A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 3 · Chapter 5 · Section 2

A Discourse of the Two Covenants · Book 3 · Chapter 5 · Section 2

p. 357SECT. II. The Application of Gods Alſufficience made over to the Saints.

Ʋſe 1 §. 1. FIrſt, this doth juſtly reprove them who claim an intereſt by Covenant in the Lord, yet their hearts go out to expect a ſufficiency in the creatures, who pleaſe themſelves in a ſelf-ſufficiency, as if either they underſtood not the terms of the Covenant, or as if their ſufficiency were not in God only, when in his alſufficiency he has made over himſelf.

1. For them that ſet their hearts upon the ſufficiency of the creatures, and having the creatures in abundance, they think that there is a ſufficiency in them, and when they want the creatures, they look upon themſelves as being defective in point of ſufficiency. I confeſs there is a curſe come upon all the creatures, that they are become a ſnare to us; that which was made to be a ſervant, has with Reuben climbed up into his fathers bed, and ever ſince Satan has been the god of this world, which he never was until man ſold himſelf unto Satan, and ſince man ſubjected himſelf to the evil one. God has ſubjected man in judgment unto Satan, and all the creatures unto the power of Satan, that were for mans uſe, which is the greateſt part of the ſubjection unto vanity,Rom. 8.Rom 8 that the creature groans under; that now Satan makes it a bait, and the ſoul is enſnared with it, and men are ready to place a ſufficiency in the creatures, yet we have heard, that in the fulneſs of ſufficiency he is in ſtraits, it's ſpoken according to the eſteem and conceit of the man, he thinks that he ſhall have a fulneſs of ſufficiency in it, but he ſhall find a defect in the creatures; there are ſome wants that all the creatures will not anſwer, but the ſoul will be ſtill ſtrait in the middle of his alſufficiency; Cocceius expounds it of men whoſe luſts go out beyond their eſtates, and therefore they are but poor in the middle of all their riches and abundance, and ſuch an eſteem it is that Solomon intends, when he ſays,Prov. 23.5.Prov 23:5 Wilt thou ſet thy eyes upon that which is not? the word in the Hebrew ſignifies, wilt thou cauſe thine eyes to flye on that which is not? The Scripture doth expreſs much of the affection by the eye, that being the window at which the ſoul looks out, and at which the affections of the ſoul are diſcovered; as the deſire of the eyes, the delight of the eyes, and pity in the eye, thy eye ſhall not ſpare them; p. 358and therefore we uſe to ſay, Ʋbi amor ibi oculus, the deſires of the heart are much ſeen in the eyes; and to flye notes two things, haſtineſs and greedineſs, 1 Sam. 15.19. But didſt flye upon the ſpoil: mens deſires run out towards it with all haſtineſs and greedineſs, becauſe they conceive, that there is a ſufficiency to be had in the creatures: but it is not the thing that you took it to be, there is not that in it that you expected, it's an expreſſion like that,foreign 1 Cor. 4.8.1 Cor 4:8 Pſal. 102.27. They all ſhall wax old as doth a garment, and as a veſture thou ſhalt change them, &c. 1 Cor. 4.8. the Apoſtle ſpeaks it of the Corinthians, Ye are full, ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us; he ſpeaks it by way of exprobration, what they were in their own vain conceit and apprehenſion; they pleaſed themſelves in their outward proſperity, as if now the Kingdom were their own; and when the Apoſtle was ſuffering, and they enjoyed their peace and their eſtates, they pleaſed themſelves in it; and therefore he ſays, That they did reign as Kings, not in ways of duty, for then it had not been without us; but it was in ways of felicity, in which they did ſatisfie themſelves, as if they were now no leſs than Kings in their own conceits: and hence it comes to paſs, that in the enjoyment of them their hearts are lifted up; and if they be deprived of them, their hearts die within them, and they be like unto them that go down to the pit. How unſuitable is this to the alſufficiency of God, to place your ſufficiency in any thing elſe? and whether is not this a ſtaining of your glory? and will not this hinder the alſufficiency of God to be improved for you? for ſurely he will be alſufficient unto none, but he will be alſufficient to them alone.

1. Conſider herein how exceedingly you diſhonour God, and d… hereby proclaim to all the world, that there is ſomething wanting in him that muſt be ſupplied by the creature; and ſo as Salvian ſaith of the Name of Chriſt, Dicimur Chriſtiani in opprobrium Chriſti, We are called Chriſtians to the reproach of Chriſt; it is true that the name of God is called upon us, but it is unto Gods diſhonour; the Lord takes it as a high diſhonour done unto him, when his people dig to themſelves broken ciſterns, and forſake him that is the Fountain of living water; when they ſhall do ſuit and ſervice to another god, and ſtretch out their hands unto a ſtrange god, the Lord will ſearch it out, it's a diſhonour, and will be a great provocation to him; whereas they that have an eye to him alone, they do honour him: Daniel who ſaid,Pſal. 18.31.Ps 18:31 The God whom I ſerve is able to deliver me from the den of lyons; and David who ſays, There is no god ſave the Lord, and there is no rock ſave our God; theſe honoured God in advancing him above all things: it's true, that men do fancy to themſelves other Rocks to flye unto, but it is but in vain, for there is no other Rock, theſe are but the imaginations of men, but in truth and reality there is no ſuch thing there is no Rock but our God; and Paul having nothing, but yet poſſeſſing all things; and ſo did Habakkuk, 3.17. For it was a true way of reaſoning that Elkanah uſed, when Hannah was ſad and diſcontented for the want of a ſon, he took it to be as a diſparagement to him, that ſhe thought not her ſelf ſo happy in him, and in his love, as ſometimes ſhe had profeſſed, and he conceived it was her duty to do, ſhe ſhould have counted him beyond ten ſons; ſo doth the Lord reaſon with you, when your hearts go out to the creatures, and you are troubled in the getting of them, and diſquieted in the loſing of them, it is becauſe you do not think him better than a world; for if you did, you would not go out ſo unto theſe things with ſuch intenſeneſs of ſpirit and affection. We read, Gen. 20.16. the husband is ſaid to be unto the woman the covering of her eyes, not only that ſhe lift them not up wantonly unto another man, but alſo that ſhe ſhould look upon no other for protection and for proviſion: if a woman ſhould wait upon another, and apply her ſelf wholly to another man, and neglect to pleaſe her husband, and to be a help unto him, might he not look upon it as a diſhonour, and ſay to her, Is it not becauſe there is ſomething in me wanting towards you, that I cannot protect you, and provide for you, and therefore you go out in your heart, affection, and obſervance to another man? he looks upon it as the greateſt diſhonour that his wife could do him:Mat. 22.32.Matt 22:32 Mat. 22.32. Chriſt proves the living of the ſouls of the Saints in ſtatu ſeparato, after death, and a reſurrection from that place, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Iſaac: it's a great queſtion, wherein lies the fulneſs of the argument; I conceive it to amount unto thus much; If God be of infinite power and goodneſs, then they that have an intereſt in him, and ſtand in a peculiar relation to him, they muſt have from him whatever is neceſſary to their happineſs; it were elſe every way unworthy of God, and that upon which ground no man would ſeek or prize an intereſt in him; but happineſs without life there can be none; and therefore if he will be the God of his people, he muſt be happineſs to them; and if ſo, he muſt give life to them alſo; for he cannot be the God of the dead, but of the living. To make a people to have a ſpecial intereſt in him, and to ſay that they are dead for all their intereſt in God, and that he is the God of the dead, is a thing every way unworthy of him and diſhonourable to him.

p. 3592. As it diſhonours God, ſo it doth diſhonour us alſo; for all the creatures were given unto man in his creation as ſervants, and he had dominion over them, they were all put under his feet: Gen. 1. therefore God brought them all unto man in their creation, as the lord of them, he gave them their names: now for a man to put his neck under the yoke of a ſervant, and to lay down his ſoul on the ground unto them that went over it, doth argue a great baſeneſs in a man, and is a great diſhonour to him: it's true, the creature will invite a man as the bramble, Judg. 9.13. Come and put your truſt under my ſhadow, place your confidence in me; now would it not be a diſhonour for a man to go and put his truſt in the ſhadow of the bramble? And ſo are all the creatures in reference unto ſhelter and defence: if a Senator of Rome did marry a ſervant, and not a free woman, he did ſubire maculam infamiae, incur infamy; ſo it is when the ſoul will be married unto the creature, which is but the ſervant, there is a blemiſh that lights upon that man. And much more when it is done from a low ſpirit, and the ſoul doth chuſe it, that ſhews, that he is ad mancipium natus; as when a ſervant amongſt the Jews would not go free, his ear was bored,Exod. 21.6.Exod 21:6 not only as a token of perpetual ſervitude, which, as Cajetan obſerves, was not only done in perpetuam ſervitudinem, ſed in poenam & ignominiam, neglectâ libertate. When the Lord has ſet mens ſpirits at liberty from the creatures, and if they will not go free, but they will be in bondage to their own ſervants ſtill, it's a great reproach to them, and a ſign of great baſeneſs of mind; whereas the Spirit of Chriſt in his people is a princely Spirit, and that ſaith,1 Cor. 6.1 Cor 6 I will not be brought under the power of any thing; and therein properly doth a mans liberty conſiſt, when he looks upon God only as neceſſary, and all things in the world tanquam adiaphora, as things indifferent, that he can enjoy them, or go without them, for his happineſs is not in them.

3. Conſider the creatures unto whom thou flyeſt for ſufficiency, they can do neither good nor evil; it's ſpoken of Idols and all creatures in which we look for a ſufficiency, they are but Idols; and we are exhorted, Jer. 10.5, 6, 7. Be not afraid of them, for they can do no evil, neither is it in them to do them good; for as much as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, for thou art great, and thy name is great in might, who will not fear thee? If the creatures could do us good, they might be ſought unto, and they might be feared, if they could do us hurt; but it is not in the creature to do either; if they do us evil, it is becauſe the Lord has bid them; as it's ſaid of Shimei, The Lord has bid Shimei curſe; and if Job loſe all that he has, though by the hand of creatures, yet he ſaith, The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away; there is no evil in the city that the Lord has not done; and therefore Chriſt ſaith, Thou couldſt have no power over me, unleſs it were given thee from above. Now as you look upon them as vain that worſhip an Idol, and ſtand in fear of it, though you know they do but bow down to the ſtock of a Tree, yet a deceived heart has turned him aſide, &c. that he cannot diſcern the deceit, and ſay, Is there not a lye in my right hand? Eſa. 44.20. ſo when men fear creatures, it is but as if a man feared an Idol that can do him no hurt; and they can do you no good: though every man ſeeks the face of the Ruler, and they think that he is able to ſhew them much favour in judgment, yet let him do what he can,Prov. 29.26. Pſal. 33.15.Prov 29:26Ps 33:15 and intend never ſo much good to you, all that is good to you is from the Lord, in his judgment; He doth faſhion the hearts of men, and he conſiders all their ways, &c. they have the ſame apprehenſions that he gives them, and the ſame affections and intentions; if they do thee any good, it is becauſe the Lord has aſſiſted and touched their hearts; for they have but ſuch a faſhion as he gives them, therefore he is ſaid to aſcend and deſcend, Prov. 30.2, 3, 4.Prov 30:2Prov 30:3Prov 30:4it's conceived by ſome to be an expreſſion taken from Jacobs Ladder, in which there were Angels aſcending and deſcending, as it is Joh. 1. ult. but yet in all the adminiſtrations of the beſt of creatures it is he that aſcends and deſcends: for all the good of the creature is at his diſpoſe, and he muſt give the creature a commiſſion to do good as well as to do us evil: and will you flye unto that for ſufficiency that can neither do good nor evil?

4. Will you place your ſufficiency in the creature, when it cannot reach unto that which is beſt in the man? Every holy man doth take a meaſure of all things, as they relate unto his ſoul, and that which doth his ſoul moſt good, that he judges beſt for him, and that which doth the ſoul moſt hurt, that he judges worſt for him; for Saints meaſure all proſperity by that of the ſoul; but all creature-comforts are but food that periſhes; and therefore we are exhorted not to labour for them, for they will all die unto us;Joh. 6.27.John 6:27 and therefore that men might not dote upon carrying them with them into another world, conſider we brought nothing into this world,1 Tim. 6.7.1 Tim 6:7 neither ſhall we carry any thing out of this world; as ſoon as we have put off this Tabernacle, all the neceſſary ſupports thereof will be of uſe to us no more; for they are all in reference to the Tabernacle it ſelf: foreign, He only can cure the heart that formed it: foreign. Chryſ. de poenit. hom. 4. when God eſtabliſhes the heart in peace, no creature can move it.

p. 3605. The creatures have no good in them but what is borrowed. All the good that is in the creatures is either real or apparent. (1) If there be any real good in any creature, it is derived unto it from God: they are all cyphers, and they have no good in them of themſelves, but what is put into them; if God will put much of his Spirit into a Magiſtrate, as he did into Moſes, the abilities of many men ſhall be in that one man, he ſhall rule his people with great ſucceſs; and if the Lord will afterward take it away, and divide it amongſt men, it is as he will diſpoſe of it, whether to fill the veſſel, or empty it: and if the Lord will create the fruit of the lips peace, a Miniſter ſhall be able to ſpeak peace, and adminiſter a word that ſhall be in ſeaſon unto him that is weary; but elſe though he ſpeak with never ſo much eloquence, it will be to no purpoſe, there is no more in it than God puts into it. (2) There is appearing good, and that is put into the creatures by the ſubtilty of Satan and by the luſts of men. [1] By the ſubtilty of Satan; for he intending to make uſe of the creature to betray the ſoul of a man, doth put a fair gloſs upon it and a varniſh, as we ſee he did to Chriſt, when he repreſented to him the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them in a moment of time; ſo doth Satan repreſent the creatures to us in his own glaſs, and deceives us with the apparent good that is in them. [2] There is alſo ſomething that the luſts of men do add, and that is a conceit, that there is ſome ſuch excellency in it;Prov. 18.11.Prov 18:11 it is a ſtrong hold and a high wall, it's deſirable for food, and pleaſant to the taſte, but it is but in his own conceit, and all the pomp of the world is but fancy, and all the great things of the world are not great in reality, but only that great affection and the high apprehenſion that men have of them, makes them ſeem ſo to be,Pſal. 36.9.Ps 36:9 but with God only is the fountain of life: by life is meant all good, and it is in God originally, as in a fountain; it is in the creatures but derivatively, as in a ſtream; and therefore it's the greateſt folly for a man to leave the fountain to go to the ſtreams, and to forſake the Sun to take our light from the Moon and the Stars, which ſhine only by a borrowed light; and upon this ground the Saints are not much troubled at the miſcarriages in creatures, when they promiſe fair, but by and by their hopes are nipt, and it brings not the work to perfection; therefore they regard it not, and ſay it is but a bucket broken, and a ſtream dried up, a pipe ſtopped, but there is as much water in the fountain ſtill as ever, and unto that he has immediate recourſe.

