Chapter 54: God's people to be highly honored

SEventhly, if there be such blessed things reserved for the people of God: Hence let us look upon all the servants of God as honorable in our eyes, and let them be honored in our thoughts, for great are the thoughts of God upon them and towards them, and therefore great and honorable should be our thoughts of them, though they be never so poor and mean in the world. We use to look upon great heirs with admiring thoughts, and blessing of them every time we look upon them. Do you see one walking in the ways of God? whatever he be for his outwards, let your hearts bless him, and say, Here is one indeed born to great things, other manner of things then any the world affords. Did we know what were the things that the people of God should be possessed of within a while, we would say in our hearts, O blessed that ever they were born, blessed is the womb that bare them, and blessed are the paps that gave them suck: Did we with a spiritual believing eye behold what things they should have, and saw them as now possessed of them, we would see cause to fall down and kiss the ground upon which they tread: The blessed Angels look upon them as great ones, as the glory of the world, and therefore do joyfully minister unto them, because they know they are the great heirs of Heaven, for whom such great things are prepared: Great things are spoken of you, O you City of God, says the Psalmist; Great things are spoken of you, O ye Saints of God. If Heaven must be so glorious to entertain the Saints, how glorious are those for whom heaven is prepared? Says Ahasuerus, What shall be done to the man whom the King will honor? O what shall be done to those whom an infinite God has set his heart upon to raise to honor, and to manifest to Angels, and to all the world, what his infinite power is able to do in raising of a creature to glory: In the Saints there is a meeting, as it were of the beams of Gods grace and goodness as in a center, and that must needs be very warm and hot indeed. The beams of the Sun in the circumference scattered in the ayr, are warm; but in a glass, where they are united together as it were in a center, there they warm after another manner, there they burn; so all the works of Gods grace abroad in the world, they are as the beams of the Sun in the circumference, that are scattered abroad; but in his people there is the center where they are united together, and there they burn, and are glorious indeed, and therefore high and honorable thoughts you ought to have of the Saints. It is a great argument to show Gods greatness, that all the creatures in the world are his, and for him. What an argument then is it to set forth the greatness of a Christian, that Heaven, and God, and Christ, and all are his and for him? and this has been shown in this glorious recompence of reward: How great and honorable then should they be in our eyes?

Eighthly, if there be such a glorious reward, and great things prepared for Gods people, then what love is due to Christ, and to the Gospel, and to the ways of godliness?

First, love to the Lord Christ, who is the cause of all this.

Secondly, to the Gospel that reveals these things to us.

Thirdly, to the ways of godliness that leads to all this: great and blessed are the things of the Kingdom of Heaven; from whence is all this? It is the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all this comes, another reward was due to us, we were wretched guilty creatures, fire-brands of hell, children of perdition, cast out unto an eternal curse; but the Lord Christ, who was the wisdom of the Father, set his heart upon us, and spoke for us from all eternity, and would not satisfy himself in delivering of mankinde from that miserable and lost condition in which they were, but so set his heart upon them, as he intended to make it his great work for the manifestation of the riches of his grace, to raise this poor wretched creature to a height of happiness and glory, that it might appear to Angels, to the world, yea to the blessed Trinity it self, what the Son of God is able to do, to raise a creature from misery unto glory; and so his heart was set upon mankinde, that though it must cost him the eclipsing of his own glory, though he must come to be made a prey to the world, and if a man, a man of sorrows, yea, made a curse it self in the abstract, that man might have this glory and happiness, and yet he was content with all; and at last this is all he prays for as a fruit of his sufferings and merits, Father, I will that they also whom you hast given me, be where I am, that they may behold my glory which you hast given me; as if he should say, If I can but have this, I am well, I have enough for all the sufferings that I did endure. This indeed is called a reward, but it is the reward of another manner of righteousness then our own; were it that there were no other righteousness but our own, though our own should be true righteousness, the reward would never come to this height; but this is first the reward of the merit, of the death, of the blood, and of the perfect righteousness of the Son of God, and so in him it comes to be our reward, therefore it is Christ that is our life, and happiness, and glory. O let us join with those blessed Elders in Rev. 5. 8, 9. that fell down before the Lamb, having all harps in their hands, and golden vials full of odours, and sung, Worthy art you who were slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by your blood, to receive honor, and blessing, and glory; and that we might join in that blessed melody that St. John heard in that Chapter, in Verse 13. He heard all creatures in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the Sea, saying, Blessing, honor, glory and power, be unto him that sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever; that we might say Amen to this. If any man wish good to us, we count it worthy of love; but the Lord Christ having wrought such infinite good for us as this, how should our hearts be enflamed to him, and that none should be dear to us, and prized of us in comparison of Christ: Let us cry out with that blessed Martyr, None but Christ, none but Christ.

