such peace and joy let them have them No no there is no person can do it nothing can do it in this world and will you still with-hold you Hearts from God Why are you so backward to bestow your affections upon God Why so loth to give your hearts to him that hath given you your hearts given you all that you are all that you have that hath given his Son for you and proffereth to give his Son to you and with him pardon and peace and many special favours here and the Kingdome of Heaven hereafter What do you say young men Shall God have your Hearts or no God doth not only call for them and will accept of them but he is loth to be denied He doth by me entreat and beseech you that he might have them In his intreaties of you that you would be reconciled to him he doth intreat you to give him your Hearts God is reconciled to you when he giveth to you his Son and you are reconciled unto him when you give him your hearts then your enmity against him is laid aside and see Gods intreaties by Ministers for this thing 2 Cor. 5.20 Now we are embassadours for Christ as if God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled unto God Hear O Heavens Wonder O Angels Admire O Saints Be astonished O Sinners Be confounded O Devils that God should not only be willing to accept of Hearts but desire them not only call for them but intreat for them that God should intreat intreat his creatures intreat sinners traytors rebells persons so mean so vile when he hath no need of them that he should intreat for Hearts as if he were beholding to them to give them O wonderful wonderful condescention although you have stopped your ear so long and refused your Hearts so often yet the Lord doth still intreat and he would fain prevail with you for this gift so beneficial not to him to receive it but unto you to give it Upon my knees if that would do I would beseech you in the name of my Lord that you would give your Hearts unto God Methinks you should not shut your ears to such kind invitations or when your ears are open methinks you should not shut your hearts against the Lord that standeth at those doors and knocketh and intreateth you to let him in and give him room there Methinks that Grief should now arise against those base filthy lusts which are got into the room of God and Desire should step forth and invite the Lord in to take possession of that place which is due Methinks your hearts now should begin to open unto God and the everlasting gates of them should be lifted up that this King of Glory might be entertained and exalted and enthroned within you Methinks Hatred should now arise in your hearts against Sin and a contempt of the World with all the vanities thereof and a fire of Love should now methinks begin to enkindle within you Look young men look upwards Do you see nothing Take up the Glass of the Word and through this perspective cannot you see the Lord of Heaven full of marvellous and most ravishing beauty in his face full of most free tender incomparable and incomprehensible love in his heart If you can see but little beg the eye of Faith and light of the Spirit and then you will see wonders wonders of beauty and wonders of love And do not your hearts yet begin to move towards God What do you say young men How many of your Hearts may I gain for God this day Methinks every one of you should be ready to say Here 's my Heart for the Lord and here 's my heart for the Lord and here 's my heart for the Lord. Will you now all of you engage your Hearts in Covenant to the Lord will you now withdraw your hearts from the World and all its Lusts which hath usurped them and making choice of God for your chief good Devote your Hearts with your whole man to him to be His and His for ever Consent heartily unto this young men and the thing is done your Hearts are God's and God is yours and yours for ever And if you would give your Hearts unto God 1. You must give them presently delayes are dangerous if you refuse now you may never be ask'd for them any more this may be God's last Call it may be now you have some movings and strivings of the Spirit for your Hearts if you do not now hearken and yield God may withhold his Spirit for the future and never strive with you more 2. You must give them freely Don't think God is beholding to you to give them but that you are beholding to him that He will accept of them 3. You must give them fully Don't reserve any room in them for Sin and harbour any base Lust in any corner of your hearts 4. You must give them resolutely with full purpose never to retract this gift Gods gifts of his Grace to men are without repentance and so must be your gift of your Hearts unto God And if the Lord doth get your Hearts this day I know he will get all the Heart being the commanding part Put your selves under God's command hereby you will be in safeguard from the worst of evils I mean the Reign of Sin and Tyranny of the Devil here and the Damnation of Hell in the other World hereby your hearts will be near to Gods Heart whilst you live and they shall be brought nearer to him when you die when absent from the body they shall be present with the Lord in glory and abide with him to eternity FINIS