6. A man's retiring unto creatures in any of his ſtraits is that which doth cauſe God to leave him; for no man is to have a double dependence, becauſe that argues a double heart; God will be all in all for ſupports and ſupplies, as well as Chriſt will be all in all for righteouſneſs and ſalvation;2 Chron. 26.15.2 Chr 26:15 and therefore it is ſaid, That Ʋzziah was helped till he was ſtrong, he was marvellouſly helped, but then his heart withdrew from God unto his own ſupports, and then the Lord left him to them, which proved his overthrow; for with him only the fatherleſs find mercy, they that are truly ſo in their own eſteem and account, and have none to look to, or make proviſion for them any more than fatherleſs children have, it is in him that they ſhall find mercy; but they that ſay unto the creatures, Thou art my father, and they have their help in them, there is no mercy for them in the Lord in an evil day, the creature then ſhall be ſo far from aſſiſting, that it ſhall diſtreſs them; for the Lord rejects carnal confidence,2 Kings 16.5, 8. Jer. 48.13. Iſa. 31.2, 3.2 Kgs 16:52 Kgs 16:8Jer 48:13Isa 31:2Isa 31:3 and he ſays, Thou ſhalt be aſhamed of Bethel thy confidence, and aſhamed of Egypt as thou waſt of Aſſyria, &c. for it doth engage God not only againſt the evil doers themſelves, but againſt their helpers; and therefore the way for a people to find mercy from God, is to put away all carnal confidences and dependences whatſoever, and ſay (as they did, Hoſ. 14.3.) Aſſur ſhall not ſave us, neither will we ride upon horſes; this is the way to mercy: Jer. 17.5. Curſed be the man that makes fleſh his arm, and his heart departs from the Lord, he ſhall be like the heath in the deſart, and ſhall not ſee when good comes, he ſhall inhabit the parched places of the wilderneſs, &c. But bleſſed is the man that truſts in the Lord, whoſe hope the Lord only is, he ſhall be as a tree planted by the waters that ſpreads out its roots by the river, and ſhall not ſee when heat comes, nor be careful in the year of drought. There is no man in a worſe condition in an evil time, than he that has had his heart reſting upon creature-comforts, and his ſpirit has gone out to them, and not to the Lord, who then will ſend him to the gods whom he had choſen to himſelf; and there is not only the firſt and original curſe upon the creature, as the fall of man left it, but alſo there is a more particular and immediate curſe upon the creature by reaſon of the confidence of men, and that ſets God againſt it, and blaſts it before its time, which is like unto the curſe of Chriſt upon the fig-tree; if it had ſtood, it would in time have decayed by reaſon of the firſt curſe that came upon all the creatures, and ſo it would have withered away; but now Chriſt comes with a more particular curſe immediately, and it is dried up by the roots: and ſo it is with all the creatures, that the vain confidence of man puts into the place of God,Iſa. 30.12, 13.Isa 30:12Isa 30:13 and expects a ſupply and aſſiſtance from: ſays the Prophet, Becauſe you deſpiſe this word, p. 361and truſt in oppreſſion and perverſneſs, and ſtay thereon: therefore this iniquity ſhall be to you as a breach ready to fall, ſwelling out in a high wall, whoſe breaking cometh ſuddenly at an inſtant: and he ſhall break it as the breaking of a potters veſſel that is broken; ſo that there ſhall not be found in the burſting of it a ſheard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

Ʋſe 2 §. 2. As it is a juſt reproof unto all the Saints that place their ſufficiency in the creature, ſo it is alſo unto them that do place any ſufficiency in themſelves; it is well obſerved by Aquinas, that there are two roots upon which all ſin in a man grows, and from which they have their continual ſupport and ſupply, ex parte averſionis à bono incommutabili ſuperbia, ex parte converſionis ad bonum commutabile avaritia, the firſt thing in … is averſion from God, and then the ſoul turns it ſelf unto ſomething elſe,Jam. 1.14.Jas 1:14 and the thing that was next in order was ſelf, and ſo men are turned unto themſelves, and ſo ſelf taking upon it ſelf a Deity, it muſt have alſo a ſufficiency. The firſt ſin was pride: now pride is nothing elſe but an overweening apprehenſion of a mans own excellency, when a man doth think of himſelf above what he ought; and from thence there follows in the ſoul ſelf-admiration, ſelf-ſufficiency, ſelf-dependence, and a contempt of others, undervaluing all in compariſon of it ſelf: one that has enough within himſelf, he needs not go out unto any other, and there is nothing more ordinary than for men to do it, for they are ready to place their ſufficiency in any thing rather than in God. Now there is a twofold ſelf-ſufficience that the heart of man is apt to go out unto. (1) In reſpect of gifts and inward abilities either acquired or infuſed; and this the Apoſtle doth give a charge againſt, Rom. 12.3. That no man do think of himſelf above what he ought, but according as God hath given to every man the meaſure of faith: per fidem intelligit dona ſpiritualia. Glaſſ.Now when men have received a ſpiritual gift immediately, they have a dependence thereupon, and place a ſufficiency in themſelves, and they are as if they had all knowledge in themſelves, and think they need go out of themſelves for nothing, and ſo the wiſe man glories in his wiſdom, and the ſtrong man in his ſtrength, all ſuch glorying is a fruit of pride and ſelf-ſufficiency: ſo we ſee how far Samſon truſted in his ſtrength, and Solomon in his wiſdom, and their own ſufficiency proved their ſnares. And that's the common uſe that the Devil makes of all abilities either infuſed or acquired, that they may, as we read in Ezech. 16. truſt in their beauty, and boaſt themſelves of what they have received, as if they had not received it. (2) There is alſo a ſufficiency in reſpect of grace received, as we ſee in Peter, Though all men forſake thee, yet will not I, though I ſhould die with thee, yet will not I deny thee; having received a principle of grace, he looked upon the acting of it in his own power, as if he had no more dependence upon Chriſt the Fountain of his grace, but could go out in his own ſtrength againſt the temptation, and this makes men truſt in themſelves; for all ſelf-confidence depends and is grounded upon a ſelf-ſufficiency, and this the Apoſtle denies to be in themſelves, 2 Cor. 3.3. We are not ſufficient of our ſelves, to think any thing as of our ſelves, all our ſufficiency is of God: for pride being an inordinate and high apprehenſion of a mans own excellency; therefore the higher the excellency, the greater is the pride, and the more will Satan ſurely put a man upon a dependence thereupon, that he that is able to do all things through Chriſt that ſtrengthens him, and by the power of God, ſhall look upon himſelf as the fountain of his own ſufficiency; which was properly the Devils ſin, and it is the like Godhead that he ſtrives to affect men withal, that whereas the proper end of grace is to carry a man out of himſelf, and to make him happy in another, and ſo ſufficient in another, Satan perſwades a man, that having received grace he ſhould place this in himſelf, and in the grace that he has received, which is properly a Torch from Hell, 1 Joh. 5.19. which may and many times doth befal the heirs of Heaven, that they that place truly their happineſs in God, yet may too far ſeek a ſufficiency in themſelves, and too much omit faſtning upon the Lord Jeſus, who is our Saviour to the uttermoſt, &c.

Now we come to ſhew the evil of a ſelf-ſufficiency in both theſe, more particularly.

1. In reſpect of gifts, for a man to look upon himſelf, and grow in love with his own ſhadow, and to depend upon them and glory in them, conſider the evil of it in theſe particulars.

(1) They are another mans goods, they are not thine own, men are ready to think ſo of riches and honours, that which is without a man; but as for the abilities of his own mind, they think thoſe are foreign, their proper goods, if any thing be; but yet as it is ſaid of riches, it's true alſo of gifts, and all thoſe inward qualifications,Luke 16.Luke 16 they are another mans, and they are ſo in a double reſpect: (1) Becauſe they are given thee from another, What haſt thou that thou haſt not received? he that doth boaſt of,1 Cor. 4.7.1 Cor 4:7 or truſt in any thing that he has received, he doth thereby ſay that it is his own, and that he has not received it; for if thou haſt received it, then thy dependence is upon another, and not upon thy ſelf: mendax de proprio loquitur; cùm autem in bonis laudabilis vita ducitur, Proſper ad Demeſt. p. 866.Dei eſt quod geritur, Dei eſt quod amatur. (2) They are another mans, as riches are, for they are given p. 362thee mainly for the good of another: grace is given a man for himſelf, and is properly his own;1 Cor. 12.7.1 Cor 12:7 but gifts are given for the Church and for the edifying of others, the manifeſtation of the Spirit is given unto every man to profit withal, and therefore thou art but as a ſteward of every gift, and thou muſt diſpenſe them, and lay them out for the good of the family, to give them their meat in due ſeaſon, and if not, this will be the benefit that thou wilt have by thy gifts, that thy account will be the greater, and there will come a time that the ſame Spirit that is now thy Teacher will ſurely be thy Accuſer, Luke 16.1.Luke 16:1for waſting thy maſters goods.Accepta bona diſſipamus quando iis nec ad ipſius honorem, nec proximi aedificationem, nec ad propriam ſalutem utimur. Stella. There is a double difference between gifts and graces: [1] Grace is for a ma… own ſalvation, but gifts are for the Churches edification; and therefore they are but pr… hoc ſtatu, for this ſtate, and there is an end; the gifts that the Angels have are but for the edification of the Church, Dan. 9.23. Rev. 19.10. & 1.4. He ſent and ſignified it by the Angel unto his ſervant John; and when the Elect of God ſhall be gathered, and the Church of Chriſt perfected, and the Kingdom given up to the Father, then as the protection of Angels ſhall ceaſe (for there ſhall be no more uſe of it) ſo theſe qualifications, this influence of the Spirit of Chriſt upon the Angelical nature, by way of gifts, ſhall ceaſe alſo. [2] Some put this difference, that the Spirit to ſome gives gifts as a Spirit aſſiſting only, but not dwelling there where he aſſiſts by gifts; but where grace is, there is a reſidence of the Spirit, and that not only according unto the gifts and effects, as in the other, but according to the eſſence; for we are ſaid to be Temples of the Holy Ghoſt. Now to dedicate a Temple to another, is to give Divine honour, which is not to be done unto the gifts and graces of the Spirit; for they are but creatures; and therefore the Spirit doth not dwell in them barely by his gifts, but according to his eſſence: Habitat verus Spiritus in credentibus, non tantùm per dona, ſed quoad ſubſtantiam, ne que ſic dat dona, ut ipſe alibi ſit, ſed donis adeſt, creaturam ſuam conſervando, gubernando, addendo, The Spirit dwells in Believers, not only by gifts, but according to his eſſence, neither doth he ſo give gifts as to be abſent himſelf, but he is preſent, &c. Luther.

(2) He doth give them unto wicked men; and therefore there is no ſufficiency to be placed in that in which God puts no difference;Pſal. 68.18.Ps 68:18 Chriſt received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious alſo; not only thoſe that were rebellious, and are now converted, but thoſe that live ſtill in rebellion; Chriſt received many gifts to diſpenſe unto theſe: Chriſt is in the Scripture ſet forth as a Head and as a Root; he gives graces as Head unto the Church, which is his body, Joh. 15.1, 2.John 15:1John 15:2the fulneſs of him that filleth all in all; but as he is a Root he ſpreads himſelf into a viſible Church upon Earth, ſo he gives much ſap and greenneſs unto thoſe that bear leaves only; and therefore it was a good ſaying of Luther in one of his Epiſtles, Potentior eſt veritas quàm eloquentia, potior ſpiritus quàm ingenium, major fides quàm eruditio. A little grace is to be preferred before abundance of gifts, and a little of the Spirit of Sanctification above the fulneſs of the qualifications of the Spirit; for the Lord doth cauſe this Sun to ſhine upon the evil and unthankful, and doth continue it unto them for a while, as a Spirit of Qualification, to whom nevertheleſs he will be for ever as a Spirit of Condemnation hereafter.

(3) When a man depends upon theſe, and places his ſufficiency in them, he ſerves Satan in the higheſt way that can be, that is, with the gifts and the graces of the Spirit of God:Mat. 12.44, 45.Matt 12:44Matt 12:45 we read Mat. 12.44, 45. there is a houſe ſwept and garniſhed, it's the houſe that Satan will chuſe to himſelf to inhabit above all other places in the world; and therefore he places a ſtrong garriſon there of ſeven Spirits; for there is no ſoul whom he takes ſo much delight in, and in which he doth love ſo much to dwell, as he doth in ſuch a man; and therefore it was a great ſpeech of Auſtin of Licentius, a man of a great wit, but of an unſound mind, Abs te ornari diabolus quaerit; Accepiſti à Deo ingenium ſpiritualiter aureum, & in illo Satanae propinas teipſum, The Devil ſeeks to be adorned by thee, &c. It was the abuſe upon the veſſels of the Temple that in Beltſhazers time, they muſt be brought forth, and uſed in the worſhip of their gods, which was but the Devil inſtead of a God: the gifts that a man has are the utenſils of the Temple of the Holy Ghoſt, and therefore above all others Satan loves to be ſerved with thoſe; and if the Devil do but puff a man up with either of theſe,Luther Potentia, juſtitia, ſapientia. that's the houſe he delights to dwell in: now for a man to ſerve Satan with his wealth or his honour is a great evil; but with the immediate works and gifts of the Spirit of God, is a far greater provocation.

