Heaven Opened, Treatise · Chapter 1
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, 'tis 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, vexations, afflictions, plague thee on this earth; whatever horrour, and anguiſh, whatever amazing, confounding torments are like to meet thee, and feed upon thee in the lake beneath, thou mayeſt ſay of all this, This is the wrath of God. That day the Lord ſayes to thee, Fury is not in me; he faith alſo, Fear ſhall be no more to thee. That hour the Lord ſaith I am thy friend, Death and Hell vaniſh. The day is broken, the ſhaddows fly away. And this is one thing included in that promiſe [I am their God] I am their friend.
2. Their Portion. Fury ceaſe? Fears vaniſh? Friendſhip, favour, life granted? But what ſhall he have to live upon? Man was never intended to be a ſelf-ſufficient; he was created under a neceſſity of dependance on ſomthing without him; not onelyonly for the continuation of his being, but of the comfort of his being: he cannot live upon the aire, though he hath ſcaped the fire: the ſoul of man is too big for all the world; like Noah's Dove, it can finde no reſt below, and where ſhall it finde it, or on what ſhall it ſubſiſt? Why God will not ſtarve his friends; he that hath ſaved their lives, will finde them a livelyhood; becauſe there is no other to be found, he himſelf will be a livelyhood to them; their portion, their maintenance, and their heritage for ever. As their deliverance is from him, ſo their dependance ſhall be on him; he is their ſubſtance, and on him is their ſubſiſtence; Jer. 10.16. he writes himſelf the portion of Jacob; and as ſuch his Saints accept him, Pſal. 16.5. The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance; he is their bread, and their water, their ſtock, and their ſtore. The Lord [Gives] portions to his enemies; not onelyonly the young Ravens, but the old Lions, and Tigers, the worſt of men do ſeek their meat from God, Pſal. 17.14. they have their portion in this life, whoſe bellies thou fillest with thy hid treaſure: they have their portion: ſome of them have their portion in the City, others a portion in the Field: to ſome he gives a portion of gold, to others a portion of worldly glory, to others a portion of pleaſures; by all theſe he deals, as the father of the prodigal, he gives them their portion, and ſends them away. But whilſt he [gives] portions to theſe, he [is] the portion of his Saints, he makes over and ſettles himſelf upon them, as their inheritance for ever: they ſhall never be in want whilſt there is in him to ſupply them; they ſhall never be in ſtraits whilſt there is in him to relieve them: all their wants be upon me.
The Lord is their Portion, and he is a ſufficient portion. With thee is the fountain of life, Pſal. 36. In thy preſence is fulneſs, Pſal. 16. The Lord God is all things to them, enough and to ſpare: In my Fathers houſe there is bread enough, and to ſpare. He that hath all things below God, but not God, hath nothing; he that hath nothing beſides God, but hath God, hath all things; enough and to ſpare: filling up, and running over; there's ſtill more to be had, if more could be held: the ſoul hath never enough, till it hath more then enough; is never full till it runs over: while it can contain and meaſure and number all that it has, this is its judgement of all, Pauperis eſt numerare pecus.
In God is enough for filling up and running over; enough there is in him to fill up all their faculties; their underſtandings; there are infinitely beautiful perfections, where we may gaze and glut our eyes with unſpeakable delight; but when we have looked the fartheſt into them, when the moſt ſearching eye, the moſt greedy thoughts have ſearched and run their utmoſt, they come not near the end: they ſhall look, and look, and ſee and ſee, and when they can reach no farther, then they ſhall admire at thoſe treaſures of light and beauty that are ſtill beyond them. Admiration is the underſtanding full, and running over: when its nonpluſt, and can reach no further, then it wonders at what it perceives ſtill beyond it. The Apoſtle tells us Eph. 3.18. that the Goſpel (which preſents God in fleſh) hath in it, an height, and depth, and length, and bredth; and I may tell you from him, 'tis an height without top, a depth without bottome, a length without limits, a bredth without bounds; in one word, immenſity, unmeaſurable, and therefore unſpeakable, unſearchable glory. Whilſt the blind world deride and deſpiſe the portion of the Saints, looking on God and all the things of God, as ſhallow things, that have no depth in them; they will be found by thoſe that ſearch into them, to be deep things that have no bottome in them, 1 Cor. 2. the deep things of God. All the raptures, and extaſies of glorious joyes of the Saints in the other world, are the running over of their eyes upon their hearts, and do break in upon them from their viſion of God.
