of Israel's comely tents? Shall you be ranked with the fallen angels, who fell from the highest places of the world to the lowest? Keep your situation, if you be wise fallen stars are most abominable: the higher pitch, the lower fall: better you had never known such excellent things, than to slight and forget them, and be as base and earthly, as if the sound of such astonishing things had never come to your ears. 74. An invitation to exchange earthly Launch out further and further for heavenly things. into the depths of infinite excellences. Ah! what can we speak of such massy, sublime things? though we should write as many volumes as would fill the whole creation, earth's shallow dialect is insignificant in such substantial things; words here are but silent shadows, of no efficacy: come, and see, and taste, would tell the matter. Sirs, have you any thing to say? Is not the business past all debate? Need we say any more? Can you be so mad, as to be indifferent and inconsiderate in such a weighty concernment? Sirs, how long shall you halt betwixt two opinions? 1 Kings xviii. 21. Stand no more a-back; oh come, come, come away, and be everlastingly blessed! Are you not out of conceit with time's worm-eaten glory? Are you not lamenting your former vanity and madness? Are you not wearied in the things that cannot profit? Are you considering things, never entered within your conception before? What hinders you then, that you become not heavenly and divine? Are you not altogether in love with our Wellbeloved, the Author of all? Are you not closing with him, on his own terms, as he hath offered himself in his testament? Are you not heartily embracing, and striving to grow more and more conformable to his lovely image, until you shall grow up unto the perfect stature of his fulness? Oh then! welcome, a thousand times welcome unto this glorious world of Emmanuel's conquest you are come to the joyful and lightsome side of the creation. I dare pledge my salvation, you shall never repent of so sweet a translation: your light shall more and more break forth, unto the perfect day, Prov. iv. 18; your progress, through all the difficulties of time, even death itself, shall be cheerful and sweet. glory swallows up all Be of good courage, ye saints of 75. The hope of the Most High, ye princes of the imaginable sorrow. world; all are yours, for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. It is all one whether dunghill worms contemn, or esteem you: it is below you to fear such feeble creatures. Overlook the changes of time; it is below princes, born to such great things, to take notice of such trifles: stand to your royal prerogatives; fall not down from your ennobling exercise; Set the Lord always before you, and you shall never be moved, Psa. xvi. 8; let the world reel to and fro; let the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea; let thousands, and ten thousands fall on every hand, yet can you undergo no harm. Death, in any garb, is gain to the person who is in heaven already. 76. Earth-worms, who will be such, You who will still be grovelling upon base earth, who, though ye have nothing to do should read and hear ever so often of with heaven. the only excellent things, will back to the dunghill again, and will vex and torment yourselves with the cares and vanities of a transitory life, who will endeavour and desire to be laden with thick clay,—we have only this to say to you, “He that is filthy, let him be filthy still," Rev. xxii. 11. You have made a sad choice, poor fools; your paradise is base, empty, hungry, and transient : in whatever account you seem to be, in the eyes of a base world, you are vile despicable worms. Crawl, and set up your crest, on your stately dunghill; but know, if ye can understand, that these vile bodies and souls of yours shall never ascend higher. Fill yourselves with dust, as the serpents; let your day thoughts, and night thoughts run out upon dunghill concernments; add house to house, and land to land; heap up treasures for many days; and when you encounter death, or a day of sad affliction, cast up your great and precious gains: have you accounted yourselves unworthy of such unspeakable blessedness? You shall never taste it, but be everlastingly shut up in that horrid, abominable lake, a suitable dwelling-place for such vile wretches: this dark smoky region you only affect, and to utter darkness shall you be driven, where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth." 77. Christ alone to be exalted and es Purchaser of this noble inheritance. Let glory and renown remain for teemed, who is the ever upon the head of the Author and Purchaser of so great a salvation! Can angels ever enough admire him? Can the saints ever enough praise him? where shall we get a throne to set this majestic One upon? All our glory and excellence is too base and low a footstool for his feet: thousands of thousands of excellent worlds, erected above one another, were too base and low a foundation for him to trample upon. Men or angels, what have you, or what can you say worthy of him? Were your halleluiahs turned up ever so many degrees higher, yet still they should fall infinitely below his matchless worth: what can we do, in extolling such a lofty One? for ever is he infinitely exalted above all our praises; yet praise him we shall, eternally shall we praise him: all our strength, soul, and might must be fully let forth to his glory: though all we can do be just nothing. Who is worthy of glory, except our Wellbeloved? whom should we love, but him? whom should we praise, but him? whom should we admire, but him? Who but he none but him. Oh let all our powers and faculties be eternally filled with him. Ah! and it is black shame the sons of men should think and speak, and write so much of empty nothings, and so little of this only excellent One! When shall our Wellbeloved be great among all nations? Ah! he is nothing, or little known among the sons of men; little do they discourse of him ; what they discourse is cold and common. Alas! men talk of him, as if he were a common beloved! men esteem Jesus some ordinary one! they hear of one Jesus, that was slain at Jerusalem, and they are as little affected, as if they read or heard of some common history: the news of his excellent kingdom has small impression upon them ; they think they hear of new worlds, never seen, or travelled to by any. Christ is an unknown person to the most; the sound of his name has filled the ears of all, the letters of his name are well known, and no more: but who have been filled with the odoriferous emanations of his Lebanon garments? Who have tasted of his soul overcoming sweetness? Who have “found him,” and "held him, and would not let him go ?" Who have been led into his presence chamber? Who cannot live, though in ever so great abundance of earthly things, without a familiar and intimate fellowship with him! 78. Religion is another thing than stu with God is a hid Poor worldlings, the best of you pid worldlings ima- are but formalists, occupied about gine: close walking the outside and shell of religion : mystery unto them. through custom, and a natural conscience, you go through all the bulk of the exercises of godliness; you hear, you pray, you read, you confer, you meditate; you perform duties betwixt man and man, through custom and formality, through shame of others, through vain glory, through the gnawings of a natural conscience, which you must somewhat quiet one way or another. But know you what it is to do all things to the glory of our Wellbeloved? to be afraid, that, in the best of your performances, you offend him? Know you what it is to look more to the manner of your duties, than the bulk of them? to the principle from whence they flow, than any thing else? to the intention and frame of your heart in duty? Know you what it is to watch over your heart, to have a strict eye over your thoughts and intentions? to be most troubled with, and in guarding against these secret sins of the thoughts and intentions, which no creature can see but yourselves? Know you what it is to keep up a near and intimate communion with |