(4) That which you place your ſufficiency ſo much in, remember you cannot act without Divine aid: a man that has received gifts cannot exerciſe and uſe thoſe gifts that he has received. The Apoſtle doth diſtinguiſh between all theſe three, there are foreign, Gifts, and foreign, Offices, and there are foreign, Effects or Operations of the ſame graces: now as the Spirit doth appoint every man his office, and gives unto every man his gift; ſo he doth give unto every man a ſucceſs as it pleaſeth him; and therefore though Paul may p. 363plant, and Apollo water, yet it is God that gives the increaſe; and the ſucceſs is not always anſwerable unto the labour that is beſtowed, even in the beſt, we ſee it in Chriſt himſelf, he did ſpend his whole life, and his very radical moiſture in labour, Eſa. 49.4. as the word foreign doth ſignifie, and yet he doth himſelf complain, That he had laboured in vain, and ſpent his ſtrength for nought, &c. So when the Prophets had received a Spirit of Prophecy, and the Apoſtles a gift of Miracles, yet notwithſtanding they could not act it when they would, but when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, as it was with Samſon; and therefore it's a kind of a Proverb that Luther has in Gen. 4.4. Spiritus Sanctus non ſemper tangit cor Prophetarum, The Spirit doth not always touch the Prophets heart: ſo the Apoſtles had a gift of healing, but they could not heal when they would; and therefore when Epaphroditus had been ſick, and was nigh death alſo, Paul who had the gift of healing (for when they brought from him but handkerchiefs and aprons, the diſeaſes departed from them) yet he cannot now heal him who was ſo dear to him, and whoſe miniſtery was ſo uſeful: it's not in a mans power therefore to act his own gifts, he cannot uſe his own abilities at his own pleaſure: as there is an ability in a man to gather and know much of God by his works that are in the world, yet it is according as God did point and direct his underſtanding, or elſe he could never do it: Rom. 1.19. it is manifeſt in the creation of the world, for God has ſhewed it unto them; and to know what ſeed to ſow, and with what inſtruments to threſh, and when the ground is fit for ſeed, and when it is ſufficiently plowed, &c. It is God that doth inſtruct him to diſcretion, Eſa. 28.26. The men of might cannot find their hands; they were men of ſtrength, and they were skilful in war, but they could not uſe it at ſuch a time, they could not find their hands, it is unto them as if they had no ſtrength, as if they had had no skill, for they have no uſe of them: therefore remember this when you place your ſufficiency ſo much in theſe things.

(5) As they that have theſe gifts cannot act them of themſelves without Gods aſſiſtance, ſo neither can they give ſucceſs to them, or make them in any meaſure effectual: the beſt men have but their meaſure, Rom. 12.4. God has not given all gifts to one man, and therefore the greateſt and the beſt and moſt eminent member of the body ſhall have need of the gifts of the meaneſt; there is a ſupply of every joynt unto the edifying of the body, there is ſomething in the meaneſt Saint that thou maiſt deſpiſe as weak-gifted, yet it is wanting in thee, and thou canſt not give ſucceſs to thy greateſt endeavours, but he that gives the gift muſt give the bleſſing: mundus non poteſt eſſe ſine perſonarum diſcrimine, Luther.there muſt be Princes, and Rulers, and Governors, ſed dona non ſequuntur illas differentias, &c. and ſo it is here; the effect doth not always follow the abilities, but a man of leſſer gifts ſhall bring forth more fruit to God, than he that thinks himſelf moſt ſufficient; For the Lord reſiſts the proud, and gives grace to the humble; he will give the ſucceſs there where he may have the glory, and many times a man of great ability is laid aſide, though he labours, yet he brings nothing to paſs, and a man of leſſer parts is bleſſed exceedingly; and the reaſon is, the one is too great in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others; and therefore the Lord cannot uſe him, non patitur in regno ſuo ſuperbiam, God cannot bear pride in his Kingdom.

(6) When we place our ſufficiency in them, that will provoke the Lord to take them away from us; there are two things that provoke God exceedingly, one is being weary of our work, as it was in Moſes, and the other is when we do exalt our ſelves in our work, and put an excellency upon our ſelves for our own actings; therefore ſays the Lord, From him that hath not ſhall be taken away, he will put thee out of thy ſtewardſhip, if thou waſte his goods to maintain thy own pride; and there is nothing in the world doth blaſt the parts of men more, and provoke God to take them away in judgment, and the man dies beſotted, he withers in all the greenneſs that did appear ſo freſh in him;Joh. 15.6.John 15:6 he doth in this (ſaith Luther) as Veſpaſian, when he ſaw there was no way to take men off from ſeeking wealth,In Gen. 4.4.Gen 4:4 aequo animo patiebatur eos ditari, with a patient mind ſuffer men to be rich; but he ſaid, Divites ſpongiam eſſe, there would come a preſſing time when men that gathered ſo much for themſelves ſhould go empty away; remember this ye that forget the Lord, and place a ſufficiency in any gift that God has given you, the Lord will certainly deprive thee of it, and thy folly ſhall be made manifeſt.

2. When men do place not only ſufficiency in their gifts, but in grace received, which a man alſo is very apt to do; and let me tell you, it is the higheſt ſpiritual pride in the world, and is an abuſe of the higheſt gift and grace of God. (1) Conſider it is quite contrary to the nature of grace, which is to live in another, and to fetch all from another, and therefore it is an unnatural ſin. (2) No man can act his own grace, Deus agit immediaté. (3) Grace is but a creature, and may decay in the degrees of it, and it doth oftentimes, I and in the eſſence it would alſo, if it were not preſerved by an almighty power;Rev. 2.4.Rev 2:4 p. 364for it is not in its own nature immortal ſeed. (4) It doth make grace an Idol, and ſo it provokes the Spirit to withdraw from his own graces, ſo that he ſhall delight to ſee the ruine of his own workmanſhip.

Object. But you'l ſay, Do not we read in Prov. 14.14. That a good man is ſatisfied from himſelf, and that there is a ſufficiency that the Saints ſhould ſeek in themſelves?

Anſw. (1) Remember this is not in oppoſition to God, or apart from God, but in ſubordination to God. (2) There is a double ſufficiency: [1] Not receiving an addition of good; ſo God only is ſufficient. [2] As containing all things neceſſary; and ſo there is a ſufficiency in grace, for it brings all things into the ſoul, and fills it.

1. There is a great proneneſs in the beſt men unto this great evil, that having received grace, they place their ſufficiency in it, and that for matter of ſtrength and matter of comfort. (1) As to matter of ſtrength, a man that has received grace is apt to think, that he being made alive from the dead, is able now to perform thoſe vital actions that flow from this life; ſurely now I can hear, I can pray, and can perform the duties of godlineſs as becomes a living man; or if by the power of ſin and the ſtrength of temptation the outward act be hindred and interrupted, yet they cannot hinder the inward workings of the Spirit; and as I am able to do that which is good, ſo I ſhall be able to reſiſt that which is evil: ſo that as grace is in me a well of water ſpringing up to everlaſting life in the duties of holineſs; ſo alſo it will of it ſelf work out the mud of corruption that Satan and the old man doth caſt into it from day to day: and we ſee this in Peter, he had received a principle of grace, and his heart was warmed with a true fire, the principle of the love of Chriſt, whom he loved ſo greatly, that he thought it impoſſible that he ſhould ſo far forget it as to deny him, and therefore he ſpeaks for himſelf after the reſolution or preſumption of his heart; Whatſoever other men do, yet though I ſhould ſtand by him alone, come what will come, I will confeſs him in the face of danger, I will never deny him; and ſo many a man doth by the ſtrength of grace received promiſe himſelf ſecurity from ſome ſins, and therefore they are ſecure in themſelves, and exceeding cenſorious of others. It is true, men will ſay, I cannot reſiſt rovings of heart, and vain deſires, and ſinful love, and carnal fear, and inordinate paſſions, &c. but for drunkenneſs and adultery, murder, perſecution of the Saints, or Apoſtaſie from Religion, and the Truths of God, I hope I am ſecure from theſe; and the man walks not in fear of them: and it's very common for young and weak Chriſtians ſo to do, and they are exceeding bitter and cenſorious againſt other men, and they immediately queſtion their eſtates, whom they ſee do fall into theſe ſins, which they ignorantly conceive, that the very being of grace ſecures them from. And ſo it is in reſpect of duties, having received grace, he doth conceive, that he can pray, and hear, and perform the duties of Gods worſhip in another manner than a natural man can, for he has received a new principle, and therefore having done a duty at one time, having truſted God, or ſhewed forth an act of love to God, he thinks he can do the ſame at another time; and by this means a man is the leſs ſolicitous for an immediate ſupply for the diſcharge of ſuch duties as he is to perform; he thinks that he has received a ſtock ſufficient to defray the charge: It is true, ſays he, if I am put upon a greater temptation, or upon the performance of any higher duties, then I ſhall ſee reaſon to go unto Chriſt for a ſupply; but as for theſe ordinary things in both kinds, the grace that I have already received is ſufficient for it, according unto that ordinary and natural way of concurrence of God with his own grace, which doubtleſs he will delight in, as he doth concur with the creatures in the common actions of their lives; and ſo a mans ſufficiency in point of ſtrength is much in reference unto the ſtrength of grace that he has received, either to perform duties, or to reſiſt ſin. And (2) as it is for matter of ſtrength, ſo it is for matter of comfort alſo, having received grace from God, men turn in upon themſelves, and by a reflection upon their own graces they think to raiſe their ſpirits under any deſertion or dejection whatſoever; and therefore when they walk in the dark at any time, they are immediately poring upon their own graces, to ſee what witneſs their own ſpirits will give unto them, and by the evidence of their own hearts they conceive, that they can comfort themſelves at any time, when they are in a doubt in the matter of their eſtates towards God. Principale ſpeculum ad videndum Deum eſt animus rationalis inveniens ſeipſum: hoc ſpeculum verus poenitens non ceſſat quotidie inſpicere, Bernard. de inter. Domo, The principal glaſs of ſeeing God is the rational ſoul, which a true Penitent inſpects daily. Now a man looks into his own ſpirit, and ſees his own face in this glaſs, and upon this glaſs he that ſhould ſee God ſees himſelf, and by this means thinks to raiſe and quicken and comfort himſelf from day to day, which is the true reaſon why moſt Chriſtians ſpend much more time in looking upon the witneſs of water, than upon that of blood, or of the Spirit, on the witneſſes upon Earth much more than to the witneſſes in Heaven.

p. 3652. There is a great policy of Satan therein: if it were in the power of the Devil man ſhould never receive any good from God; for he that envied the good eſtate of man at firſt in which he was created, touched him with the ſame devilliſhneſs that was in himſelf, and thereby became a murderer from the beginning; for he left no good in the man, In me,Rom. 7.Rom 7 that is, in my fleſh there dwells no good thing; and he doth as truly deſire and endeavour from the ſame principle of envy to keep out all good, as at firſt he did to caſt it out; but if the Lord will ſow wheat, and the envious man cannot prevent the ſeed-time, then he will take the opportunity to ſow tares alſo with the wheat, that he ſhall diſhonour God with the grace that he has received from him, and with it ſacrifice unto himſelf, who is under Satan the great Idol, and by honouring himſelf he doth ſacrifice unto Satan all the while; and ſo a man placing his ſufficiency in grace received, even grace it ſelf, if it were poſſible, ſhould tend unto his deſtruction, that was a ſpecial grace, and with ſpecial and eternal love was given for his ſalvation; for Satan looks upon grace in the Saints as being the image of God, and as his greateſt enemy, and that which he hates more than he does the ſouls of men, or any thing in the world; for his main malice is at godly men only, becauſe they bear Gods image; for his hatred is directly againſt God, it is unto us but collaterally, and in the ſecond place; as the Saints love God, and they love grace for Gods ſake, ſo the Devil directly hates God, and he hates grace as being that by which God is moſt honoured; therefore his greateſt deſigns are to pervert grace in the Saints, he will keep men as long as he can to ſtand out againſt grace, and reſiſt it as long as he can, that the ſtrong man armed may keep the houſe; but if he cannot keep grace out of the heart, then his next deſign is to advance grace above a creature, and ſet it in the place of God and Chriſt, and make grace it ſelf to be an Idol, and the man to place his ſufficiency in it, and his dependence upon it; and he knows that God is engaged againſt the habits of grace in the man, though they be the works of his own Spirit, the Apoſtle ſaith that there is foreign, an occaſion that ſin will take from the Law of God written in the book;Rom. 7.Rom 7 and ſo it will from the Law of God written in the heart alſo; and therein the devilliſhneſs and the wiſdom of the fleſh in a great meaſure lies, that as the wiſe God doth make advantage by ſin, and temper the greateſt poyſon into the moſt wholeſom Cordial, as we ſee in Viper-wine, if it be not well mixt, it preſently kills; ſo the richeſt Cordial, even the grace of God, Satan tempers with his ingredients into the ſtrongeſt poyſon, that it may be occultum & profundum malum quòd homo non malus bonis operibus ſeſe veſtiat & alat; ſed & ipſius fidei titulo ſeſe palpet & venditet, &c. Serpentis antiqui caput hoc eſt, Luther.Luther Tom. 2. Thus as the Lord works by contraries bringing light out of darkneſs, and the greateſt good ſometimes out of the greateſt evil; ſo doth Satan alſo work by contraries, and delights to do it, to bring darkneſs out of light, and to bring the greateſt evil out of that which is the greateſt good, even grace it ſelf, for quò quis ſanctior, eò pejor, the better the worſe, if he place his ſufficience and dependence upon the grace he has received; for that is Idolum ſpecioſiſſimum, the moſt ſpecious evil. Now that I may take the Saints off from a dependence upon their own graces, and that their ſufficiency may be placed in God alone, conſider theſe particulars. 1. Though grace be the beſt of all the creatures, and the image of God, and a new Creation wrought by the Spirit of Chriſt, which the Lord takes more delight in than he doth in all the creatures, and without which he can take no pleaſure in any of them; yet grace is but a creature, and therefore the common nature of a creature doth belong to it, and that is to be defectible and ſubject in its own nature to decay. It's true,Eph. 4.24. Col. 3.10.Eph 4:24Col 3:10 that it is the ſame image that is renewed in us, which we loſt in Adam. Now as the image in Adam was ſubject to decay, ſo in its own nature this is alſo. As it is with the Angels, though they be confirmed in grace, and can never fall away (ſo it is with the ſouls of juſt men made perfect) yet being creatures, there is a defectibility in them, a poſſible folly, though not actual, Job 4.18.Job 4:18he charges his Angels with folly, &c. and ſo there is in grace it ſelf, it's true, grace cannot decay, but it is not properly from any thing that is in it ſelf, but from a double ground: (1) Ex foedere gratiae, from the Covenant of Grace, in which the Lord has promiſed that he will keep them, it's an everlaſting Covenant to put his fear in their hearts,Jer. 32.40.Jer 32:40 that they ſhall never depart from him; For we are kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto ſalvation, 1 Pet. 1. and ſo we cannot fall away, not ex interna renatorum conſtitutione, not from the intern conſtitution of the renewed, but becauſe the faithfulneſs, and thereby the power of God is engaged for their preſervation. (2) Ex fonte gratiae, from the Fountain of Grace; for the fountain of it is not in a mans ſelf, it is of his fulneſs that we receive grace for grace; 1 Joh. 5.1….1 John 5:1it is the image of the Son, and ſo it is not from God immediately, but as being laid up in him. So there is a great deal of difference between the image of God in Adam and in the Saints,Gen. 11.Gen 11 as Auſtin has well obſerved, De Corruptione & Gratia, there is non ſolùm poſſe quod volumus, p. 366ſed velle quod poſſumus: if the fountain of it were in our ſelves, it might decay; but it being laid up in Chriſt, and he being by virtue of the perſonal Union impeccable, ſo long as grace in Chriſt doth not decay, it cannot decay in the Saints; for he has ſaid, Becauſe I live, Luther.you ſhall live alſo, Joh. 14.19. Quàm hominibus impoſſibile eſt mixtum fermentum à paſta ſeparare, tam impoſſibile eſt diabolo Chriſtum ab Eccleſia ſeparare, Luth. therefore place not your ſufficiency in a creature, for grace received is no more.