Again, how should our souls love the Gospel, and prize the Gospel, that has revealed all this to us? In 2 Tim. 1:10 it is said, Life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospel: These are the things that in comparison were kept hid from the beginning of the world, before the manifestation of the Gospel, but now they are revealed: O blessed be God that we had the preaching of the Gospel amongst us, to open the treasures of grace to us in this manner. What poor low thoughts should we have had of the happiness of mankinde, had not God made known these glorious things in the Ministery of the Gospel? Many wise men by the light of nature have risen high in the contemplations of happiness, that mans nature is capable of, but how far beneath these things have their highest thoughts been? It is a great part of the glory of the Gospel, that it sets out unto us these high and glorious things.

And then the ways of godliness, those we should love, because those are the ways that lead and tend to all this; godliness has the promise of the life to come, as well as the promise of this life annexed to it: Were the ways of godliness never so hard and rough, never so difficult, yet they are glorious ways, and to be loved, because of the glorious end they tend unto: Great is the gain of godliness, if these things be believed. You that are Merchants love and prize trading and merchandizing that brings in great gain; as some in a way of trading and merchandizing, by a bargain in a morning will bring in a hundred pounds, when as many other poor people are fain to work hard to get a shilling or eighteen pence a day; now you prize that trade that with a few words can get in so much: O prize the trade of godliness then, there is gain to be had. I may compare all the works of morality, and common grace, to the poor mean trade of the laboring man, that is fain to work hard for a shilling or eight pence a day, they work, and get but some few outward blessings from God, but godliness is the trade of merchandising, that brings in hundreds together, and that our hearts should be upon; God would have our hearts to be after great and glorious things. It is an expression of Cleopatra to Marcus Antonius, It is not for you to be fishing for Gudgeons, but for Towns, and Forts, and Castles: And so those that are acquainted with the ways of godliness, it is not for them to be trading for poor things, but for eternal life, glory and immortality.

The ninth Use, is an Use of Examination, to know who those are that have interest in these glorious things, to the answering of that question in Psalm 15. Who shall abide in your Tabernable? who shall dwell in your holy hill? I confess that Psalm does principally aim at communion with the Church of God; such as are fit for communion with a Church, are fit for heaven, and therefore the question may be true, Who shall dwell in your holy hill? who shall be partakers of these things? Blessed are they that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God; But who are they? It is necessary you should labor to make this sure, because it is a matter so great, and so glorious, and not to lay the weight of that which is of infinite consequence, upon poor, weak, slight, and sandy foundations; certainly we do not know what the grace of God towards mankinde is, if we content ourselves with slight hopes; but if God has enlightned your souls to know the reality and glory of them, they wil never be at rest, till you have got certain and infallible grounds for them. In things of small consequence we are content with slight evidences, but if a man have to deal in any business upon which his whole estate depends, he would not have any man think it ill if he does make sure, if he will have bonds and seals: so we should make sure of heaven, and of glory, because it is such a great matter.

Some I suppose, that meerly upon the hearing of the greatness of these things, cannot but have some misgiving thoughts; If these things be so great, surely they concern not me, they belong not to me; Can I think in my conscience that I am that man or woman that God should have such great thoughts upon, and should look upon me, so as to make it the greatest design that he has to glorifie the riches of his mercy upon me? What work of Gods grace have I ever had upon me? I would not have those that are affected with the greatness of Gods grace to mankinde, think that these things do not belong to them because they are great. But those that never had their hearts affected with the excellency and glory of Gods grace toward man, when they hear of the greatness and glory of those things that are reserved for the Saints, they may justly have their consciences misgive them, and think surely they do not belong to them. can you that art a base drunkard, that prizest nothing but a little drink, and some outward things, think that God should make it the greatest work that he has in the world, for to communicate the riches of his grace and goodness unto you? The greatness of these things may be enough to cast you off; As it is with a Beggar, a Beggar comes and asks an alms, if a man put his hand in his pocket, and take out a peny or two pence, he has hope to have that; but if he take out a piece of gold, he has no hope of that, because it is so much: So when men have but natural thoughts of heaven and happiness hereafter, you think you might have that, but when you come to have heaven opened to you, and you see it is such a great and glorious thing, your hearts may justly think it is not for us. Cast a bone to a Dog, he falls to it presently, but set a joynt of meat before him well drest, in a large dish, and he goes away, he dares not venture upon that: So for these things in the world, the ordinary favors of God, these bones that God casts to Dogs, you may fall upon them, and think these are for you; but when you come to the dainties, and infinite treasures of God, can such a swinish heart, such a base, filthy, unclean spirit as yours is, that never minded nothing but the satisfying of your base lusts, think that these are for you? you cannot but have misgiving thoughts, and think either these things are but notions, or else I have no part in them.