Body it shall not want an habitation for He will receive it into the dearest closets and eternal embracements of his Love Surely then God will best use the Heart and therefore all should give their Hearts unto Him The Application Vse 1. BY way of Information HEnce learn that none have the dispose of their own Hearts none have liberty to â—ive their Hearts as they please to choose or â—ove or desire or delight in what and in whom â—hey please It is the speech of the ungodly Psal. â— 2.4 Our lips are our own who is Lord over us â—nd it is a more ungodly speech to say Our Hearts are our own who is Lord over us There is noâ—hing which any can call their own properly and â—trictly except it be sin whatever any are or â—ave they owe it unto God from whom they â—ave received it but above all God claims his â—â—ght to the Heart and He is most jealous of the Heart and none may give away their Hearts from him 2. Learn here God hath disposed of our Hearts better than we could or would dispose of them our selves if God had not directed our Hearts to himself and commanded us to give them to him we should foolishly dispose of them unto inferiour things which are wholly unworthy of them and which would wofully abuse them as all such do dispose their Hearts who give no heed unto this command 3. Learn here that God hath made that to be our duty to give our Hearts to him which is our great privilege that we may give our hearts to him this commandment surely is not grievous but most reasonable and sweet God is not beholding to us for our Hearts but we are beholding unto him that he will accept of them 4. Learn here the difference between the wicked and the righteous the difference doth not lye in their riches for when many of the righteous be poor in this world multitudes of wicked men do abound in wealth it doth not lye in worldly grandeur and dignity usually the wicked are advanced to the highest seat of honour and are esteemed when the righteous are low and under disgrace It doth not lye in their food and apparel Divâ—â— is arrayed in purple and fine linnen and fareth deliciously every day when Lazarus lyeth at his gate hungry and in rags It doth not lye in any beauty and strength of body in any natural parts or acquired abilities of mind some that have very foul insides are outwardly fair and beautiful and many are ignorant of the mysteries of salvation who are great Scholars in other things and of high esteem for worldly wisdom and prudence when the righteous many of them have a contemptible outside and are of very mean natural and acquired abilities But the difference between the wicked and the righteous and that wherein the righteous do excell all the wicked in the world is in the disposing of their hearts the wicked give their hearts to the creature some to the dung of earthly pelf others to the filth of sensual delight others to the wind of worldly esteem some give their hearts to their Friends others to their Lands others to their Hawks and Hounds and all the wicked are of such a low and inferiour spirit that they let their Hearts sink beneath themselves unto something that debases them but the righteous they lift up their hearts to him that is above them whereby they are advanced they dispose their hearts unto God who is the chief good when the stream of the wicked mans affections runneth downwards theirs runneth upward and surely of all others they have the greatest wisdome and true heigth and nobleness of spirit whose hearts are raised so high as to be joyned unto the Lord. Vse 2. For reproof of such as give away their Hearts from God And are there not too many such in this place God hath your ears sometimes and your lips and your knees sometimes and your bodies it may be are often presented before him in the outside of Religious duties but hath God your hearts Have you presented God with this gift with this sacrifice without which all other sacrifices of your lips and outward devotion are but a vain oblation yea despised and an abomination unto him Young men you are dispos'd of by your Friends some to this Calling and some to that but Friends have not the dispose of your Hearts you have dispos'd of them your selves and have not too many of you dispos'd away your hearts from God unto the creature Hath not vanity and the world and some foolish filthy and deceitful Lust the chief room and possession of your hearts God hath called for your Hearts but you have not hearkened God hath knocked at the door but you have not opened He hath in his Word and by his Spirit woed for your chiefest affections but you have hitherto given him a denial and repulse when you have listned to the Devil and readily opened your Hearts to the world and given forth of your dearest loves and delights to the creatures you have been deaf unto God and your Hearts shup up against him and foolishly with-held your affections from him Consider your great sin herein 1. You that give away your hearts from God are guilty of Heart-Idolatry that which you chiefly love and desire and delight your selves in is your God If it be meats and drinks for your belly your belly is your God Philip. 3.19 Whose God is their belly If it be Gold and Silver and the riches of the World Riches are your God And therefore Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 Covetousness which is Idolatry Whatever it be that you supremely love that is your God and the Idol of your hearts if it be any thing beneath and beside the true God And can any of these Gods hear your Prayers Can they save you in your troubles if you call upon them Can they deliver you from wrath to come Can they abide with you to be your eternal portion 2. You that give away your Hearts from God are guilty of Spiritual Adultery your Maker is or should be your Husband and you go a whoring from him when you give your Hearts chiefly to any person or thing besides him you commit Spiritual Adultery with any creature which you receive into the embracements of your dearest affections and therefore such whose hearts are chiefly addicted to the world and to its friendship are called Adulterers and Adulteresses Iam. 4.4 Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God 3. You that give away your hearts from God are guilty of great injustice your Hearts do of right belong to God as hath been proved He hath made them and he hath bought them and you may as justly give away money which belongeth to another or goods which belong to another or house and lands which belong ao another as give away your Hearts to any other which do of right belong
