a delightfull work as they are together to praise God Christ is praising him as they worship Christ is worshipping Now every Saint of God hath the spirit of Christ in him and so he delights in the society of the Saints on this ground because there is worshipping of God and God is praised solemnly among them If there be any place in the world wherein God hath solemne worship it cannot be grieve a gracious heart that he is not with them for his heart is with them he delights to be with them especially in such a work as that it grieves him that he cannot be there It is a note of an Interpreter that I have met with upon Isaiah 6. where the Angles cry Holy holy holy Lord of Hosts the Prophet cryes Woe unto me for I am undone c. saith he upon this ground because he could not joyn with those blessed creatures and so magnifie and praise and worship God that he through his sinfulnesse was not able to joyn with them he cryes Woe is me I am undone So when any gracious heart doth but hear that there is a people in the world that are precious ones the excellent on earth that joyn in the worship of God and honour God in his own way and enjoy communion with God and I cannot joyn with them woe to me that there should be any let or hinderance that I cannot come and joyn with them for my heart is there my delight is in the Saints when they are jointly together because Gods solemne worship is there But thirdly my delight is in the Saints jointly in regard of the wonderfull delight God hath in them A gracious heart must needs delight in them because God himself takes so much delight in them but especially when they are jointly together There are speciall expressions in Scripture of Gods taking delight in the Saints jointly as in Zephany Zeph. 3.17 The Lord thy God in the middest of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing What expressions are here of Gods delighting in his people The Lord thy God will rejoyce he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will love he will rest in his love and joy and joy over thee with singing And in Isaiah you shall find that the Church is called Hephzibah Gods delight Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken neither shall thy Land any more be termed Desolate but thou shalt be called Hephzi bah and thy land Beulah for the Lord delighteth in thee and thy land shall be married Isaiah 62.4 it is a wondrous delight that God hath in his Saints There are wonderfull expressions in Scripture for the manifesting of Gods delight even to admiration especially in the Church jointly together They are such expressions as we could not think or invent as namely that he calls his people his portion his pleasant portion for the Lords portion is his people Iacob is the lot of his inheritance Deut. 32.9 God calls them his inheritance the lot of his inheritance Ier. 12.7 he calls them the dearly beloved of his soul Exod. 19.5 he calls them his peculiar treasure Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people God hath treasures in the world the creatures that are called the good treasures of the Lord Deut. 28. but his people are called his peculiar treasure there is a particularity There is another kind of excellency in the people of Gods delight then in all other creatures they are his common treasure but his people are his peculiar treasure God calls them his glory I will glorifie the house of my glory I will place salvation in Zion for my glory Isa 46.13 The crown of his glory Isa 60.7 he calls them the Throne of his glory Isa 62.3 Thou shalt be a Crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royall diadeem in the hand of thy God In severall places that I cannot stand on His glory the House of his glory the Crown of his glory the Throne of his glory He calls them the royall Diadeem he calls them his ornament an ornament set in Majesty and glory There are the expressions and more I might name of Gods delighting in his people Therefore if God delight in them and find satisfaction much more should we Christs speaks of his Church O my sister my spouse my heart is ravished with thee It is a strange expression for Christ himself to be ravished with his people It is an expression beseeming the Church to have said so to Christ but for Christ to say to the Church it is wonderfull And again My love my dove my undefiled one Cant. 2. and at that very time when the Church was in a state of security that Christ should call her his love his dove his undefiled all to expresse the abundance of delight in his people Well if God have such delight in them much more should the Saints Again if we consider further the presence of God among his people it is another argument why the Saints of God should take so much delight in other Saints especially when they are joyned together because God is present there The Lord is here is the name of all their assemblies The Lord dwells and hath his tabernacle in Sion It is a strange expression concerning the presence of God in that he makes his people his habitation As the people of God call God their habitation so God calls his Church his habitation God dwells in Sion Psal 90. Would you not delight to keep house with God Where Gods people are God keeps house and we should long to have it our own house and not come as strangers A man may come as a stranger and take a bit and be refreshed in a family but it is not his house But now Gods people when they go to others of the Saints they see God there and they have that house for their house It is called as I told you the house of his glory that house that God desires to dwell in he hath a mighty love to that house to dwell among his people In Psalm 132. there are many great and excellent expressions For the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation Psal 132.13 14. God desires Zion what is Zion but onely his Saints and people joyned together Zion was a type of the Church so now all the Saints of God together are Zion Now God hath a desire to this habitation God dwells in the high and holy place the highest heaven is God habitation but though God have such a house in heaven yet he is not as it were contented with that house but he desires another house he hath a desire to Zion to be his habitation and the house where his honour dwelleth You know a Prince may have some houses of meaner