2. It is contrary to the very nature of grace to be made the ground of a mans dependence, for grace in its own nature is properly to be dependent upon another, and the fountain of its ſufficiency is in another; therefore God is called the God of all grace, and the Sprit is the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of faith and love and joy; for all graces are fruits of the Spirit,Gal. 5. Joh. 3.Gal 5John 3 and a man is ſaid to be born of the Spirit upon this ground; Chriſt is the root, and we are the branches, he is the head, and we are the members; and therefore the fountain of the life of grace is in him, and not in us, the fountain of our life is Chriſt, and we live by union with him a life of holineſs, as well as a life of righteouſneſs; all is by union with him. And therefore ſome very learned men have maintained, That there are no habits of grace in us at all, but that we live by an immediate influence from the Spirit of Chriſt, which dwelling in us, doth act our ſpirits ſometimes in a way of faith, ſometimes in a way of love, ſometimes in a way of godly ſorrow, &c. which I cannot conſent to, as being an extreme on the other hand; we are ſaid to be new creatures, and created in Chriſt, and we are ſaid to have faith and hope as fruits of the Spirit dwelling in us; and therefore we are exhorted to ſtir them up, and to act them, and to grow in them; and they are ſaid to decay in us, and to increaſe in us, which cannot be in reſpect of acts meerly by the Spirit of God working upon us, but we have truly a life within us, that is, an inward principle that puts forth vital actions,Gal. 2.20.Gal 2:20 but yet it is a life that is maintained by union; and therefore though Paul ſaith, I live, yet he looks off from himſelf immediately upon the fountain of his life, and the manner of the conveyance of it, and that is by union continually;Phil. 1.19.Phil 1:19 and therefore Phil. 1.19. we read of a ſupply of the Spirit, foreign, eſt dux chori, or as ſome ſay, quòd ornamenta ſuppeditat ſacras choreas agentibus, and ſo is as much as foreign,Jul. Pol. pag. 145. publicum ſubire munus, or foreign, Gymnaſiis praeeſſe; and therefore he ſays, foreign, pag. 147. and for the particle foreign, ſome render it by ſubminiſtrare, and ſo it notes a ſweet, but yet hidden and ſecret ſupply; ſome inſuper ſuppedito, to ſupply, aid, and all to add ſomething to what a man had before, and ſome make uſe of that rule foreign in compoſitione intendit ſignificationem, and ſo they read it abundè ſuppeditare: from all which there are theſe particulars in the words. (1) That the Spirit is not communicated unto the Saints as a Spirit of Grace all at once, but by degrees, and this in a ſecret and an unobſerved way. (2) That the Spirit hath undertaken this work as a publick office and adminiſtration in the Church of Chriſt. (3) That the ſupplies of the Spirit come in by the teaching of the Spirit. (4) That the Spirits ſupplies are rich and abundant ſupplies in all things neceſſary unto the ſalvation of the Saints. Now the more any ſin is againſt nature, as we ſay murder is, and unthankfulneſs is, and diſobedience to parents is, the more hateful it is, and there is a principle in nature that is againſt all ſuch ſins in a ſpecial manner: and ſo is this alſo an unnatural ſin, for grace to be ſet up in a man by God the Author of it, and yet for a man to deal ſo unnaturally with God, as to make the grace he hath received from him his own ſufficiency, and neglect the God who alone is alſufficient.

3. No man is able to act the grace that he hath received. Chriſt tells his Diſciples plainly,Joh. 15.5.John 15:5 Without me you can do nothing; not only by virtue of our union with Chriſt is our grace acted, but there muſt be a daily and a continual influence from Chriſt alſo, 2 Cor. 3.5. and the Apoſtle ſays, We are not ſufficient of our ſelves to think any thing as of our ſelves, but our ſufficiency is of God, &c. As there is an immediate dependence of all creatures upon the firſt cauſe, ſo there is of grace alſo upon its firſt cauſe: now Deus agit immediatè cum omni agente creato, God acts immediately in all; ſo it's here alſo, and if the Lord will ſuſpend but his own actings, no creature can act or do any thing; as we ſee it in the fiery Furnace, in which the King of Babylon put the three Children, the fire remained true fire ſtill, for it immediately conſumed the men that were thrown in, but yet the Lord ſuſpended the actum ſecundum, the ſecond act of the creature, and it could not burn the three Children: as it is in the creature, ſo it is in grace much more; but the one is a natural, and the other is a ſupernatural concurrence, and therefore hath a more ſpecial and ſupernatural dependence and influence: now the Spirit is a free Agent, he works where, and when, and in what manner he pleaſeth, ſometimes God doth as it were withdraw himſelf from us, and then all our grace is becalmed, for it is as wind to the ſails, and therefore we read of foreign, the plerophory of faith: it is taken from the wind filling p. 369of the ſails; for the Spirit of God is compared to wind; when he will fill the ſail, a man is carried on with a full gale, or elſe he cannot move, he can but lye in the harbour, ſo that though the man hath grace, yet he can never be able to perform one good duty, either inward or outward, without further aſſiſtance. It is true, that the Lord doth commonly concur with grace, according to the meaſure given to the ſoul, as he doth with the reſt of the creatures according to their kind; but yet the Lord will ſometimes withdraw to let them ſee where their ſtrength lyes, and where the fountain of all their grace is, he will uſe his Prerogative, and leave a ſoul to it ſelf, and then reſolve a Chriſtian into his principles; and one would think, having ſuch a good foundation laid, ſuch a ſtock laid in a man, he can think well, or ſpeak well, or do well when he pleaſes, and he may begin to rouze up himſelf as at other times, as Samſon did, no, he hath not ſo much as a ſufficiency to think a good thought, all the grace that he hath cannot procure it to him.

4. All the grace that a man hath cannot free him from temptations, nor ſecure him from falling into the greateſt and the fouleſt evil that a godly man is capable of. (1) It preſerves a man from no temptation; grace could not preſerve Adam in Paradiſe, or Chriſt himſelf from being tempted, whoſe grace was perfect:Proſper. Viatoris gratia neminem intentabilem facit, The grace of a viator makes no man intentable; and therefore we ſee what dangerous temptations the Saints have had; Satan ſtood againſt David, as he did againſt Joſhua, Zac. 3. but it was againſt the one for temptation, and the other for accuſation, and grace could preſerve from neither. (2) It cannot preſerve a man from the greateſt and the fouleſt falls; as we ſee how David fell into adultery, and murder, and numbering the people; and Samſon alſo to the ſame ſin of uncleanneſs again and again; and Peter denied his Maſter, and began to curſe and to ſwear, that he never knew him, he wiſht upon himſelf the moſt terrible and dreadful curſes, if he knew the man. There are only two ſins that a godly man is ſecure from by the ſtate of grace, and that is, the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt, and final impenitency; but it is not the grace that is in a man that doth ſecure him from falling into ſin, but the ſtate of grace by reaſon of his Head Chriſt Jeſus, to whom he is united, and by reaſon of the Covenant under which he ſtands; therefore there is no ſufficiency in that grace that will not preſerve a man from the greateſt ſins and fouleſt falls; and indeed how is it poſſible that it ſhould preſerve us, that cannot preſerve it ſelf? as Auſtin did deride and mock the gods of the Heathen, They that cannot keep themſelves but are ſtoln away, much leſs could they keep others; ſo it is of grace alſo, &c.

5. This will certainly provoke God againſt thy grace; though it be his own work, yet he will let it decay, as he doth his own Ordinances of the Law, which are called beggerly rudiments, and Nehuſhtan, a little piece of braſs: God will abaſe the excellency of all creatures that we make an Idol of, and the Lord will let you ſee, that your grace cannot preſerve you: and therefore there are two reaſons why God hath let the Saints fall, and hath ſet before you their example. (1) Oſtendit infirmitatem noſtram, ut timeamus. Luther.(2) Judicium ſuum, quòd minus nihil ferre poſſit, quàm ſuperbiam, He ſhews (1) our infirmity, that we may fear. (2) His judgment, how much he hates pride. For it is for this cauſe that he doth give up the Saints unto ſuch groſs and dangerous falls, either to prevent pride, or to cure it; and therefore Bernard demands, Why, when the people of God do pray for grace above all things, God many times denies them the degree of grace that they deſire? Oportet ipſam gratiam temperari, ne in elationis vitium incidamus, pag. 521. interdum ſubtrahitur gratia, interdum retrahitur, To keep from pride, &c. all is grounded upon pride, vel ſuperbia, quae jam eſt, vel quae futura eſt, &c. pag. 729. either the pride that already is in the heart, or that which may be.

6. The ſupplies of grace the more immediate they are, the ſweeter they are; for they come with a greater favour from the fountain of grace, from which they flow;2 Cor. 12.2 Cor 12 My grace is ſufficient for thee: and a Saint hath more ſweetneſs when grace comes in from God and Chriſt immediately, than if it were in his own power or hand, to lay it out upon himſelf at his own pleaſure: and as in reſpect of creatures, a ſupply from God immediately is ſweeter than all the ſecond cauſes in the world, as the womans meal was better than if ſhe had it ſtill in her own hand; ſo much more is the ſupply of grace, dulcius ex ipſo fonte, &c. for hereby Chriſt is immediately honoured, and there is a continued love teſtified: it was the firſt ſin and the firſt temptation to be ſimile Deo, ſcilicet ut bonorum ſuorum ipſe ſibi ſit fons, ipſe ſibi copia, to be like God, the fountain of good to himſelf, Proſper.&c. a godly man hates it, and curſeth it to Hell from whence it came: as God hath laid up all grace in Chriſt, as the Steward to diſpenſe it, ſo a gracious ſoul deſires and delights it ſhould be in Chriſts hand, rather than in his own, and he would not take it out of Chriſts hand, or make himſelf the fountain of his own grace for a world; for he ſays, My life is in Chriſt, and becauſe he lives, I ſhall live alſo.

p. 368Ʋſe 3 §. 3. It ſerves alſo for exhortation unto all you that have choſen the Lord for your God, that you be content with him alone, though you have nothing elſe; for there is an alſufficiency in him; he that was ſufficient unto himſelf before there was any creature in Heaven and Earth, his ſelf-ſufficiency ſhall be thy alſufficiency: it is your Election that gives you an intereſt in God, Joſh. 14.22. you have choſen the Lord unto your ſelves, the Lord will not put himſelf upon any man, but he doth inlighten their minds, and ſets the will at liberty to chuſe him for himſelf; for every mans portion is of his own choice, he is in this ſenſe, though not in the Arminian notion, propriae fortunae faber, &c. ſo Dagon became the god of the Philiſtins, and Chemoſh the god of the Amorites, it was by their own election: and having choſen the Lord God Jehovah to be your God, O ſtudy him, let your heart be rapt up in the contemplation of him; there is a kind of ecſtaſie in love, there is a rapture, which is nothing elſe but ſupremus contemplationis gradus & mentis exceſſus, the ſupreme degree of contemplation and exceſs of mind, and be exhorted to uſe all the means to know God. There are three ways by which we may know God: (1) Viâ negationis, by way of negation, denying all the imperfections that are in the creatures to be in him. (2) Cauſalitatis, in a way of cauſality, all the good that is in the creatures comes from him, as its proper cauſe. (3) Eminentiae, in a way of eminence, and therefore all is in him, and in him in a more glorious manner than is or can be in the creatures: a man ſhould uſe to ſet God before him in his greatneſs and in his glory, ſee him as a Sea, as being without banks or bottom; this is life eternal, to know God. O it is good for a man to drown his thoughts in this Sea; to caſt himſelf into it by a holy meditation, and think till his thoughts be at a loſs, till he can think no more. As a poor troubled ſoul, when he looks upon the wrath of God, his ſoul is ſwallowed up with it, and he can think himſelf into an endleſs maze, till he loſe himſelf; ſo you ſhould do in the alſufficiency of God, they are the narrow thoughts that we have of God, that are diſhonourable to him, and are alſo uncomfortable to us, my thoughts are not as your thoughts; he is able to do above all that we can ask or think; according to thy fear ſuch is thy wrath: and when you have viewed him in this manner, and found that there is a good in him beyond all things, more than thy thoughts and deſires can reach, and what thou canſt deſire is not to be compared to him, (and yet the heart of man can frame to it ſelf vaſt deſires) now ſay, This God ſhall be my God for ever and ever, and in him alone will I place my happineſs and hope, I will be content with him alone, though I have nothing elſe;Lam. 3.4.Lam 3:4 and let this be the full reſolution and bent of thy heart ſo to do, The Lord is my portion, ſaith my ſoul. It's true, that all men will acknowledge that God is the Fountain of life and the chiefeſt good, but it is in ore tantùm, only in mouth; but the Church brings in her ſoul ſpeaking it as verbum mentis, the word of her mind, it's that which my ſoul doth embrace and conſent unto; and that will make a man to be contented with him alone,Pſal. 37.Ps 37 and he will go out to no other; and ſo it was with David, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I deſire in compariſon of thee, &c. Now wherein is this contentment of ſoul in God to be found and manifeſted?

