a Esay 49.22 I will set up his Throne in you b b Psal 110 2. He shal reign in righteousness and rule in Judgment and he shal be a hiding place from the wind a covert from the tempest and the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land c c Esay 32 1â—2 He shal hear your causes judge your Enemies d d Esay 11.3.4,5 and reign till he hath put all under his feet e e Psal 110.1 1 Cor. 15.25 Yea and under your feet for they shal be as ashes under you and you shal tread them saith the Lord of Hosts f f Mal. 4.3 Yea I will undo them that afflict you and all they that despised you shal bow themselves down at the soles of your feet g g Esay 60. â—4 Zeph. 3.19 And you shal go forth and behold the carkasses of the men that have transgressed against me for their Worm shal not die neither shal their fire be quenched and they shal be an abhorring to all flesh h h Esay 66.24 God the Spirit to be Counsellour and Comforter to us My Spirit do I give unto you for your Counsellour and your Comforter i i Ioh. 16.7 Rom. 8.14 He shal be a constant Inmate with you and shal dwel in you and abide with you for ever k k Ezek. 36 27. Iohn 14.16,17 I consecrate you as Temples to his Holiness l l 1 Cor. â— 16,17 and 6.19 He shal be your Guide he shal lead you into all truth m m Gal. 5.18 Ioh. 14 26. He shal
deny it g g 2 Cor. 4.17 Mark 10.29 Phil. 1.29 Things to come ours Things to come are yours the Perfecting of your souls the Redemption of your bodies the Consummation of your bliss At death in Glorification Initiate When you have glorified me for a while on Earth and finished the work I have given you to do you shal be caught up into Paradise and rest from your Labours and your works shal follow you h h Rev. 14.13 Luke 23.43 The Convoy of Angels I will send of mine own Life-guard to conduct home your departing souls i i Luk. 16.22 and receive you among the spirits of just men made perfect k k Heb. 12.23 And you shal look back upon Pharaoh and all his Host and see your enemies dead upon the Shore Redemption from all Afflictions and Corruptions Then shal be your Redemption from all your Afflictions and all your Corruptions l l Luk. â—1 28 Eph. 4 30. The thorn in the flesh taken out The thorn in the flesh shal be pulled out and the hour of temptation shal be over and the Tempter for ever out of work The sweat wiped off from our browes The sweat shal be wiped off from your browes and the day of cooling and refreshing shal come and you shal sit you down for ever under my shadow m m Acts 3.19 Heb 4.9 For the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shal feed you and lead you to the living Fountains of waters n n Rev. 7.17 The tears wiped away from our eyes The tears shal be wiped away from your eyes and there shal be no more sorrow nor crying neither shal there be any more pain for the former things are passed away and behold I make all things new o o Rev. 21.4,5 I will change Marah into Naomi and the cup of sorrow into the cup of salvation and the bread and water of affliction into the wine of eternal consolation p p Joh 16.20.21,22 Luk. 6.21 You shal take down your Harps from the Willows and I will turn your tears into Pearls and your penitential Psalms into songs of Deliverance You shal change your Ichabods into Hosanna's and your Ejahs of sorrow into Hallelujahs of Joy q q Rev. 19.1,4,6 The Cross taken off from our backs The cross shal be taken off from your backs you shal come out of your great Tribulations and wash your Robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb and you shal be before the Throne of God and serve him night and day in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among you and you shal hunger no more and thirst no more neither shal the sun light upon you nor any heat r r Rev. 7.14,15,16 The load taken off from our consciences The load shal be taken off from your Consciences Sins nor doubts shal no more defile you nor distress you Å¿ Å¿ Rev. 21.27 and Heb. 12.23 I will make an end of sin and knock off the Fetters of your corruptions and you shal be a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but Holy and without blemish t t Eph. 5.27 Rev. 7.9.13,14 The souls admission into the chamber of Presence and Vision of God Thus shal you be brought to the King all glorious in raiment of Needle-work and clothing of Gold with gladness and rejoycing shal you be brought and enter into the Kings Palace u u Psa 45.9,13,14,15 So shal the beloved of the Lord dwel safely by him and you shal stand continually before him and behold the beauty of the Lord. and hear his Wisdom w w 1 Cor. 13,12 Then will I open in you an everlasting spring of joy and you shal break forth into singing and never cease more nor rest day nor night saying Holy holy holy x x Rev. 4.8 Ps 16.11 Thus shal the grand Enemy expire with your breath and the body of death be put off with your dying bodie and the day of your death shall be the birth-day of your glory y y Phi. i. 23 Lu. 23.43 Have faith in God z z Mark 11.22 Wait but a little and sorrow shall cease and sin be no more At the Resurrection in Glorification consummate Redemption compleat And then a little longer and death shall be no more a a Rev. 20 14. and 21.4 but your last enemy shall be destroyed and your victory compleated b b 1 Cor. 15.26 The Return of the Redeemer Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and you also shall appear with him in glory c c Heb. 10 37. Col. 3.4 This same Jesus which is taken from you into Heaven d d Act. 1.11 shall so come as he went up into Heaven and when he cometh he will receive you to himself that where he is there you may be also e e Ioh. 14.3 Behold his sign he cometh in the clouds of Heaven with Power great Glory every eye shal see him and all the Tribes of the