flesh before the spirituall priviledges of the Saints But how shall I know that I am one of the seed of Iacob How do you know such an ones child but by his likenesse to his father One that hath the spirit of Iacob is of the seed of Iacob There are manie things that the Scripture speaks concerning Iacob and see if you do answer them First Iacob was a mightie man in prayer he was a wrestler with God he wrestled till the day broke was as strong at the last as at the first hast thou the spirit of thy father Iacob art thou not discouraged in prayer though mercy come not presently yet dost thou wrestle all night resolve whatsoever come if thou die thou wilt die wrestling here is a child like the father therefore thou art of the seed of Iacob Secondly Iecob was one that feared God when God appeared to him he looked on the presence of God as dreadfull How dreadfull is this place Genesis 28. because God was there So dost thou look on the presence of God as dreadfull that thou canst say the fear of the great God is on thy soul when thou comest into his presence mark for this is that expression in the Psalm Ye that fear the Lord praise him all the seed of Iacob glorifie him and fear him all ye seed of Israel Psalm 22.23 If you will be sure not to seek God in vain but that you may praise him in seeking him fear the Lord all the seed of Iacob Thirdly Iacobs heart was disingaged from the creature a little of the creature would serve his turn Gen. 28. Lord saith he if thou wilt give me meat to eat raiment to put on He looked no further he minded no great matters Therefore in Ps 24. there the generation of Iacob is set out and one thing is he that hath not lift up his soul to vanity The men of the world have great things in their eyes they are vanitie in Gods eye though they be great in theirs and they lift up their hearts to them Now the sons of Iacob do not lift up their hearts to vanitie though the things of the world be present their hearts stirre not they rise not but if God and Christ and heavenly things be presented their hearts are lifted up If thy heart be lifted up to vanitie if thy heart be as iron and the vanities of the world come and draw it up thou art not a son of Iacob a little would serve Iacob though he were a great heir He was a plain man and dwelt in tents Genesis 25. and had a plain spirit he did not look after great things whereas Esau looked after great things abroad Again he was one of a tender spirit therefore where it is said he prevailed with the Angel it is said he wept and made supplication unto him he found him in Bethel there he spake with us That storie of Iacob concerns us how God dealt with our Father If now thou have a tender spirit as he had if when thou goest into the presence of God thou find thy spirit yield and melt and relent thou art one like thy father Iacob Again further Iacob did in the time of his streights repair to the covenant that was a great satisfaction to his heart he looked to the covenant he fastned on that and there he held as the main support of his spirit Gen. 32.9 And Iacob said O God of my Father Abraham and God of my Father Isaac the Lord which saidst unto me return unto thy countrey and to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee c. He heard that Esau was coming against him with a great company what doth Iacob he gets him to God O God of my Father Abraham of my Father Isaac the Lord which said unto me return into thy countrey c. He repairs to the Covenant Remember thy Covenant with Abraham and Isaac and with me to I went on thy word Here was the guise of Iacob canst thou in a straight get thee a word and a promise and brood thy soul over it and clasp it close and say this is the promise that must and will do me good Again Iacob was of an humble spirit I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies He admired at the mercy of God that he had any thing Gods mercies made him more humble this is an excellent disposition we are many times humble and lowly when we are under the hand of God in affliction but when mercies make us humble that the more God is gracious the more vile we are in our own eyes this is excellent And he looked back to his former condition he looked upon his poor beginning and gives God the glory I passed over this Iordan with my staff Many of you came with your staff and God hath given you two bands you are grown great are you willing to think of it and to acknowledge the poor estate that once you were in and to give God the glorie I was thus thus of poor parentage and see how God had dealt with me Another thing remarkable is that Iacob contented himself with God alone he accounted that he had enough in God alone though all were taken from him he did not look upon himself as undone but he had that that might make him for ever In Gen. 33. compare the 9. and 11. verses you shall find a notable difference between Esau and Iacob yet the word in our books is the same but this Scripture is much wronged by the translation In vers 8. Esau when he comes to Iacob when Iacob would have given him his present saith he what meanest thou by all these droves which I met he said these are to find grace in the sight of my Lord and Esau said I have enough my brother It was a strange speech of Esau A covetous wretch that is alway pyning and murmuring for having no more and thinks he shall want before he dye he doth not come so farre as Esau and Esau could say I have enough are there not many of you that never say you have enough I pray thee take my present saith Iacob for I have all things nay saith Esau I have enough The one saith I have enough the other saith I have all things for â—o the word is Col Esau had enough he did not want he had meat and drink and he saw none to interrupt him he was satisfied with his estate as his portion he had enough he cared for nothing more they might talk of other things but that was enough to him Iacob comes and saith I have enough but this was another manner of enough Esaus enough is his estate but Iacobs enough is God for he saith I have all Iacob was meaner for his outward condition then Esau for he had nothing but what he had gotten in hard servitude Now Esau saith I have enough Iacob saith I have all that is God
in his works especially when God sees that which is the shining of his highest glory as his own grace and holinesse that God delights in most So when a gracious heart sees his own image that grace that God hath wrought in him he sees it resplendently in others it is a delightfull object Again there is a comfortable communion with them in regard of the fragrancie of grace The beauty of grace is delightfull but the fragrancy the breathings of grace are sweet in the heart The beholding of it is delightfull to the eye but the workings of their grace is exceeding sweet and comfortable to the heart Therefore saith the Church Let my beloved go down into the gardens among the beds of spices to feed in the gardens and to gather spices Cant. 6.2 All the Churches of God in the world are as the garden of Christ and every particular Church in that garden is as a bed of spices and every particular Saint is as the severall parts of that bed especially the fragrant smell is very sweet It is said of Alexander his very body was of such a constitution that where ever he went there was a sweet savour came from his body Certainly where there is but one of Gods children there is sweetnesse from him but where there is a company joyntly there is a wonderfull unspeakable sweetnesse comes from them it is exceeding comfortable to a gracious heart to be among them Again their communion is comfortable and delightfull jointly in regard of the nearnesse there being no communion under heaven wherein there is that nearnesse one to another as of the Saints Observe that you may see how near they come together and are made one and so are exceeding delightfull one to another any thing the more spirituall they are the more they are united the more corporeall they are the lesse union A heap of stones are not united as the severall beams of the sun a thousand of them are united in one point because they are of a spirituall nature So it is with the spirits of men the more carnall any men and any society is the lesse union therefore the reason why the people of God many times are divided and not united is because they are carnall Are ye not carnall saith the Apostle when there were divisions were you spirituall you would be more united one to another but carnall men are carnally minded It is with spirituall society in regard of spirituall union as it is with the society of wickednesse There is bodily fleshly wickednesse and there is spirituall wickednesse Now those that joyn together in grosse bodily wickednesse they are not so closely united as those that joyn in spirituall wickednesse A companion of drunkards or whoremongers they take delight in one another and joyn in wickednesse but it is corporall therefore they soon fall out and fly in the faces one of another But those that joyn in spirituall wickednesse as politick ambitious men men that joyn in mischief in a spirituall way they keep mighty close and you cannot easily break their bond of union they will suffer much before they will discover one another and break union one with another because their union is in a way of spirituall wickednesse So on the contrary when any are united in the spirit of holinesse they are mightily united there is no such union under heaven as that We read of the curtains of the Tabernacle Exod. 26. there were some of them that were made of purple scarlet and fine linen and their teaches that held them together were pure gold There were others of goats hair and their buckles were brasse So it may set out the different condition of men in the Church There are some in the Church that are truly gracious and godly that excell in grace and they are united by tacks of gold their union is mighty strong and glorious in their hearts There are others in the Church outward professours that are carnall that are goats hair goats in the Church and they maintain a union too but it is but brasse the ground and bottome of the union is but mean it is not such a golden union as the union of the hearts of Gods people there are no people under heaven so united as they It is true through their corruption there is a great deal of dissention as there is corruption in the best but that is as farre as they are carnall the more spirituall they grow the more near is their union one to another and the more entire is their love My beloved is one saith Christ to his Church she is the choice of one of her that bare her and the daughters saw her and blessed her There is an onenesse and intirenesse in the hearts of the Saints and this makes them to be blessed by those that behold them and makes their communion very delightfull That is the first particular their communion is most delightfull of all other communions therefore David saith all my delight is in them taking them together But then in the second place A gracious heart must needs delight in the Saints if you take them jointly because that when they are together there God is worshipped the solemnest worship that God hath is from the Saints joyned together As I told you before that the glory that God had in the world was from them all but the solemnity of Gods worship cannot be but from them jointly together Therefore the great delight of a gracious heart is to be with the saints when they are jointly together because there the name of God is honoured and they worship God in a solemne way God is honoured among them Christ himself much delights in the Saints when they are joyned together in the duties of holy worship do but compare two Texts of Scripture that will both make us in love with the Saints and delight in joynt communion with them Compare Psalm 22.22 with Heb. 2.12 The Psalme is a prophesie of Christ and generally all interpreters go this way that it is so it appears by the Psalme that Christ especially is meant the Text saith I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the middest of the congregation will I praise thee It is the promise of Christ to declare the name of his father to his Church and people and in the middest of the congregation he shall praise God Mark it in Heb. 2.12 the Apostle applies it to the Saints joyned together saying I will declare the name unto my brethren in the middest of the Church will I sing praise unto thee This was after Christ had been in the flesh yet the Apostle applies this to the Church in the middest of the Church will I sing prayse unto thee This they gather hence that Christ he delights in being with his people when they are jointly together because of the solemne worship of God that is tendered to God by them and he joynes with them in it as