1. The ſoul lays up all in God, in him alone, it hath nothing out of God, as it hath nothing apart from God; for a godly man enjoys all in God, and God in all things, ſo that there is nothing that is not to be found in him: Thou art a ſhield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head; the Lord is my rock and my fortreſs, and my deliverer, my God, my ſtrength, my buckler, the horn of my ſalvation, my high tower; the Lord is my light and my ſalvation; the Lord is the ſtrength of my life: it's ſweet to ſee all to be in God, it's glorious to ſee the fulneſs that is in Chriſt, the beauty of him who is our Husband; but it is much more to ſee it in God, he is objectum ultimatum fidei, the ultimate object of faith, in whom the ſoul doth ultimately reſt; and the Lord is all theſe, (1) unitivè, unitedly, all of them are united in him, they do all meet in him as lines in a center, they are ſcattered in the creatures, but they are one in him; as the Attributes of God are diverſified according to their objects, but they are one in God, ſo are all the excellencies of the creature, and therefore he is a Sun; Pſal. 48.11.Ps 48:11all the light that was ſcattered abroad all over the earth, the Lord united in that body of the Sun, and made it a glorious body, becauſe all light is in it; ſo all the excellencies and ſufficiency that are continued and ſcattered in broken rays in the creatures, are all united in him. (2) It is in God eminenter, eminently, ſo that he ſhall be unto us the end of all things in a far more glorious manner than any creature can be;Deut. 32.31.Deut 32:31 their Rock is not like our Rock, there is no God like our God, there is no God that can ſave after this ſort, he is deliverance,Dan. 3.29.Dan 3:29 he is protection, proviſion, and conſolation, and ſalvation in ſuch a way as no creature can be fully: indeed the creatures are good in their kinds, and they do fetch in ſupplies to one another, but it's ſtill but as a creature; but God doth it in the manner of a God, as having all eminently in him; there is ſomething of infiniteneſs, ſomething that manifeſts a God, wherein God appears. (3) Cauſativè, cauſally; the Lord p. 369is all things as being the cauſe of them all. Who laid up all theſe things in the creatures? was it not the Lord? doth not all proviſion come out of his ſtore-houſe? and doth not all protection from the creature come from himſelf?Zac. 2.5. I will be a wall of fire round about Jeruſalem; they had no wall; but what is wanting, ſays God, I will ſupply it; and they were never ſo guarded, they never lay down in ſo much peace, though the enemies were enraged againſt them round about; the Pſalmiſt ſaith, The Lord takes my part, Pſal. 118.7.Ps 118:7therefore I ſhall ſee my deſire upon them that hate me: and the Lord is with them that uphold my ſoul. It's true, that there is ſomething in creatures, but they are but inſtruments in his hand, and there is but ſo much good as he will put into them, and no more; ſo much wiſdom, ſo much power, and ſo much proviſion as he will put into them, and no more; and the ſame creatures that are now uſed for you, he can turn againſt you; Armies and Navies, and wiſe men, and great men ſhall all combine againſt you for evil, as they have appeared for your good, if you forſake God.

2. Having God, the ſoul doth not run out after other things in an anxious and a ſolicitous way; but having him he ſaith, I have enough, whether I have much or little.Gen. 33.9, 11.Gen 33:9Gen 33:11 Eſau ſeemed to have a kind of contentment in the creatures, but he ſays only, I have much, multum habeo; but there is another kind of ſpeech of Jacob, Sunt mihi omnia, I have all: having God, the ſoul hath room for no more, for you can have but all, and he that hath the Lord for his God hath all things elſe; and ſo Paul ſaith, foreign and foreign, I abound and am full, a little ſupply is fulneſs to him, becauſe there is God in all he hath; and therefore he looks upon all things elſe as things indifferent, if he have them they are not his portion, and he doth not ſet his heart upon them; and therefore when other men are buſied all their days in a traffick of creatures, yet there is to him but one Pearl of great price, Phil. 3.20. his foreign, converſation or merchandiſe is in Heaven, all things here below are droſs, My heart panteth, my ſtrength faileth me, ſaith David; but the wicked his heart runs to and fro from one market of the creatures to another, and hunts what he can get of them; for his treaſure is in the things below, he hath all his good things in this life, and his hope in this life, and then a man is miſerable; but while other men are hunting for the creatures, as it's ſaid of Nimrod, He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, it was for a Kingdom that he did hunt: there is a prey that all ſuch men do purſue, as the Lord threatens, Jer. 16.16. I will bring many fiſhers and hunters upon you, that is, the Chaldeans, men skilful to take all prey, and they ſhall be hot and fierce in the purſuit of it; but the prey that the Saints hunt after is this, Ego Deum venor meum, &c. I hunt after my God, he that hath drunk of this water, his thirſt is allayed in reſpect of all creature-comforts for ever; and therefore it is enough whether he hath little or much; and he can be content with the things that are preſent, as the exhortation is, Heb. 13.5. and who can be more happy than that man, cui omnia ſunt ex voto? humiles ſunt, hoc volunt, pauperes pauperie delectantur. Allow them but the Lord for their portion, and they can eaſily ſpare the things of this world unto the men of the world, and leave the purſuit of theſe things to them that have no higher good to follow.

3. He only fears the loſs of God; if he can but keep God with him ſtill, he fears nothing elſe, Pſal. 27.1, 2. The Lord is my light and my ſalvation, whom ſhall I fear? ſo long as God is with him, there is no fear enters into him. What miſery or affliction is there in this world, that I cannot object God againſt it all? tell me of poverty, and can he be poor that has an intereſt in him that is Lord of all? tell me of diſgrace, the Lord is my glory, and the lifter up of my head; tell me of danger, the Lord is my rock, and my ſhield, my high tower, if I can but keep him to me, it's enough for me: only the ſoul remembers that the rule is, The Lord is with you while you be with him. Now when his ſoul departs from God,2 Chron. 15.2.2 Chr 15:2 then he remembers that it may befal the Saints ſometimes that their ſhield is departed, and the Lord will give them up; their rock has ſold them; Deut. 32.30.Deut 32:30and therefore his great ſolicitude is to keep God with him, his fear is ne diſcedat, leſt he depart, and this is the ground of a double fear that is in the Saints, they fear the Lord, and they fear ſin, which provokes God to depart from them; and therefore Chryſoſtome ſpeaks it of Paul, and it was the ſame Spirit that is recorded to be in himſelf, and therefore he did intimate it de laudibus Pauli, foreign, and therefore it was the ſame meſſage that he ſent to Eudoxa, when ſhe breathed out threatnings againſt him, and ſought his life, tell her that I fear nothing but ſin; and therefore, Rom. 8. If God be with us, who can be againſt us? All the creatures are reconciled when God is reconciled, and they can do neither good nor evil, but as they are acted by him; and therefore the creatures are never againſt us, till God arm them againſt us, for they are all of them at his diſpoſe, and it's no matter who is againſt us if God be with us; for they are but as the briars and thorns in battel againſt the fire walking in the middle of ſtubble; and truly this is the very condition of Saints in this p. 370world, when God is with them, there is a fire that goes out of their mouths, and deſtroys their enemies, Rev. 11.6. and he that will hurt them muſt in this manner be killed: they are never in any danger while their portion is with them; but wo to them when the Lord departs from them; therefore all their care is to keep with God.

4. They are not much troubled with the loſs of all other things. It's true, they know that they muſt part with them, and they can do it with comfort when it is to enjoy God. A man that has a yoke-fellow that is truly the wife of his boſom, whom he loves as his own ſoul, in whom he delights above all creatures, both in her perſon, and in her graces, yet he ſaith, Farewel, I can part with you with joy, as the Martyr ſaid, My Chriſt is dearer to me than all; if I were to live here, I would chuſe you above all the creatures; but now my portion is in him that is all in all, farewel. A man can with joyfulneſs bid an everlaſting farewel to many comforts here, having his heart born up with his intereſt in God and his alſufficiency; whereas other men, if you take away their eſtates and creature-comforts, you take away their hearts alſo: Gen. 44.30.Gen 44:30for as it was ſaid of Jacob, That his life was bound up in the life of the lad; ſo it is with them, if a friend be taken away, they ſorrow as men without hope, and will go down to the grave mourning: but it's not ſo with a Saint, when he lives upon his portion, he conſiders, when he loſes a creature-comfort, there is a bucket broken indeed, but the fountain remains, the way of conveyance is changed, but the ſame God that was all to me in that comfort, will be the ſame to me in another; and therefore his ſoul is not troubled much at the loſs of any of the creatures, for his portion lies not in them; he is as rich as he was before, for they are no part of his treaſure, his treaſure is in Heaven,Luther. Mat. 6.21. Moritur tibi pater, filius, uxor, amittis rem, gloriam, ſed non Chriſtum; & quid magni eſt quòd uxor, quòd liberi perierint, cùm non periit Deus? And therefore when a ſoul comes to dye, his eye runs unto the recompence of reward, the glory that is ſet before him, and that makes him forget that which is behind, and what he doth leave behind alſo; the ſight thereof is ſo alluring and raviſhing to his ſoul, that it's a ſmall thing to part with any thing for it; he that can ſell all for Chriſt with joy, when the glory of Chriſt is diſcovered in the Goſpel, ſurely much more can he with joy part with all, when he has the glory of God ſet before him, and is now about to enter into his maſters joy.

5. Do not envy at the proſperity of the men of the world; for he that doth envy another mans condition, it argues he is not content with his own: it's true, there is a ſpirit in us that doth luſt unto envy, Jam. 3. and it may prevail far upon a godly man, as we ſee it did upon the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 73. Becauſe waters of a full cup are wrung out to him; and therefore many godly mens hearts are bitter, becauſe of the proſperity of the wicked. Now compare thy portion with theirs; as it's ſaid, Two Ambaſſadours met, the French and Spaniſh, and one boaſting of the greatneſs of his Maſters Dominions, he was King of Spain and King of Arragon, Catalonia, Portugal; the other anſwered to them all, That his Maſter was King of France, implying, that there was more worth and wealth in his one Kingdom, than in all the Dominions of the other, ſet them all together: and ſo it is here, one man hath wealth, but I have God, ſaith the Saint; and he hath honour and eſteem here in the world, but ſaith the Saint, I have God; there is no compare between the portion of the wicked and the portion of the godly; nay we ſhould rather pity them in two things. (1) They have their portion here, they have received their conſolation, it is all that ever they are like to have from the Lord: as when you ſee a young man have a portion of money left him, and he flaunts it out, and is in all his glory, you ſay it will be ſpent, and he hath no yearly income, this is all, it hath no root that it may grow again, as all the contentments of the Saints have. (2) To have a fulneſs of all things here, and to have their eyes cloſed up by the creatures, and their ſpirits drowned in them, to go out of a great eſtate to meet nothing, and leave all behind them, as Dives from all his riches to want a drop of water, to go from all his glory to ſhame and everlaſting contempt, to ſay as Adrian the Emperour did, Animula vagula, &c. what a miſery is it? and it is a token of a mans content, when he would not be in anothers condition, but thinks his own to be beſt, as Paul ſaid to Agrippa, when he ſtood to be judged, he did not wiſh himſelf in the Kings condition, but the King in his, as the greateſt Kings will do one day, O that I might dye the death of the righteous!

6. Rejoyce in God, Phil. 4.4. bleſs your ſouls in your choice: let thy ſoul go out to him with a holy kind of complacency from day to day. As a man that hath choſen a yoke-fellow, and is pleaſed in his choice, he can delight himſelf in her, ſhe is to him as the young Hind, and the pleaſant Roe, Prov. 5.19. ſo it is with God much more; a Saint takes more comfort in the thoughts of God, and meditation of him, than in all the comforts of the creatures in Heaven or Earth, and therefore thoughts of God do ſecretly ſteal away his heart with a ſweet and unſpeakable delight: as it is with a man in the pleaſures of ſin, p. 371his ſoul is ſtoln away with the thoughts of them inſenſibly, much more is it ſo with the thoughts of God; as the Lord having choſen us, doth rejoyce over us as a Bridegroom over his Bride, Hephzibath, much more ſhould we rejoyce in him as our portion. There are two things wherein joy is exerciſed: (1) Contemplation, when a man takes a view of the happineſs of his own condition by reaſon of his intereſt, as Nebuchadnezzar doth, Is not this great Babel that I have built? and Jezebel to Ahab, Doſt not thou now govern Iſrael? So a Saint, Is not the Lord my portion in the land of the living? (2) There is a dilatation in joy, it doth enlarge the heart, and thereby prepares it for the entertainment of the object; for it doth tranſport, or carry a man beyond himſelf; as we ſee in Davids dancing before the Ark; and the Saints ſhould be much in rejoycing in God, for the joy of the Lord is your ſtrength.