exercises is of no worth in Gods account all is flattery all is mockery without the Heart the Sacrifices under the Law although of Gods own appointment yet comparatively with the Sacrifice of the Heart they were not esteemed and without the sacrifice of the Heart they were despised but the Heart was never despised never refused but readily accepted as the most delightful sacrifice See Psal. 51.16 17. For thou desirest not sacrifice that is comparatively else would I give it thou delightest not in burnt-offerings the Sacrifices of God are as broken spirit a broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise God doth not despise the heart yea He desireth and delighteth in the Sacrifice of the Heart when it is offered up unto Him by the hands of Christ our great High Priest in Heaven a heart broken and bleeding for sin gasping and breathing after God is very pleasing and acceptable And as God will accept the Hearts of any so especially the Hearts of young ones the sooner any bring their Hearts unto God the better is he pleased the Rose is sweetest in the bud before it be quite blown and the love of Youths to God hath a great fragrancy and is very sweet and delightful to Him R. 4. All especially young men ought to give God their Hearts because he doth best deserve them not only as he hath a right to them of which before but also as he is the most deserving object Nothing is worthy of their Hearts beside Him or in the least degree of comparison with Him 1. If Loveliness do deserve Love God is altogether Lovely this cannot be said of any creature in the world which may be apt to draw away the Heart the creatures indeed may have loveliness but the loveliness of creatures is inferiour Gods loveliness is supreme the loveliness of creatures is defective Gods loveliness is perfect the creatures may have some loveliness but God hath all loveliness the creatures loveliness is derivative Gods loveliness is from himself and whatsoever loveliness the creatures have they derive it from Him and therefore even that loveliness is eminently in Him and moreover such loveliness as is infinitely beyond that What is the Beam in comparison of the Sun What is the Stream in comparison with the Fountain What is the drop in comparison with the Ocean And what is creatures loveliness in comparison with the Creator's loveliness Indeed God's loveliness is not visible like some creatures-loveliness because God is a Spirit and his loveliness spiritual but Gods loveliness is not the less because it is not corporal and visible but the more because not so low and inferiour and subject to alternations as bodily beauty is as the beauty of the mind adorned with wisdom and grace is far beyond the beauty of the 〈◊〉 of the rarest symmetry and mixture of colours so the beauty of God which is spiritual doth infinitely excell all created beauty whether of body or of mind Gods loveliness cannot be discerned with the eye of the body but it may be viewed with the eye of the mind with the eye of faith through the illuminations of the spirit indeed the beauty of his face cannot be seen by any in the body the vision of this is fit only for Angels and is reserved for the Saints in Heaven yet in his back parts there is infinitely more loveliness to be seen than in the face of any creatures whatsoever if there could be a composition of all created loveliness in one person it would fall infinitely short of the loveliness of God in any one of his excellencies and perfections Hence was that desire of David Psal. 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple And Psal. 63.1 2. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary 2. If sutableness do deserve love there is infinitely more of this in God unto the Heart than in any thing else that any may set their hearts upon Indeed sensitive objects are more sutable unto the bruitish part I mean the senses in which many bruits do excell men but God is most sutable to the most excellent and noble part of man which is the soul He is a sutable good and the only sutable good for the Heart because he is the only chief good nothing beneath nothing besides the chief good can give true satisfaction to the Soul none but God can fill up the large and immense desires of the Heart the house may be filled with goods the bags may be filled with silver and gold the cabinets may be filled with jewels but none of these things can fill the Heart the eye may be tired with seeing and the ear wearied with hearing and all the senses glutted and cloyed with their proper objects but none of these objects are sutable to the Soul and therefore cannot fill and satisfie its desires Earthly riches are uncertain and thorny worldly honours are vain and windy sensual pleasures are thin and empty and all are of short continuance and very transitory and what then can they all do to give satisfaction unto a rational Soul which is a spiritual substance to an immortal soul which must abide when the body is dropt off into the dust and all these things are vanish'd out of sight and which must live so long as the eternal God shall live God only is the sutable good for the Soul the creatures are not so far beneath the Soul as God is above it the creatures have not so much emptiness as God hath fulness the creatures have not such insufficiency as God hath All-sufficiency he that is Self-sufficient must needs be All-sufficient an Ocean surely is sufficient to fill a Bucket or a Nut shell though ten thousand worlds are not sufficient to fill one Soul yet one God that is All sufficient can fill ten thousand worlds of souls It is a great expression Eph. 3.20 21. Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us to him be glory c. He can do above abundantly above exceeding abunantly above in the original the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above abundantly He can do infinitely beyond not only our Prayers and what we can ask but also our conceptions and what we can think We may ask for great things mountains of Gold seats amongst the Starrs the most delicious things for the sense but God can do more than this for us and if he doth not give such things because they are not so good he giveth that which is better a little true Grace