Earth shal mourn because of him f f Rev. 1.7 Mat. 24.30 but you shal lift up your heads because the day of your Redemption draweth nigh g g Luke 21.28 The raising of the body Then shal he sound his Trump h h 1 Cor. 15.52 1 Thes 4.16 and make you to hear his voice in your dust i i Ioh. 5.28 and shal send his mighty Angels to gather you from the four winds of heaven k k Mat. 24.31 who shal carry you in the triumphant Chariot of the Clouds to meet your Lord l l 1 Thes 4.17 and you shal be prepared for him and presented to him as a Bride adorned for her Husband m m Rev. 2.2 And as you have borne the Image of the Earthly so shal you bear the Image of the Heavenly n n 1 Cor. 15.49 Full conformity both in body and soul to our glorified Saviour and you shal be fully conformed both in body and spirit to your glorious head o o Phil. 3.21 Heb. 12.23 Then shal he confess you before his Angels p p Rev. 3.5 Publick Approbation and Absolution and you shal receive your open Absolution before all flesh and be owned approved and applauded in the Publick audience of the general Assembly q q Mat. 10.32 and 26 32,34,35 c. Solemn Espousals And you shal be with all Royal solemnities espoused unto the King of glory in the presence of all his shining Courtiers r r Rev. 19.7,8 2 Cor. 4.14 Mat. 25.31 to the envy and gnashing and terror of your Adversaries Å¿ Å¿ Luk. 13.28 The Coâ—ovation and Enthronement of the Saints Their sitting in judgment upâ—n the World So shal your Lord with his own
season but I shal stand in the lot at the end of the daies Dan. 12.13 It is well Lord thy word is enough Thy Bond is as good as ready payment The holy Ghost tells me that life and glory abide me Luk. 23.43 that look what day I loose from the body the same day I shal be landed in Paradise Amen It is as I would have it But this is not all When my body hath slept a short Nap in the dust Christ will call to it Come up hither Ah true Yoke-fellow it will be hard parting but welcome meeting I could not leave thee but to live with Christ Col. 3.4 But he will raise thee a glorious Temple and when he shal appear will bring me with himself in glory and then I shal re-enter thee as a Royal Mansion wherein I shal abide with the Lord for ever For as we have served our Redeemer together so we must be glorified together with him And when the Lord hath married us both together again then will he marry us both unto himself For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shal stand at the last day over the Earth And though after my skin wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh I shal see God Whom I shal see for my self and mine eyes shal behold and not another though my Reines be consumed within me My Lord hath already told me how it shall be He hath set down the time and shewed me the Robes of immortality and the Crown of life that I must put on and the Throne of glory and the Seat of judgement that I must sit in He hath told me the manner in which I shal be presented to him and espoused by him He hath told me where he will set me and what he will say to me and how he will acknowledge my mean services and remember what I have forgotten Mat 25.35,37 how he will praise the works that I have been ashamed of and reward me openly for what I have buried in secrecy Mat. 6.4 and not forget the poorest Almes that I have given for his Name Then will he confess me before his Father and before the Angels of God Thus saith the true and faithful witness and we know that his Testimony is true 1 Joh. 5.10 Ah my Soul see that thou make not God a Lyar. O my God I have believed thy report and do look for all these things according to thy Promise I know thou intendest me but for a very little while for this lower Region This world is but the house of my Pilgrimage and my soul now is but like a Bird in the shel but when the shel is crackt then shal she take wings like a Dove and soar aloft to thee and flee away and be at rest Yet I doubt not thy care for my despicable dust I know that nothing will be lost Joh. 6.39 I know not where they will lay me but thy wakeful eye observeth and will not be to seeking at what door to knock nor at what grave to call for me I believe and am sure that I shal come a glorious piece out of thy hands fair as the Moon clear as the Sun crowned with honour and glory And when my Absolution is read and sentence past upon the world then must I be taken up to dwell with thee Let not my Lord be angry that thy dust and ashes speaketh thus unto thee Thou Lord hast raised my expectations and haste made me to look for all these great things from thee In vain haste thou written all these things unto me if I should not believe them and a distrustful diffidence would put a high dishonour upon thy Truth O Lord it repenteth me it repenteth me of my jealousies and my doubtful thoughts about thee I know thou lovest an humble confidence and delightest in nothing more then to see thy children trust thee I know the building of my hopes lies not an hairs breadth over the foundation of thy Promises yea 't is sure my expectations are infinitely short of what I shal find Joh. 3.33 Eph. 2.20 Mat 7.25 Psal 39.7 O my God my heart trusteth safely in thee and I here set to my seal that thou art true Christ is my Bottom in which I venture and the Corner-stone on which I build and therefore my fraught is ensured and my building shall challenge the winds and floods And now O Lord what wait I for my hope is in thee O my blessedness let me enjoy thee O my life let me possess thee O desire of mine eyes let me see thy face and hear thy voice for thy voice is sweet and thy countenance is comely I ask but what thou hast promised Matth. 