7. Make your boaſt of God, glory and triumph in him,Pſal. 97.7.Ps 97:7 My ſoul ſhall make her boaſt of God: as it's ſaid of wicked men that boaſt themſelves in their vain gods, &c. ſo a Saint ſhould make his boaſt in God, and ſay, I have made a ſweet choice, I have a goodly heritage; and undervalue all other Beloveds in compariſon of your own, There is no God like unto our God. Make your challenge to the men of the world, and bid them bring forth all the gods of the world, and let them be compared with Jehovah; there is none like the Lord; therefore in thy choice bleſs thy ſoul that there is no rock like our Rock; this God is our God, and there is none beſides him; triumph over all thy enemies and their oppoſition, In thy ſtrength we ſhall tread down our enemies, bear your ſelves high upon your God, deſpiſe them, ſay, The virgin daughter of Sion hath laughed thee to ſcorn; we care not though they be gathered together againſt us, they ſhall fall, for God is with us,Job 5.22.Job 5:22 At deſtruction and famine thou ſhalt laugh, neither ſhalt thou be afraid of the beaſts of the earth, &c. And this is to have a ſelf-ſufficiency, and to have a mans mind conformed to the greatneſs of his intereſt: theſe things can never be known but by experience and practice: nunquam futurum, ut quis ſpeculativè tantùm fiat Chriſtianus, none ever became a Chriſtian by ſpeculation only.

Ʋſe 4 §. 4. See and obſerve from hence the happy condition of the Saints, that they have an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, Pſal. 144. ult. Happy are the people whoſe God is the Lord. It's a ſpecial duty that lies upon the people of God, to maintain in themſelves high thoughts of their own intereſt, and the excellency of their condition; and a ſpecial ſtep to bring men in to God, is to have their thoughts raiſed, and a high eſteem of the bleſſed condition of them that have an intereſt in him: and here conſider,

1. It's the higheſt way of honouring God that can be in this life. It's a great honour to God for a man to ſee ſo much excellency in him as to chuſe him at the firſt ſight; but many a man that doth ſo, may afterwards fall from his former apprehenſions, and then his former affections do wax cold; as there is many a man makes choice of Chriſt, and calls him the chiefeſt often thouſand, and yet afterwards it may be ſaid to him, Where is the bleſſedneſs you ſpake of? Gal. 4.15. it is ſtill the ſame it was in it ſelf, but it was not ſo in their apprehenſions; it's ſaid, many of the followers of Chriſt went back from him, Joh. 6. and the Apoſtle ſpeaks of men that do draw back, Heb. 10.39.Heb. 10.39.Heb 10:39 foreign, ſubauditur foreign, ſo Grot. We are not ſubductionis filii, in which is an Hebraiſm, and it ſignifies two things. [1] Men excellent or eminent in any thing, addicted or inclined unto it, are ſaid to be the ſons of it, as 2 Sam. 2.7. there is foreign the ſons of valour, men eminent in it. [2] It ſignifies a man deſtinated and appointed unto it, as 1 Sam. 20.31. Saul ſaith of David he is foreign a ſon of death, a man judged and appointed unto death. Now there are ſome men that are the ſons of Apoſtaſie, men that are of themſelves addicted and inclined to it, and they are by God judged to it, of old ordained, Jude 4. and it is foreign, which is ſubductio, a ſecret withdrawment in an unobſerved way, not an Apoſtaſie from the profeſſion of the Truth, but a receding of the affections, and the inward diſpoſitions of the ſoul they recoil; for as Job 31.27. he ſpeaks of a mans heart being ſecretly enticed, and ſo there is a ſecret withdrawment of the inward man, and bleſſed is that Chriſtian who keeps up his eſteem of ſpiritual things, and that his apprehenſions of them riſe rather than fall; for love is grounded upon eſteem, and as a mans apprehenſions do decay, ſo will his affections alſo. Now this is the higheſt love that can be, when a man upon ſecond thoughts, reflex thoughts can approve and applaud his own choice, and can bleſs himſelf in his heart, and ſay, I would not have it otherwiſe: ſo doth Paul ſhew his love to Chriſt, I have and I do, Phil. 3.7.Phil 3:7yea doubtleſs and I count all things but loſs for the excellency of the knowledge of Chriſt Jeſus, &c. and ſo do the men of the world ſhew their love unto the things of the word, Pſal. 49.18. While he lived he bleſſed his ſoul; and they are looked upon as the bleſſed and happy men by all the world, &c. that if a man were to chuſe his own lot, he would be in ſuch a mans condition; but a godly man, if he had all the eſtates and conditions of the world before him, yet he would chuſe and prefer this before p. 372them all, to have an intereſt in God: As reflex acts do moſt fully ſhew the ſetling of the ſoul in a ſinful way, that a man doth approve of it afterwards, as by continuing impenitent in it, it is manifeſt; as the Devil, non invenit locum poenitentiae, ergo nec veniae, Bernard. ſo there is nothing that doth ſhew the eſtabliſhment of the ſoul ſo much upon God as this doth, that a man can reflect and take a review, and ſay, I would not have it otherwiſe for all the world; as theſe reflex thoughts of our intereſt in God are moſt comfortable unto us, ſo they are moſt honourable unto God alſo.

2. It's this that doth make a man to ſet light by the ſcorns and deriſions that are put upon him by the world: it's true, that ſuch are counted the only fools, men of low thoughts and weak ſpirits, that cannot pleaſe themſelves with the face and glory of the times, as other men do; but the Saint ſaith, when he makes compariſons, (and that is one way of exerciſing of faith) There is no Rock but our God, Deut. 32. Jer. 14.22.Deut 32Jer 14:22their rock is not as our Rock, the enemies themſelves being judges: the ſoul dares to compare with them all; Are there any amongst the vanities of the Gentiles that can cauſe rain? foreign they are called vanity, quia non ſubſiſtunt, non proſunt, becauſe they neither ſubſiſt nor profit; ſo the ſoul ſays, Look upon all the gods of the world, Can they do this? as Saul ſaid in a brag when he had almoſt ruined the Kingdom (for David ſaith it was weak, he bore up the pillars of it) will the ſon of Jeſſe give you fields and vineyards? &c. is there any compariſon between the happineſs that you enjoy under me, and what you are like to do under him? 1 Sam. 22.7, 17. And ſo the Saints of God ſay; and therefore they are content, as a worldly man is, populus mihi ſibilat, at mihi plaudo, and that's enough, let the men of the world take their portion, but they are not like the portion of Jacob, Jer. 10.16. and therefore whatever they are in other mens eſteem, ſo long as they are bleſſed in their own, they are happy, Nemo aliorum ſenſu miſer eſt, ſed ſuo, & ideò non poſſunt cujuſcun que falſo judicio eſſe miſeri, qui ſunt verè ſuâ conſcientiâ beati, &c. Salv. pag. 8. Although wicked men upon earth can ſee no happineſs in God, it doth no way abate the happineſs of the Saints in glory who enjoy it; nay it doth the rather heighten it, when they conſider that ſo many thouſands have their portion in vanity, and yet Eſa. 44.20. cannot deliver their own ſouls, and ſay, Is there not a lye in my right hand? then a man doth bleſs himſelf, and ſaith, Who made me to differ? As this will be a ſpecial part of the miſery of the wicked at the laſt day, to ſee Abraham and Iſaac and many come from the Eaſt and the Weſt, and ſit down with them in the Kingdom of Heaven, and they themſelves thruſt out; for the happineſs of the Saints is a great means to aggravate the miſery of the wicked: In die judicii gloriam beatorum videbunt, & poena eorum non minuitur, ſed augebitur: (1) Propter invidiam de eorum foelicitate dolentes: (2) Propter privationem, quòd ipſi talem gloriam amiſerunt, Aquin. ſup. quaeſt. 98. art. 9. ſo it will be a ſpecial part of the happineſs of the Saints, that they ſhall ſee the miſery of the ungodly, poenas videbunt damnatorum; contraria juxta ſe; therefore they ſhall ſee the miſery of the wicked, ut beatitudo illis magìs complaceat, &c. Aquin. ſup. quaeſt. 93. art. 1. and the ſame happineſs in a meaſure is in this life begun, that the people of God are ſo far from envying the happineſs of the wicked, that they pity them, much more to conſider how they are fed as a lamb in a large place unto the ſlaughter-time, and how their portion is in vain things, and they have made lyes their reſting place.

3. This gives unto the ſoul in all its neceſſities and ſtraits a city of refuge; a place of retreat, when it is put upon any diſtreſs, or when it is under any purſuit whatſoever; and the Saints are ſometimes greatly diſtreſſed, as 1 Sam. 30.6. David was, and then they make their retreat unto the ſtrong holds, Zac. 9.12. ſatis praeſidii in uno Deo. When a man is purſued by the thoughts of his own heart, then that which is his portion, the man retires to, and in the boſom thereof he lyes down; as we ſee in Haman, his heart was unquiet, he needed a cordial, for luſt is tender, and it can bear nothing, now he retires to ſomething to refreſh him, Heſt. 5.11. he talks of the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the King had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the reſt of the Princes, &c. and by this he doth make a recruit unto his unquiet ſpirit; for it is from a mans chief good that in any trouble a mans cordial muſt be fetched; and ſo it is with a godly man alſo, Prov. 18.10, 11. The name of the Lord is a ſtrong tower; and the rich mans wealth is his ſtrong tower, they have each of them in all difficulties and dangers a retiring place, ſuitable unto what is their chief good; and here is the miſery of an ungodly man, that when dangers come, his retiring place will not ſupport him, but the ſtorm doth ſweep away his refuge of lyes, and the waters overflow his hiding place, Eſa. 28.17. as a man that in a ſtorm gets to a ſhelter, but there is an interpluvium, it doth drop upon a man, and haply wet him the more; in a ſtorm he caſts anchor, but the anchor comes home, and is not able to be a ſtay unto his toſſed veſſel; they do hang all their hopes upon a nail, and it's not faſtned in a ſure place, and ſo it doth p. 373not uphold the burden, Eſa. 22.23. but it's never ſo with the Saints, when they are purſued with temptations, with guilt, with fears on the right hand and on the left,Prov. 18.10.Prov 18:10 yet Prov. 18.10. The name of the Lord is a ſtrong tower, the righteous run to it and are ſafe, the word is foreign it doth ſignifie to be exalted, that is, to be ſet on high, out of reach, and ſo out of the fear of danger; it is not only a ſtrong place munitus, fortified, ſed ſublimis, very high, Rev. 21.12, 16.Rev 21:12Rev 21:16Rev. 21.12, 16. it is a great and a high wall that had twelve foundations, and therefore muſt needs be ſtrong and impregnable, and for the height it was 12000 furlongs; and this wall is nothing elſe but that in Zac. 2.5. The Lord will be a wall of defence unto them, that he that is within this wall, and hath gotten under this ſhelter, need not fear.

4. It's this that will keep and guard the heart from going out unto any thing elſe whatſoever it be, becauſe a man hath high thoughts of his ſufficiency in God alone; for the true reaſon why men do go out to any thing elſe, is becauſe they believe not the alſufficiency of God; and the reaſon why the Saints that do believe in truth, have ſallyings of heart out to the creatures, is becauſe there is ſomething wanting in their faith in this particular, Phil. 4.7.Phil. 4.7.Phil 4:7 there is a peace of God which is a quieting of the ſoul in the wiſdom and alſufficiency of God, when in his way we have committed all unto him,foreign. it doth guard the heart, and nothing elſe, it ſets a ſtrong guard upon the whole inward man, this wall is as well that none ſhould break out, as that none ſhould break in, it defends from all enemies, it's this that makes the ſouls of the glorified Saints impeccable, viſio beatifica reddit impeccabiles. Now what is there in the beatifical viſion ſo advantageous to a ſoul? (1) Cognition; a man doth perfectly know all the glory of God; and the Saints that know moſt of him here, he will hereafter come to be admired of them, 2 Theſſ. 1.10. and we know that admiration is the overplus of expectation, they will ſay when they come to Heaven, the one half was not told them, Oh how little a portion is known of him! (2) Application; there ſhall be a perfect application unto a mans ſoul, that he ſhall know his own intereſt in him, that all this is his right, that it is his fathers pleaſure to make it to be his portion, which doth here much abate all the joy of the Saints in this life, that many times the ſoul is not able to apply the portion he hath in God to himſelf. (3) There is Fruition, which implies both actual poſſeſſion and glorious ſatisfaction. And he that finds this in the Lord and his alſufficiency, he cannot go out unto any thing elſe; for his ſoul is filled with it, In thy preſence is fulneſs of joy, Pſal. 16. ult. and that which is full can receive no addition, as it needs none; and ſo far as the ſoul is made partaker of this viſion in a fiducial way, ſo far it is impeccable alſo; and what was the true reaſon why the Devil did fall; what was his condemnation? 1 Tim. 3.6. it was this, that he did not look upon God as alſufficient, he would have taken in ſome created excellency, ſomething of himſelf to have made up his ſufficiency, and ſo he departed from the Lord; and as often as men do turn aſide to any thing elſe, it's becauſe the thoughts of the alſufficiency of God are not kept up in a man, and this is the way for a man to fall into the condemnation of the Devil. And this we ought ſo much the more to ſeek, becauſe a great part of the happineſs of the Lord doth conſiſt in the contemplation of himſelf; and ſurely that which makes the Lord himſelf happy, will make us happy alſo; the ſatisfaction that God takes in his own excellency and ſufficiency. And truly there are two things in which mainly our godlineſs ſhould conſiſt, (1) in a conſtant contemplation of God, and (2) a perfect obedience unto him, walking before him, and walking with him, and ſeeing him that is inviſible, this is the great work and guard of a Saint.

