make our hearts revive, as it did Jacob's to hear the message that called him to Goshen, and to see the chariots that should bring him to Joseph. O that we were furnished with skill and resolution, to turn the stream of men's common discourse to these more sublime and precious things! And when men begin to talk of things unprofitable, that we could tell how to put in a word for heaven, and say as Peter of his bodily food, Not so, for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean! O the good that we might both do and receive by this course! Had it not been to deter us from unprofitable conversation, Christ would not have talked of our giving an account of every idle word in the day of judgment.* Say then, as the Psalmist, when you are in company, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Then you shall find it true, that a wholesome tongue is a tree of life.‡ 15. (5) Endeavour, in every duty, to raise thy affections nearer to heaven. God's end in the institution of his ordinances was, that they should be as so many steps to advance us to our rest, and by which, in subordination to Christ, we might daily ascend in our affections. Let this be thy end in using them, and doubtless they will not be unsuccessful. How have you been rejoiced by a few lines from a friend, when you could not see him face to face! And may we not have intercourse with God in his ordinances, though our persons be yet so far remote? May not our spirits rejoice in reading those lines, which contain our legacy and character for heaven? With what gladness and triumph may we read the expressions of di Matt, xii. 36. + Psalm cxxxvii. 6.. + Prov. xv. 4. vine love, and hear of our celestial country, though we have not yet the happiness to behold it? Men that are separated by sea and land, can by letters carry on great and gainful trades; and may not a Christian, in the wise improvement of duties, drive on this happy trade for rest? Come then, renounce formality, custom and applause, and kneel down in secret or public prayer, with hope to get thy heart nearer to God before thou risest up. When thou openest thy bible, or other book, hope to meet with some passage of divine truth, and such blessing of the Spirit with it, as will give thee a fuller taste of heaven. When thou art going to the house of God, say, "I hope to meet with somewhat from God to raise my affections, before I return; I hope the Spirit will give me the meeting, and sweeten my heart with those celestial delights; I hope Christ will appear to me in that way, and shine about me with light from heaven, let me hear his instructing and reviving voice, and cause the scales to fall from my eyes. that I may see more of that glory than I ever yet saw. I hope, before I return, my Lord will bring my heart within the view of rest, and set it before his Father's presence, that I may return, as the shepherds, from the heavenly vision, glorifying and praising God for all the things I have heard and seen." When the Indians first saw that the English could converse together by letters, they thought there was some spirit enclosed in them. So would bye-standers admire when Christians have communion with God in duties, what there is in those scriptures, in that sermon, in this prayer, that fills their hearts so full of joy, and so transports them above them. selves. Certainly God would not fail us in our duties, if we did not fail ourselves. Remember, therefore, always to pray for your minister, that God would put some divine message into his mouth, which may leave a heavenly relish on your spirit. crown. If thou 16. (6) Improve every object and every event, to mind thy soul of its approaching rest. As all providences and creatures are means to our rest, so they point us to that as their end. God's sweetest dealings with us at the present, would not be half so sweet as they are, if they did not intimate some further sweetness. Thou takest but the bare earnest, and overlookest the main sum, when thou receivest thy mercies, and forgetest thy O that Christians were skilful in this art! You can open your bibles; learn to open the volumes of creatures and providences, to read there also of God and glory. Thus we might have a fuller taste of Christ and heaven in every common meal, than most men have in a sacrament. prosper in the world, let it make thee more sensible of thy perpetual prosperity.. If thou art weary with labour, let it make the thoughts of thy eternal rest more sweet. If things go cross, let thy desires be more earnest to have sorrows and sufferings forever cease. Is thy body refreshed with food or sleep? remember the inconceivable refreshment with Christ. Dost thou hear any good news? remember what glad tidings it will be, to hear the trump of God, and the applauding sentence of Christ. Art thou delighted with the society of the saints? remember what the perfect society in heaven will be. Is God communicating himself to thy spirit? remember the time of thy highest advancement, when both thy communion and joy shall be full. Dost thou hear the raging noise of the wicked, and the confusions of the world? think of the blessed harmony in heaven. Dost thou hear the tempest of war? remember the day when thou shalt be in perfect peace, under the wings of the Prince of peace forever. Thus, every condition and creature, affords us advantages for a heavenly life, if we had but hearts to improve them. 17. (7) Be much in the angelical work of praise. The more heavenly the employment, the more will it make the spirit heavenly. Praising God is the work of angels and saints in heaven, and will be our own everlasting work; and if we were more in it now, we should be liker to what we shall be then. As desire, faith, and hope, are of shorter continuance than love and joy; so also preaching, prayer, and sacraments, and all means for expressing and confirming our faith and hope, shall cease, when our triumphant expressions of love and joy shall abide forever. The liveliest emblem of heaven that I know upon earth, is, when the people of God, in the deep sense of his excellency and bounty, from hearts abounding with love and joy, join together both in heart and voice, in the cheerful and melodious singing of his praises. These delights, like the testimony of the Spirit, witness themselves to be of God, and bring the evidence of their heavenly parentage along with them. § 18. Little do we know how we wrong ourselves by shutting out of our prayers the praises of God, or allowing them so narrow a room as we usually do, while we are copious enough in our confessions and petitions. Reader, I entreat thee, remember this, let praises have a larger room in thy duties; keep matter ready at hand to feed thy praise, as well as matter for confession and petition. To this end, study the excellencies and goodness of the Lord, as frequently as thy own wants and unworthiness; the mercies thou hast received, and those which are promised, as often as the sins thou hast committed. Praise is comely for the upright. Whoso offereth praise, glorifi eth God. Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name, for it is pleasant.* Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Had not David a most heavenly spirit, who was so much in this heavenly work? Doth it not sometime raise our hearts, when we only read the song of Moses, and the psalms of David? How much more would it raise and refresh us, to be skilful and frequent in the work ourselves? O the madness of youth, that lay out their vigour of body and mind upon vain delights and fleshly lusts, which is so unfit for the noblest work of man! And O the sinful folly of many of the saints, who drench their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days in complaints and groans, and so make themselves, both in body and mind, unfit for this sweet and heavenly work! Instead of joining with the people of God in his praises, they are questioning their worthiness, and studying their miseries; and so rob God of his glory, and themselves of their consolation. But the greatest destroyer of our comfort in this duty, is our taking up with the tune and melody, and suffering the heart to be idle, which ought to perform the principal part of the work, and use the melody to revive and exhilarate itself. * Psalm xxxiii. 1. 1. 23, cxxxv. 3. Heb. xiii, 15. |