5.8 for thou hast told me that I shall see God and thou wilt speak to me mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of God shall I behold 1 Cor. 13.9 â—0 So shall my knowledge be perfected and I shall see the inaccessible light and my tender eye shall not water nor my sight dazle but I shall with open face look stedfastly on the Son of Righteousness and behold his glory Then shall Faith be turned into fruition and Hope into Possession and Love shall arise like the full Moon in her brightness and never wax nor wane more O thou God of my hopes I look for a new body and a new soul for new Heavens and for a new Earth according to thy promise when my whole soul shall be wholly taken up with thee and all mine affections strained to the highest Peg and all the Wheels of my raised powers set in most vigorous and perpetual motion towards thee still letting in and still laying out and thus shall there be an everlasting communication of joy and glory from thee and of love and praise from me O my soul thou art rich indeed and increased in goods Thou hast no reason to envy the glory nor grandeur of the mightiest on earth Psa 49.14,17 For their glory shall not descend after them like Sheep shall they be laid in their graves and Death shall feed upon them and there 's an eternal end of all their pomp and excellency But my Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome My Robes shall never wear my Crown shall never totter my Throne shall never be vacant My Bread shall never mold my Garland shall never wither my House shall never moulder my Wine shall never sowre but everlasting joy shall be upon my head and sorrow and sighing shall flie away O my God how happy hast thou made me It is better then I could have wished Thou hast done all things well Thou hast setled them for ever The whole Earth cannot shew any such heritage or Tenure The world can state out her possessions but for years nor can she make a good title for that neither But mine Inheritance is for ever and none can put me out of possession The thing is
I know thou hast prescribed for the Death and utter Destruction of all my Corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign my Heart to thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practice this my resolution through thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather then to turn from thee to the wayes of sin and that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity least they should withdraw my Heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most Graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck or my Soul under the feet of thy most sacred Majesty I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my portion and chief good and do give up my self body and soul for thy servant promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The Principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the onely means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the onely New and Living Way by which Sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a marriage covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blinde and naked a most loathsome polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory But sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine Offices I renounce mine own unworthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdome and do here take thee for mine onely Guide I renounce mine own will and take thy Will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here covenant with thee to take my lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me The less Principles are the Laws of Christ which must be thus accepted And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy Laws as the Rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdome I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoke and set my Shoulder to thy Burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy just and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Onely because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation bebeseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldest discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father That ever thou shouldest find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my heart from sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant-friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on earth let it be ratified in Heaven CHAP. XX and Last An exhortation to the Saints COme ye People beloved you that are highly favoured The Lord is with you Blessed are you amongst men and women The Likes are fallen to you in a pleasant place yea you have a goodly heritage Come and enter upon your Lot let your hearts be glad let your glory rejoyce but that your joy may be full hearken to these following counsels Make sure your interest in the Covenant Rejoyce not in that that 's none of thine Make sure all lies upon this Your life all the comforts and concernments of it both your eternal safety hereafter and your success in all the parts of your Christian course here depend on your interest in the Covenant VVhat have you if Christ be not yours and what have you in Christ if you be not in Covenant whence are your hopes either of mercy at last or of prospering in any thing at present but from the Covenant of Promise And what have you thence if your name be not in it Oh give not rest to your selves till this be put out of doubt what ever duties you perform what ever ease or hope you finde hereupon what ever transportation of affection you feel in your hearts in the midst of all enquiry But am I in Covenant How shall I know that you 'll say why make a strict and narrow enquiry whether those special graces already mentioned be wrought upon you Common mercies though even these be Covenant mercies to the Saints yet