But wherein doth the happineſs of a Saint, by reaſon of his intereſt in Gods alſufficiency, conſiſt?

There are theſe particulars in which it makes a man very happy.

1. It ſupplies all a mans wants, the Lord is my ſhepherd, he hath undertaken both to feed and defend me, and he will ſurely do his office, and therefore I ſhall want nothing that is neceſſary either for my proviſion or my protection: The lyons do lack, but they that fear the Lord ſhall want no manner of thing that is good; if they have it not formaliter, formally, in kind, they have it eminenter, eminently, as the Sun hath light in it in a far more glorious way than any other light; if they have it not in ſilver, yet they have it in gold; and therefore the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 6.10. puts it in with a quaſi, as if ſorrowful, as if poor, 2 Cor. 6.10.2 Cor 6:10as if having nothing: afflictio noſtra habet quaſi, ſed gaudium noſtrum non habet, our affliction has an AS IF, but our joy none, Auſtin. there is but an appearance and a reſemblance of the one, but there is a truth and a reality in the other: we are as thoſe that have nothing, and yet it is but in appearance ſo, for in truth he that hath his intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, he doth poſſeſs all things: The alſufficiency of God runs through all Gods Attributes, as the ſincerity of a man doth through all his graces, and is to be obſerved in them all; the ſoul ſaith, I am in a great ſtrait in my buſineſs, and I want direction, but in God there is alſufficient wiſdom; I am a ſinner, and a freſh ſenſe of guilt is upon me, and I want remiſſion, p. 374but there is in God alſufficient mercy; and I am under the power of a luſt and of a temptation, and I want ſtrength to overcome it, there is in God alſufficient grace, his grace is ſufficient for thee; I am poor and want wealth, it's the Lord that makes rich; and I am deſpiſed, not honoured, it's the Lord that honours them that honour him; and I want friends, he doth many times give unto his own the hearts of men, and turns their hearts to love you or to hate you, he puts a mans acquaintance far from him, or brings them near to him upon all occaſions; yea even the iſſues from death belong unto him; and it is very much ſweeter to the Saints to ſee it, and to rely upon it, as it is in him, than if they had the mercy in their own hands; becauſe as the promiſe leads a man unto Chriſt, and ſo though it be but ſmall, yet it is a pledge of union with Chriſt, ſo though the ſupply be but ſmall, yet it brings a man to the alſufficiency of God, and thereby diſcovers a mans propriety in God.

2. It enables a man for all the works he hath to do in the world: the Lord ſent Moſes in a great ſervice to Pharaoh, and he tells him, I will be with thee; and when Moſes did object he had a ſtammering tongue, ſaith God, I will be with thy tongue; and the alſufficiency of God was his ſufficiency for his work: ſo he ſends Joſhua, and tells him, He will never leave him nor forſake him, and nothing ſhall be able to ſtand before him all his days: and ſo the Apoſtles were ſent forth as ſheep, &c. but he bids them, Go, for behold I am with you unto the end of the world. A man needs nothing elſe to enable him for any ſervice but this, God is alſufficient for me; and were it not for that, there are many of Gods people would ſink under the apprehenſion of their own weakneſſes, and the burdenſom callings that lye upon them from day to day: Chriſtus tunc regnat in nobis, quando nos ab operibus noſtris feriatos inhabitat, cùm ipſè in nobis facit opera noſtra, Luther. Chriſt then reigns in us, when he works in us, &c. and ſo a mans ſoul keeps a Sabbath unto Chriſt: as in point of Juſtification a man ſaith, My good works are the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt; ſo in point of ability a man ſaith, My ability is his alſufficiency; for I am of my ſelf able to do nothing; and therefore when a Saint looks upon himſelf and the greatneſs of the ſervice that he is called to, he ſays, Who is ſufficient? who can do any thing of this great work? but when he looks upon the alſufficiency of God for his ſupply, then he ſaith, Who is inſufficient? I can do all things, and the greater the ſervice is that any man is called unto, and the greater difficulties he encounters with, the more he is to take hold of the alſufficiency of God.

3. It doth disburden the ſoul of all its troubleſom afflictions, of all a mans cares, and fears, and ſorrows: it's this that doth diſcharge the ſoul of them, Pſal. 27.1, 2. The Lord is my light and my ſalvation, Pſal. 118.6.Ps 118:6whom ſhall I fear? The Lord is the ſtrength of my glory. The Lord is on my ſide, I will not fear what man can do to me. It is an interrogation of knowledge and of contempt, &c. it doth ſilence all a mans doubts, anſwers all his objections: when the ſoul ſaith, I am a child, I cannot ſpeak, God ſaith, I will give thee a mouth; the people are hard-hearted and inſufficient, but I will give thee ſtrength of ſpirit anſwerable to thy oppoſition: We know not what to do, but our eyes are unto thee; I fear death, but God is in life and death alſufficient, he is the God of the dead, as well as of the living; the creatures are but vials in the hand of God: I will not pour out my wrath upon Jeruſalem by the hand of Shiſhak: 2 Chron. 12.7.2 Chr 12:7he is but the vial; and they are no other, who are imployed by Chriſt as inſtruments of vengeance againſt Rome; the vials are put into their hands, it is but ſo much wrath in ſuch a meaſure, and executed by one hand, and by another hand: ſo they are for good alſo, it is but ſuch a meaſure of good done by them and of ſervice; but the alſufficiency is of God ſtill, and this brings a ſweet reſt unto the ſoul, fies Sabbatum Chriſti, there is a gracious and a holy reſt of Chriſt in ſuch a ſoul as this is.

4. It's this that doth fulfil all a mans deſires; Open thy mouth wide, ſaith the Lord, and I will fill it: Auſtin.pateres in te anguſtias, thy ſtraits are not in me, but in thy own heart, in thy own bowels, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it, for I am the fountain of thy life; there is no man can open his mouth ſo wide, that the alſufficiency of God will not fill it: ſo that as the Lord is called the fear of Iſrael, that is, he was the ſole object of his fear, the adequate object of it, he did fear him, and he did fear nothing elſe; ſo he is the deſire of his people alſo: as Chriſt is called the deſire of all nations, they deſire him, and they deſire nothing elſe, it is all terminated in him, ſo that a man hath not any thing elſe to deſire: and the greater difference the Lord puts between men, the higher he doth advance them, the more he doth make over this as their portion, and they are ſatisfied with it. Levi was ſeparated unto the Lord, of all the Tribes of Iſrael, but he muſt have no portion in the Land of Canaan, but the Lord is his portion; and who would not prefer the lot of Levi before that of all the Tribes, though he had no inheritance with them? And this makes the ſoul in all dangers bold as a Lyon, quiet in the greateſt commotions: De me comburendo conſultatur, Luther.at coelum non ruet; credo & certus ſum, habeo, qui cauſam defendat, etiamſi totus p. 375mundus in me ſolum inſaniat, Luth. ad Stampic. If there want means, he can work without them; if the means be weak, he can act above them, and ſo the ſoul is in his ſufficiency at reſt.

Now ſtudy and try your intereſt in this alſufficience: if we delighted as much in ſpiritual things, as we do in the things of the earth, it would be unto us the ſweeteſt ſtudy; for what can be more delightful than for a man to read over his own evidences, that having taſted the ſweetneſs of all his comforts, he may alſo take a view of the tenure and title by which he holds them? 1 Pet. 1.7. the Apoſtle ſaith, that there is a foreign,1 Pet. 1.7.1 Pet 1:7 the tryal of a mans faith that is more precious, or more honourable, for foreign ſignifies both; the tryal of faith is better than the tryal of gold. (1) By tryal a man attains a certainty, and that is precious; for according unto the excellency of the thing, ſo we do prize a certainty in it; gold being of all metals the moſt in price, therefore we are the moſt exact in our tryals of it; we have the teſt, the touch-ſtones, and the ſcales, &c. and all becauſe we would not be deceived: but faith is more precious; therefore a certainty therein is more precious, that a man may know that he doth not embrace a fancy, his faith is not adulterate, but is the faith of Gods Elect. (2) There is a purity that doth ariſe from the tryal, for by the tryal of gold its droſs is purged, ab adulterino diſtinguitur, à ſcoriis purgatur, &c. ſo it is with faith alſo, when it's tryed by affliction from God, or by examination from our ſelves, it appears the better; when the infirmities that cleave to faith are as droſs to the gold, for there is ſomething wanting in faith ſtill. (3) The tryal of gold is but for this life, ad exiguum tempus eſt utilis, for it is gold that periſheth; but the tryal of faith refers to the life to come, for by faith a man lays hold of eternal life, and the purer the faith is, the ſurer the hold is. (4) The tryal of gold makes it the more precious unto men, we eſteem tryed gold above other; and therefore the moſt precious gold is ſet forth by it, Rev. 3.18. ſo it is with tryed faith, it makes it the more precious unto God, and therefore he doth try it, ut coram ipſo gratior fiat; tryed faith is more precious in Gods eyes, as tryed gold is to ours, as the word of the Lord is a tryed word; though the people of God do prize the whole word of God, that it is dearer to them than thouſands of gold and ſilver, yet there is no part of the word that hath ſo high a price with them as a tryed word; as the word of faith, the more it's tryed, is the more precious with us, ſo the grace of faith, the more it's tryed, it is the more precious with God; and if the tryal of faith be ſo precious, what is the tryal of a mans intereſt, which is that unto which the tryal of all graces tends? for the witneſs of water, as well as of blood, is, that we may know whether we have eternal life abiding in us, &c.

But now conſider for thy better tryal: 1. He that hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, hath an intereſt in Chriſt; for though the Attributes of God are his Eſſence, God himſelf; yet there is a threefold reſpect unto Chriſt that we are to have in them. (1) It is by him that we are intitled to them; for he is firſt in the Covenant, and we in him, and therefore in all the promiſes he hath a preheminence; therefore the Lord is firſt, his God, Joh. 20.17.John 20:17and then our God, Joh. 20.17. it's by our intereſt in Chriſt that we have an intereſt in God. (2) In him all the Attributes of God are diſcovered and revealed, and that in ſuch a manner as we never could have ſeen them, 2 Cor. 4.6. We behold the glory of God in the face of Jeſus Chriſt: for he is the image of the inviſible God, Col. 1.15. which I cannot look upon as ſpoken of Chriſt as God, for ſo he is the inviſible God, and equally inviſible with the Father; but as Mediator, and ſo the glorious Attributes of God do ſhine and ſhew forth themſelves in him. (3) As all the Attributes of God are exerciſed and actuated by him, ſo all the mercy of God, and the wiſdom of God, and the judgments and ſeverity of God, it's all in the hand of Chriſt to be executed by him, for the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, Joh. 5.22. He raiſeth the dead, and he quickneth whom he will, he bears up all things by the word of his power, he hath the keys of Hell and of death, he kills and he makes alive, &c. he hath committed all his works unto Chriſt, and all his Attributes are acted by him, for the ruling and ordering of theſe works; and he hath committed unto Chriſt all the promiſes; and all the Attributes of God are in his hand for the accompliſhment of theſe promiſes, &c. it's the foundation of all a Chriſtians comfort, when he doth ſee the promiſes of God in the hands of Chriſt to diſpenſe, and the providences of God in the hand of Chriſt to diſpenſe, and the Attributes of God in the hand of Chriſt to exerciſe and to actuate for both theſe. There is a fourfold ſight of faith in this life that is exceeding glorious, to ſee God in Chriſt, Chriſt in God, to ſee Chriſt in us, and we in him, Joh. 14.20. 2 Cor. 5.19. he therefore that hath an intereſt in Chriſt, hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, and none elſe, and we are to try our intereſt in Chriſt by the Spirit of Chriſt dwelling in us; for if any man hath not the Spirit of Chriſt, the ſame is none of his, Rom. 8.9, 10. And if Chriſt be in you, the body is dead becauſe of ſin, and the Spirit is life becauſe of righteouſneſs.

p. 3762. He that hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, doth chuſe this for his portion to place his happineſs in,Joſh. 24.22.Josh 24:22 Joſh. 24.22. You have choſen the Lord to be your God: no man hath an intereſt in God but by choice. A man doth not only chuſe his way, ſome the broad, and ſome the narrow way, but men do alſo chuſe their portion; and the wiſdom and folly of a man is much ſeen in his choice and in his eſteem; and as the firſt going forth of the love of God to us is in his election of us, ſo the firſt going forth of our love to him is in our election of him alſo: and he that doth chuſe God aright doth chuſe all that is in God, as the mercy of God to pardon him, and the grace of God to heal him, and the power of God to defend him, and the holineſs of God to ſanctifie him, the wiſdom of God to guide him, and the alſufficiency of God to make proviſion for him; and faith is ſeen in the electing as well as in the conſenting act of the ſoul:Joſh. 24.23.Josh 24:23 now as, Joſh. 24.23. having choſen the Lord, they muſt put away the ſtrange gods that were amongst them, and incline their hearts to the Lord God of Iſrael, ſo you muſt caſt away all ſufficiency in any thing elſe, all creature-ſufficiency, all ſelf-ſufficiency, and look upon all as vanity and emptineſs, and as that which hath no ſufficiency in it, and as that wherein your ſufficiency doth not conſiſt. And the word in the Hebrew doth ſignifie three things in the Scripture: (1) Inclinavit, for the bent of a mans heart to go out that way, as Judg. 9.3. where there were two that contended for the ſupremacy, it's ſaid, That their hearts inclined after Abimeleck, 1 King. 2.28. Joab inclined after Adonijah, though he turned not after Abſolom: a mans heart muſt go out in the bent of it this way. (2) Reclinavit, for a man to reſt upon a thing, Amos 2.8. You lye down upon cloaths laid to pledge, &c. and therefore the word ſignifies lectum, a bed upon which men lye down, or reſt themſelves: and ſo it ſhould be here, the ſoul ſhould reſt and lean upon this alſufficiency of God as that which he hath choſen, and in which he reſts; and therefore the word ſignifies baculum, a ſtaff to lean upon. (3) Extendit, expandit, as Eſa. 4.22. He ſtretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, &c. ſo ſhould a man do, he ſhould open his heart, extend it, and ſtretch it out, enlarge it in all the deſires and affections of it towards the alſufficiency of God; and this will be the neceſſary and proper fruit of ſuch a choice of God in his alſufficiency: he therefore that hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, hath choſen him in his alſufficiency for his God, and he that hath ſo done, doth put away all other gods, caſts off all other ſufficiencies, and doth in the bent of his ſoul incline to God alone, unto him he doth ſtretch out his ſoul in the latitude and utmoſt extent thereof, and in and upon this he doth reſt, and ſweetly repoſe himſelf in the middle of all difficulties and dangers whatſoever.