There's enough to fill up their wills and affections: there's infinite goodneſs, incomprehenſible love, marvellous loving kindneſs, unſpeakable delights, glorious joyes, Pſal. 31.19. Oh! how great is the goodneſs which thou hast laid up for thoſe that fear thee! Oh! how great is the goodneſs! 'Tis vox admirantis, an admiring word; great beyond expreſſion, great beyond imagination; Eye hath not ſeen, ear hath not heard, neither have entred into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him: and 'tis vox exultantis, of an heart leaping for joy, rejoycing in hope of the glory of God, which is laid up for his Saints. Laid up! where? Why laid up in himſelf; that's the fountain, that's the treaſury; there's love, there's joy, there's ſatisfaction, our life is hid with Christ in God. Oh love the Lord all ye his Saints. O bleſs the Lord all ye his Saints. He that is mighty hath done for you great things: ſince the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye ſeen, oh God beſides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him, Iſa. 64.4. or as 'tis in the margin, There hath not been heard or ſeen a God beſides thee, which doth ſo for him that waiteth for him.
There's enough to fill up our time; there's admiring work, and praiſing work for ever: there's matter for love, and joy to live, and feed upon for ever; endleſs praiſes, eternal pleaſures, everlaſting rejoycings, Iſa. 35. Everlaſting Joy, Pſal. 16. pleaſures for evermore. There's enough to reward all our labours, and repay all our expences: there's a full reward; Gen. 15.1. Fear not Abram, I am thy ſhield, and exceeding great reward. Chriſtian, thou ſhalt not ſerve the Lord for nought, he will reward thee, and 'tis little in his eyes, that thou ſhouldeſt ſerve him for corn, and for wine, for ſheep and for oxen; yea for the crowns and kingdoms of 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 …e durable riches? What are things that are no…, to h…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 po…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 onelyonly 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 'tis, ſhall lodge in goodneſs. The ſoul is never in eaſe whileſt 'tis 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 'tis 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: thy food, thy clothing, thy friend, thy life to thee. All this he hath ſaid to thee in this one word, I am thy God; and hereupon thou mayeſt ſay, I have no husband, and yet I am no widow, my maker is mine husband. I have no father nor friend, and yet I am neither fatherleſs nor friendleſs; my God is both my father and my friend. I have no childe, but is not he better to me than ten children? I have no houſe, but yet I have an home, I have made the most high mine habitation. I am left alone, but yet I am not alone, my God is good company for me; with him I can walk, with him I can take ſweet counſel, finde ſweet repoſe; at my lying down, at my riſing up, whileſt I am in the houſe, as I walk by the way, my God is ever with me; with him I travel, I dwell, I lodge, I live, and ſhall live for ever.
2. Live up to your priviledge. Live according to your rank and quality, according to your riches laid up for you in God. The rich men of this world live like rich men, they ſort themſelves with perſons of their own quality, attend on the Courts of Princes, are employed about the magnalia regum: you may read their eſtates in the whole way of their life; they wear them on their backs, ſpread their Tables with them, fill their bellies with them; they live ſumptuouſly, and fare delicately. Chriſtians, feed not on aſhes or husks, you have better meat; you have milk and honey, marrow and fatneſs, the hidden manna, the bread that comes down from heaven, the water of life; you have bleſſed priviledges, precious promiſes, lively hopes, living comforts, glorious joyes, the fountain of life to feed your ſouls upon; come, eat, O friends; drink, yea drink abundantly, O my beloved; out-fare the rich man, Luke 16. who fared deliciouſly every day: you have enough to maintain it; let every day be a gaudy day, a feaſt-day with you.
Let your clothing be according to your feeding. Be clothed with the Sun; put on the Lord Jeſus. The King's Daughter is (and ſo let all the King's Sons be) all glorious within, let their clothing be of wrought gold: Be clothed with humility, put on love, bowels of compaſſion, gentleneſs, meekneſs; put on the garments of ſalvation.
Let your company and converſe be according to your clothing. Live amongſt the excellent, amongſt the generation of the juſt: Get you up to the General Aſſembly and Church of the firſt-born, to that innumerable company of Angels, and the Spirits of juſt men made perfect. Live in the Courts of the great King, behold his face, wait at his Throne, bear his name, ſhew forth his vertues, ſet forth his praiſes, advance his honour, uphold his Intereſt; let vile perſons, and vile wayes be contemned in your eyes, be of more raiſed ſpirits than to be companions with them, Diſce ex hac parte, ſanctam ſuperbiam, ſcito te illis eſſe meliorem. Regard not their ſocieties, nor their ſcorns, their Euge's or duplicate page duplicate page their Apage's, their flatteries or their frowns; rejoyce not with their joyes, fear not their fear, care not their care, feed not on their dainties; get you up from among them, to your Country, to your City, where no unclean thing can enter or annoy. Live by faith, in the power of the Spirit, in the beauty of holineſs, in the hope of the Goſpel, in the joy of your God, in the magnificence, and yet the humility of the children of the great King.
3. Their Sun. He will diſcover and make manifeſt to them, the riches and glory of their Portion: He hath granted them himſelf for their portion, and he will reveal and make manifeſt to them what a portion he is. He will make manifeſt both their bleſſedneſs they ſhall enjoy in him, and the way to it, and alſo the dangers that lye in the way; Pſal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun. The Sun is the light of the world, it diſcovers it ſelf, and all things elſe: We cannot ſee the glory of the Sun but by its own light; the Moon, the Stars, the Firmament, and all this lower World, would all diſappear, if the Sun withdrew its light; beauty and deformity, ſafety and danger, the right way and the wrong, are all brought to view by the light of the Sun; the Sun-light makes the day, night is ſpread over the world when the Sun is ſet. God is glorious, but who would be ever the wiſer did not this glory ſhine? Pſal. 36.9. In thy light we ſhall ſee light. Why is the glorious God apprehended, underſtood, admired by ſo few amongſt the ſons of men? why, he is out of ſight, the Sun is not riſen upon them, nor ſhines unto them: they have Moon-light, or Star-light, ſome dimmer reflections of this glory at ſecond hand from the creatures, but they ſee not the Sun.
What's the reaſon that truth and falſhood, good and evil, ſubſtances and ſhaddows, things periſhing, and things permanent, are no better diſtinguiſhed? VVhat's the reaſon that men are ſo miſtaken, and miſguided in their judgements, in their choice, in their way? That they are at ſuch a loſs, ſuch wanderers from their bliſs? what's the reaſon that mens own ſparks, the light of their own fires, their candle-light, or torch-light, their fleſhly imaginations, their carnal proſperity, their pleaſures, their eaſe, their earthly glory, and their carnal joyes that hence flaſh up to them, are ſo ador'd and admir'd by them? Oh, they ſee not the Sun. God is out of ſight, and thence are all their dotages, and fooliſh miſtakes and miſcarriages. God will be a Sun to his Saints [their] Sun. [Thy Sun] ſhall no more go down. They ſhall have both the propriety and the comfort of this glorious Sun; he will ſhew them his face, he will cauſe his glory to appear, he will lead them into himſelf by his own beams; he will ſhew them their end, and the means; the goal, and their way to it; he will ſhew them the good part, and the right path: good and evil, duties and ſins, realities and deluſions, helps and hindrances, dangers and advantages, their ſnares and their ſuccours, will all be diſcovered to them by the light of the Lord.
Hearken thou poor and dark ſoul, that haſt choſen, but thou knoweſt not what; that art going, but thou knoweſt not whither; that art wandring and ſtumbling on, but thou careſt not how; that complaineſt thou canſt not ſee, thou canſt not value, thou canſt not be affected with all the glory and joy of the inviſible world; that findeſt thy husks, and thy traſh, to be a greater pleaſure to thee, than all the riches of immortality; that wouldeſt fain mind, and chuſe, and love, and reliſh, and ſeek God, and things above, but thou canſt not; thou ſeeſt ſo little of the beauty of them, that they do not entice thine heart after them; and when thou art ſeeking, thou art at a loſs, and in the dark, as to the way that thou ſhouldeſt take. Hearken ſoul, thy God calls to thee, Come unto me, look unto me, and I will be thy Sun. Ile ſhew thee all that glory, and the right way that will bring thee to it. I promiſe thee I will, truſt me, I will be a light unto thee.
4. Their Shield, Pſal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun and a [Shield.] The gods of the earth are ſo ſtiled, Pſal. 47.9. The ſhields of the earth: much more the God of glory. Epheſ. 6.16. Faith is called a ſhield: Above all taking the ſhield of Faith, it ſignifies the ſame, as God is a ſhield. Faith is to the ſoul what-ever God is. This is the grace that entitles the ſoul to God, and applies God to the ſoul, Gen. 15.1. Fear not Abraham, I am [thy] ſhield. What's promiſed to the Father of the faithful, ſtands ſure to all the ſeed, Rom. 4.16. The ſtate of Chriſtians in this life is a militant ſtate; a ſtate full of hardſhips and hazards. By reaſon whereof, as richly as they are provided for, they are ſubject to fears of being undone, and ſpoiled of all. They are in fears about things eternal: they have ſpiritual adverſaries, that lye in wait for their ſouls, that fight againſt their ſouls, that are tempting them and enticing them from their God, that watch their opportunities to ſteal away their God, by ſtealing away their hearts from him; and ſuch dangerous attempts of this kind they meet withall, that they often are in great doubt what the iſſue may be. They are in fears about things temporal; their names are ſhot at; their liberties are invaded; their eſtates, with all the comforts of their lives, are in danger to be made a prey: to day they are a praiſe, to morrow a ſcorn: to day they are full and abound, but to morrow they may have nothing left: they dye daily; they are killed all the day long.
But what-ever their dangers and their fears thereupon are, here's ſufficient proviſion made againſt all. God is their ſhield.
Chriſtian, thou haſt enough, and all that thou haſt is in ſafety. Thou art compaſſed about with a ſhield, ſecur'd on all hands, there's no coming at thee. What-ever aſſaults are made, thy God is a wall of partition, betwixt thee and harm. They are not ſhields of braſs and iron thou are furniſh'd with, the ſtrong God is thy defence. Wherefore doſt thou doubt, O thou of little faith? A Chriſtian and yet afraid? ſhifting for thy ſelf? taking care for the Aſſes, and Oxen, and Sheep? vexing, and loading, and loſing thy ſelf, in thy cares and fears from day to day? Where is thy God man? Doth not God take care for Oxen, and Aſſes, and all that thou haſt?
But oh what meaneſt thou in this, to be ſhifting thy ſelf from danger, by ſhrinking back from thy God? ſecuring thy ſelf from affliction, by taking ſanctuary in Iniquity? What art thou doing, but throwing away thy ſhield, to ſave thee from harm? making a breach in thy wall, to keep thee in ſafety? Gen. 17.1, &c. chap. 15.1. Walk before me, and be thou perfect: follow thou me, ſtick to me, and then Fear not Abraham, I am thy ſhield. This now is the firſt and great promiſe of the Covenant, [I am thy God] and the ſecond is like unto it.