3. He that hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, doth honour and exalt that Attribute in his heart; for whatever we have the comfort of, God muſt have the glory of; as there is not a promiſe, but if the ſoul ſucks ſweetneſs from it, it is exalted in that ſoul, and a man having taſted of it, doth ſet a high price upon it, and his ſoul goes out to it to live upon it all his life time;Iſa. 38.10.Isa 38:10 and there is not a truth of God, but by theſe things men live, Eſa. 38.10. wherefore the price and the glory of them doth ariſe in the ſoul, and he thinks he did never know how to value them before, he knew not what they were worth; but now he ſees there is a value in them, as Luther did in Rom. 1.17. foreign, Chryſ. As a man that hath found a medicine to relieve him when he was in great extremity, he lays up that as a choice receipt all his life time, and when he ſees other men caſt the materials of it away as a thing of no value, he ſaith, O! there is an excellency in it, did men know it, they would ſet a high price upon it, I was in ſuch an extremity, and it relieved me; ſo it is with all the Attributes of God, they are exalted in the ſoul ſuitable to the uſe and experience that a man hath had of them: as he that doth undervalue duties, doth it becauſe he hath not found the ſpiritual good that is in them; ſo he that doth undervalue the Attributes of God, doth it from want of experience which makes ſpiritual things great in our eyes; and therefore Paul having an intereſt in the mercy of God, we ſee how it was exalted in him, 1 Tim. 1.14. the grace of God was exceeding abundant, God who was rich in mercy out of his abundant love and pardoning mercy, &c. Mic. 7.18. Who is a God like to our God, that pardons iniquity, tranſgreſſion, and ſin? And the Saints that have perfection of holineſs from him, they give him the glory of his holineſs from day to day, ſaying, Holy, holy, holy, for the higheſt glory that we can give unto God here is, that we honour thoſe Attributes in our hearts, which he doth honour in his diſpenſation towards us, whether it be wiſdom, or holineſs, or faithfulneſs, or patience, &c. as he doth honour the word that he doth accompliſh, ſo we are to honour the Attributes that he doth put forth; Jah is the ſame name with Jehovah, and is a name of Being, denoting that God is he that hath his Being of himſelf, and gives being unto all things elſe, he that is the Fountain of Being; whence a ſoul having had experience of him to be ſuch a one, lets his glory in that reſpect ariſe and be exalted in his ſoul: if you would have any Attribute work for you, p. 377then exalt that Attribute by truſting in it; and when it hath wrought for you, then exalt it alſo by glorifying of it: and as you have exalted God by his name Jah, ſo by his name Elſhaddi, a God alſufficient alſo; for there is no name of God but it will be exalted in the ſoul, ſuitable to the intereſt that we have in it, and the taſte that the ſoul hath of it. For there is a double putting forth of every Attribute of God ſavingly upon his Elect; not only a putting of it forth in his works and adminiſtrations towards them, but there is alſo a putting of it forth by exalting it in a man; and therein the main ſweetneſs of the diſcovering of it doth lye. He therefore that hath not had the price of this Attribute raiſed in his ſoul, nor taſted the ſweetneſs of it, nor rejoyced in it, nor adored and admired it, and God as ſuch a one, under the apprehenſion of ſuch an attribute, truly that man hath no intereſt in it. If a Saint cannot ſay that attribute is mine, and this attribute I have an intereſt in, yet he can admire the attribute, and give God the glory of it as an excellency in himſelf; and he doth not only praiſe God for his goodneſs towards him, but as it is in himſelf, for the glorious excellencies that are in the Divine nature; as we may ſee it in Hannah, 1 Sam. 2.1, 2. My heart rejoyceth in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, I will rejoyce in thy ſalvation; there is none holy as the Lord, &c. And as it is exceeding ſweet unto the people of God, and a Paradiſe to walk from one Tree to another in the Paradiſe of God, and to ſay ſuch a truth the Lord fulfilled unto me, in ſuch a caſe, and in ſuch an extremity, and ſuch a promiſe, at ſuch a time; ſo much more for a man to be able to look over all the attributes of God, and to ſay ſuch a time the Lord did glorifie ſuch an attribute towards me, and ſuch a time ſuch a one; and to ſee all the attributes of God, as well as all the works of God to work together for a mans good, every one in their proper places; as the ſtars in their courſes fought againſt Siſera, and the threatnings of God fight againſt wicked men, ſo to have the word of God, the works of God, and the attributes of God work for a man, is their happineſs and their joy.

4. He that hath an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, will be raiſed up in his ſoul to an holy ſelf-ſufficiency; as there is no grace that is in Chriſt, but it will have a reſemblance in us, ſo there is no attribute of God, but it hath its reſemblance; therefore 1 Pet. 2.9. we are ſaid to ſhew forth foreign, the vertues of him that hath called us; and in this doth properly our conformity unto God in this world lye, there is ſomething in us that doth hold a reſemblance with the attributes of God, that are manifeſted and put forth for us. And in this is the greateſt exerciſe of the attributes of God for our good, when the patience of God works patience in us, and we be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful, and holy as he is holy, when the wiſdom of God works wiſdom in us, and there is a reſemblance of the power of God in us, that we are able to do all things through Chriſt that ſtrengthens us, when the greatneſs of God works in us a holy greatneſs of mind, and when the alſufficiency of God works in us a gracious ſelf-ſufficiency; for there is a ſelf-ſufficiency that is a duty, as there is a ſelf-ſufficiency that is a ſin, 1 Tim. 6.6. Godlineſs is great gain, foreign, 2 Cor. 9.8. Every where, and in all things foreign, &c. and it is that which the Apoſtle had learned, Phil. 4.11. ſo Prov. 14.14. A good man is ſatisfied from himſelf. There is ſelf as divided from God, which is a ſin, but ſelf as united unto God, is a great duty. Self-ſufficiency in oppoſition to the creatures is a duty, for a man can be happy without them: but ſelf-ſufficiency in oppoſition to God is a ſin; for if a man be one with God, then a mans ſelf-ſufficiency is Gods alſufficiency; for having God and that ſufficiency that is in him he hath all, though amongſt the creatures he hath no portion, no inheritance; when a man hath the Moon under his feet, and he can ſay when he ſees all the world deſtroyed, Se nihil habere bonum tantâ mole perdendum, &c. and can look upon the general conflagration of the world, as Lot did upon Sodom in the burning, without a relenting thought, becauſe his portion is not in them, this man hath a ſelf-ſufficiency grounded upon his intereſt in the alſufficiency of God; for as the Apoſtle ſaith of the Fathers, Heb. 11.13. That chuſing to be pilgrims they did declare plainly, that they did ſeek a country; ſo when we ſee the Saints of God to ſeek after no creature-ſufficiency, and not to place their happineſs and the ſtay of their lives upon them, it is a plain argument, that they have their ſufficiency in ſomething elſe, there is ſomething elſe that doth bear up and elevate their ſpirits, which can be nothing elſe but the acting of their ſouls upon the alſufficiency of God.

Ʋſe 5 §. 5. All you that have an intereſt in the alſufficiency of God, walk before him and be upright, Gen. 17.1, 2. for what need a man to turn aſide to any other, what need had he to haſten after another god? Pſal. 16.4. If the alſufficiency of God be yours, he that is ſelf-ſufficient for his own happineſs, ſurely he will be alſufficient for yours; and therefore there is no need to wander after the pleaſures of ſin, or the comforts of the creatures; if there be no defect to be ſupplied, what need had we to call in any other? foreign p. 378foreign, perfect good ſeems to be alſufficient, Ariſtot. If there be a perfect good, it muſt needs be ſufficient, for that is perfect unto which nothing can be added; if the creatures be added unto the Lord, he is never the more perfect; therefore if the creatures are wanting there is no defect, no deficiency in him; and if we need no other, why ſhould we trouble our ſelves to make out to another, to do any thing in vain? we count it folly to take in many things for that which may be ſupplied in one, fruſtra fit per plura, &c. therefore keep God to thee, and thou ſhalt want nothing. Here is a double duty required from the alſufficiency of God to all his Covenant-people.

1. To walk with God: Walk before me, foreign before my face, in conſpectu meo, as in my ſight, as being under mine eye, in whatever thou doſt put thy hand unto. There are three expreſſions take in a mans whole duty towards God in the way and in the courſe of his converſation: (1) Walking with God, Gen. 5.24. Enoch walked with God. [1] It is a term of reconciliation, that the enmity between God and the man is taken away, for they are friends that walk together, Amos 3.3, 2. Two cannot walk together unleſs they be agreed; ſo that a man muſt be in a ſtate of reconciliation. [2] It's a term of communion, that in a mans way he ſhould have fellowſhip with God in his whole courſe, and in all the actions of his life; for that is a mans walk: and therefore 2 Cor. 6.16. when the Lord hath communion with his people, he is ſaid to walk with us, and when we have communion with God we are ſaid to walk with him, Luther.extra cauſam juſtificationis nemo poteſt bona opera ſatis magnificè commendare, Luth. and a man is to walk with God not only in religious duties, but alſo in all the common and ordinary actions of his life; a man ſhould not only do what the Lord doth command, but he ſhould do it unto the ſame end for which it was commanded, and that is, that he might enjoy communion with God therein. (2) There is a following of God, or a walking after him, Num. 14.24. it's called following of the Lamb, that implies three things: [1] A walking by rule; for a man muſt go no where but where he ſees the footſteps of God before him. [2] It is coming up unto the exactneſs of the rule, that he doth follow the Lord exactly, he doth not miſs one ſtep where he ſees God to have gone before him,foreign. and this, Eph. 5.15. is walking circumſpectly. [3] It is walking with God unto the end, and ſo it implies a perſeverance, it is not a going a part of the way after God, and then to turn back from following him, but it is to follow after him, and to continue unto the end; and ſo it is ſaid, That the Lord called Abraham to his foot, Eſa. 41.1. and this is to follow the Lord fully, or as it is in the Original, implevit poſt me, he did fulfil after me, &c. (3) There is a walking before God, that is, with a conſtant reſpect unto his all-ſeeing eye, he ſees the eye of God always upon him, and he ſees that to be a holy eye, that no ſin can ſcape it, nothing can blind it, all things are naked and open before it, and he that doth obſerve it, it is unto this end, that he may judge it, that he may give unto every man according as his works ſhall be, and that's the meaning, Luke 15.21. I have ſinned againſt heaven and before thee: by Heaven the Learned do underſtand the preſence of God, who doth dwell in Heaven; and therefore Pſal. 73.9. They do ſet their mouth againſt heaven, Mollet. Ad veram ſapientiam pertinet, ut Deum praeſentem, & cuncta inſpicientem jugiter attendamus. Carth.that is, contra Deum audacter ſeſe efferunt: Mat. 21.25. The Baptiſm of John was it from Heaven or from men? that is, from God; and that was the great thing, that without regard unto the greatneſs of God and his glory, without reſpect unto his preſence, and his holineſs, and his all-ſeeing eye, he ſinned againſt him, and that did affect him; and that alſo did cut the heart of David, I have done this evil in thy ſight, and yet I had no fear of thy glorious preſence and thy all-ſeeing eye: ſo that there are theſe ſix things neceſſary to a mans walking as becomes a Saint in reference unto God, [1] he muſt be in a ſtate of reconciliation, [2] he muſt walk by rule, [3] he muſt go to the exactneſs of the rule, [4] he muſt perſevere and continue unto the end, and not turn away and draw back; [5] he muſt have an eye upon the preſence of God and his eye in all he doth: [6] he muſt do all this, that he may enjoy fellowſhip and communion with the Lord in his whole courſe.

2. That we be upright or perfect with him: there is a perfection of the Saints in this life, even while their ſouls are imperfect, Heb. 12.23. and it conſiſts in two things: (1) When the ſoul in its choice and bent cleaves unto God alone, and goes out after no other, Pſal. 18.29. God will be yours, if you will be his, you muſt be unto him, and to no other, Hoſ. 3.3. God can admit of no Corrivals with him. (2) When there is a perfection in the inward man, all grace is there in truth, the whole new man, the whole Law of God is written in the heart, he reſpects the whole Law of God, leaves none of his Commandments out in his practice; it's not enough to know the will of God, but there muſt be a doing of his will, his practice muſt anſwer his knowledge, and when all theſe are in you, and abound, then you are ſaid to be perfect; and this is the ambition and the endeavour of every child of God, that the law within may fully anſwer the law without, that the man p. 379of God may be perfect, thoroughly furniſhed to every good work, as well as every good word, and may be ready in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that his labour ſhall not be in vain in the Lord; this is our perfection, to glorifie God always in our hearts and in our lives, &c.

CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant.