joying of God in his Ordinances; remember, the enjoying of God's fweet Prefence here, is an Earneft of our enjoying him in Heaven. And that brings me to the fecond Thing, which is,

2d. The Enjoying of God in the Life to come Man's chief End is to enjoy God for ever. Before this plenary Fruition of God in Heaven, there must be fomething previous and antecedent, and that is, our being in a State of Grace: We must have Conformity to him in Grace, before we can have Communion with him in Glory; Grace and Glory are inter fe connexe, link'd and chained together; Grace preceeds Glory, as the Morning-ftar ufhers in the Sun. God will have us qualified and fitted for a State of Bleffednefs: Drunkards and Swearers are not fit to enjoy God in Glory, the Lord will not lay fuch Vipers in his Bofom; only the Pure in Heart hall fee God: We must first be as the King's Daughter, glorious within, before we are clothed with the Robes of Glory. As King Abafuerus firft caufed the Virgins to be purified and anointed, and they had their fweet Odours to perfume them, and then they went to ftand before the King, Eft 2. 12. 10 muft we, we must have the Anointing of God, and be perfumed with the Graces of the Spirit, thofe fweet Odours and then we fhall ftand before the King of Heaven: Now, being thus divinely qualified by Grace, we shall be taken up to the Mount of Vifion, and enjoy God for ever: This enjoying God for ever, is nothing elfe but to be put into a State of Happinefs. As the Body cannot have Life, but by having Communion with the Soul; fo the Soul cannot have Bleffednefs, but by having immediate Communion with God. God is the Summum Bonum, the Chief Good; therefore the enjoying of him is the highest Felicity: He is, I fay, the Chief Good.

1. He is an univerfal Good; Bonum in quo omnia bona. The Excellencies of the Creature are limited. A Man may have Health, not Beauty; Learning, not Parentage; Riches, not Wildom: But in God are eminently contained all Excellencies: He is a Good commenfurate fully to the Soul; he is a Sun, a Portion, an Horn of Salvation; in him dwells all Fulness, Col. 1. 19. 2. God is an unmixed Good: No Condition in this Life but hath its Mixture; for every Drop of Honey there is

a Drop of Gall. Solomon, who gave himself to find out this Philofopher's Stone, to fearch out for an Happiness here below, he found Vanity and Vexation, Ecclef. 1. 2. But God is a perfect; quinteffential Good. He is Sweetnefs in the Flower. 3. God is a fatisfying Good. The Soul cries out, I have enough, Pfal. 17. 15. I shall be fatisfied with thy Fikeness. A Man that is thirsty, bring him to the Ocean, and he hath enough. If there be enough in God to fatisfy the Angels, then fure enough to fatisfy us. The Soul is but finite, but God is an increate infinite Good. And yet tho' God be fuch a Good at doth fatisfy, yet not furfeit. Frefh Joys fpring continually from God's Face; and God is as much to be defired after Millions of Years by glorified Souls, as at the first Moment. There is fo much Fuinets in God as fatisfies, yet fo much Sweetnefs, that the Soul ftill defires; it is Satisfaction without Surfeit. 4. God is a delicious Good. That which is the chief Good muft ravish the Soul with Pleafure; there must be in it Spirits of Delight and Quinteffence of Joy; and this is to be enjoyed. only in God. In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima immo rapitur; The Love of God drops fuch infinite Suavity into the Soul as is unfpeakable and full of Glory. If there be fo much Delight in God, when we fee him only by Faith, 1 Pet. 1. 8. what will the Joy of Vifion be, when we fhall fee him Face to Face? If the Saints have found fo much Delight in God while they were fuffering, O then what Joy and Delight will, they have when thy are crowning! If Flames are Beds of Rofes, O then, what will it be to lean on the Bofom of Jefus! what a Bed of Rofes will that be! God is a fuperlative Good. He is better than any Thing you can put in Competition with him; he is better than Health, Riches, Honour. Other Things maintain Life, he gives Life. But who would go to put any Thing in Balance with the Deity? who would weigh a Feather with a Mountain of Gold? God excels all other Things more infinitely than the Sun the Light of a Taper. 6. God is an eternal Good: He is the ancient of Days, Dan. 7. 9. yet never decays, nor waxes old. The Joy he gives is eternal, the Crown he gives fadeth not away, 1 Pet. 5. 4. The glorified Soul fhal be ever folacing itfelf in God; it fhall be feafting on his Love and funning itself in

the

O then how fhould Chriftians, who have the Light of Scripture to fee by, beftir themselves, that they may arrive at the eternal Fruition of Godand Glory! If any Thing may make us rife off our Bed of Sloth, and ferve God with all our Might, it fhould be this. The Hope of our full Enjoyment of God for ever. What made Paul do active in the Sphere of Religion? 1 Cor.15.10. laboured more abundantly than they all. His Obedience did not move flow, as the Sun on the Dial; but fwift, as the Sun in the Firmament. Why was he fo zealous in glorifying God,but that he might at laft centre and terminate in him? Theff.4.17.Then fall we be ever with the Lord.

3d. Ufe of Confolation,

Let this comfort the Godly in all the prefent Miferies they feel. Thou complaineft (Chriftian) thou doft not enjoy thy felf; Fears difquiet thee, Wants perplex thee; in the Day thou canst not enjoy Eafe, in the Night thou canst not enjoy Sleep: thou dost not enjoy the Comforts of thy Life. Let this revive thee, that fhortly thou fhalt enjoy God, and then fhalt have more than thou canst ask or think; Thou fhalt have Angels Joy, Glory without Intermiffion and Expiration. We fhall never enjoy ourfelves fully, till we enjoy God eternally.

2 TIM. i. 16. All Scripture is given by Infpiration of God, &c. By Scripture is underflood the facred Book of God. It is given by divine Inspiration; that is, the Scripture is not the Contrivance of Man's Brain, but of a divine Original. The Image of Diana was had in Veneration by the Ephefians, becaufe they did fuppofe it fell from Jupiter, As 19. 35. This Book then of the holy Scripture is to be highly reverenced and efteemed, Becaufe we are fure it came from Heaven, 2 Pet. 1. 21. The two Teftaments are the two Lips by which God hath spoken to us..

Queft.. How doth it appear that the Scrip

tures have a Jus Divinum, a divine Autority stamped upon them?

Anfw. Because the Old and New Teftament are the Foundation of all Religion If their gone on which we build our Faith. I shall Divinity cannot be proved, the Foundation is therefore endeavour to evince this great Truth, that the Scriptures are the very Word of God. if not from God. 1. Bad Men could not be I wonder whence the Scriptures fhould come,

the Authors of Scripture; would their Minds be employed in indighting fuch holy Lines? would they declare fo fiercely against Sin 2. Good Men could not be the Authors of Scripture. Could they write in fuch a Strain? or could it ftand with their Grace to counterfeit God's Name, and put, Thus faith the Lord, to a Book of their own devifing? 3. Nor could any Angel in Heaven be the Author of Scripture. Because, 1. The Angels pry and fearch into the Abyfs of Gofpel Myfteries, 1 Pet. 1. 12. which implies their Nefcience of fome Parts of Scripture; and fure they cannot be Authors of that Book which themselves do not fully understand. Befides, 2. What Angel in Heaven durft be fo arrogant as to perso

nate:

nate God, and fay, I create, Ifa. 65. 17. and, I the Lord bave faid it, Numb. 14. 35. So that it is evident, The Pedegree of Scripture is Sacred, and it could come from none but God himself.

Not to fpeak of the harmonious Confent of all the Parts of Scripture, there are feven cogent Arguments may evince it to be the Word of God.

1. By its Antiquity: It is of ancient standing. The gray Hairs of Scripture make it venerable. No human Hiftories extant reach further than fince Noah's Flood; but the holy Scripture relates Matters of Fact that have been from the Beginning of the World; it writes of Things before Time. Now, that is a fure Rule of Tertullian, That which is of the greatest Antiquity, id verum quod primum, is to be received as most facred and au

thentick.

2. We may know the Scriptures to be the Word of God, by the miraculous Prefervation of it in all Ages. The holy Scriptures are the richeft Jewel that Chrift hath left; and the Church of God hath kept thefe publick Records of Heaven, that they have not been loft The Word of God hath never wanted Enemies to oppose, and, if poffible, to extirpate it. They have given out a Law concerning Scripture, as Pharaoh did the Midwives concerning the Hebrew Women's children, to ftrangle it in the Birth; yet God hath preferved this bleffed Book inviolable to this Day. The Devil and his Agents have been blowing at ScriptureLight, but could never prevail to blow it out, a clear Sign that it was lighted from Heaven. Veritas opprimi poteft, not supprimi. Nor hath the Church of God, in all Revolutions and Changes, only kept the Scripture that it fhould not be loft, but that it fhould not be depraved. The Letter of Scripture hath been preferved, without any Corruption, in the Original Tongue. The Scriptures were not corrupted before Chrift's Time, for then Chrift would never have fent the Jews to the Scriptures; but he fends them to the Scriptures, Join 5. 39. Search the Scriptures. Chrift knew thefe facred Springs were not muddied with human Fancies.

3. The Scripture appears to be the Word of God, by the Matter contained in it. 1. By its Profundity. The Mystery of Scripture is fo

abftrufe and profound, that no Man or Angel could have known it, had it not been divinely revealed. That Eternity fhould be born; That he who thunders in the Heavens fhould cry in the Cradle; That he who rules the Stars, fhould fuck the Breafts: Qui regit Sidera, fugit Ubera: That the Prince of Life should die ;, that the Lord of Glory fhould be put to Shame; That Sin fhould be punished to the full, yet pardoned to the full: Who could ever have conceived of fuch a Mystery, had not the Scripture been the Oracle to reveal it to us? So, for the Doctrine of the Refurrection, That the fame Body which is crumbled into a Thoufand Pieces, fhould rife idem numero, the fame individual Body (for elfe it were a Creation, not a Refurrection.) How could fuch a facred Riddle, above all human Difquifition, be known, had not the Scripture made a Difcovery of it? 2. By its Purity. It is for the Matter of it fo full of Goodnefs, Juftice, and San&tity, that it could be breathed from none but from God: The Holiness of it fhows it to be of God, it bears his very Image. The Scripture is compared to Silver refined feven Times, Pfal. 12. 6. This Book of God hath no Errata's in it: It is a Beam of the Sun of Righteoufnefs, a cryftal Stream flowing from the Fountain of Life. All Laws and Edicts of Men have had their Corruptions, but the Word of God hath not the leaft Tincture, it is of a Meridian Splendor, Pfal. 119. 140. Thy Word is very pure, like Wine that comes from the Grape, which is not mixed nor adulterated. It is fo pure, that it purifies every Thing else, John 17. 17. Sanétify them through they Truth. The Scripture preffeth Holines, fo as never any Book did: It bids us live foberly, righteously, godly, Titus 2. 12. Soberly, in Acts of Temperance; Righteously, in Acts of Juftice; godly, in the Acts of Zeal and Devetion. It commends to us, whatever is just, lovely, and of goed Report, Phil. 4. 8. This Sword of the Spirit, (Eph. 6. 17.) cuts down Vice. Out of this Tower of Scripture is thrown down a Milftone upon the Head of Sin. The Scripture is the royal Law, which commands not only the Actions, but Affections; it binds the Heart to its good Eehaviour. Where is there fuch Holinefs to be found, as is dig'd out of this facred Mine? Who could be the Author of fuch a Book, but God himfelf?

C 2

4 That

4. That the Scripture is the Word of God, is evident by its Predictions; it prophefieth of Things to come. This fhows the Voice of God fpeaking in it; it was foretold by the Prophet, A Virgin fhall conceive, Ifa. 7. 14. and, The Meffiah fhall be cut off, Dan. 9. 26. The Scripture foretells Things that fhould fall out many Ages and Centuries after; as how long Ifrael fhould ferve in the Iron Furnace, and the very Day of their Deliverance, Exod. 12. 41. At the End of the four hundred and thirty Years, even the felf-fame Day, it came to pass, the Hoft of the Lord went out of Egypt. This Prediction of future Things, merely contingent, and not depending upon natural Caufes, is a clear Demonstration of its divine Original. 5. The Impartiality of thofe Men of God, who wrote the Scriptures; they do not fpare to fet down their own Failings. What Man that writes an Hiftory would black his own Face, viz. Record thofe Things of himfelfthat might ftain his Reputation? Mofes records his own Impatience when he ftruck the Rock, and tells us, therefore he could not enter into the Land of Promife. David writes of his own Adultery and Bloodshed, which stands as a Blot in his Scutcheon to fucceeding Ages. Peter relates his own Pufillaminity in denying Chrift. Jonah fets down his own Paffions, I do well to be angry to the Death. Surely, had not their Pen been guided by God's own Hand, they would never have written that which did reflect Dishonour upon themfelves. Men do ufually rather hide their Blemishes, than publifh them to the World: But these Pen-men of holy Scripture eclipfe their own Name; they take away all the Glory from themfelves, and give the Glory to God.

6. Arg. The mighty Porter and Efficacy the Word hath had upon the Souls and Confciences of Men. 1. It hath changed their Hearts. 2. Some by reading of Scripture have been turned into other Men, they have been made holy and gracious. By reading other Books the Heart may be warmed, but by reading this Book it is transformed, 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ye are manifeftly declared to be the Epistle of Chrift, written not with Ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. The Word was copied out in to their Hearts, and they were become Chrift's Epiftle, fo that others might read Chrift in them. If you. fhould fet a Seal upon. Marble,

and it fhould make an Impreffion upon the Marble, and leave a Print behind, there were a strange Virtue in that Seal: So, when the Seal of the Word leaves an heavenly Print of Grace upon the Heart, there muft needs be a Power going along with that Word no less than Divine. 2. It hath comforted their Hearts. When Chriftians have fat by the Rivers weeping, the Word hath dropped as Honey, and fweetly revived them. A Chriftian's chief Comfort is drawn out of thefe Wells of Salvation; Rom. 15. 4. That we through Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope. When a poor Soul hath been ready to faint, he hath had nothing to comfort him but a Scripture Cordial. When he hath been fick, the Word hath revived him; 2 Cor. 4. 17. Our light Affliction, which is but for a Moment, workerb for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory. When he hath been deferted, the Word hath drop'd in the golden Oil of Joy into his Heart; Lam Fhe Lord will not caft off for ever. He may cha his Providence, not his Purpose: He may have the Look of an Enemy, but the Heart of a Father. Thus the Word hath a Power in it to comfort the Heart; Pfal.119.50. This is my Comfort inmine Affliction; for thy Word hath quickned me. As the Spirits are conveyed through the Arteries of the Body; fq divine Comforts are conveyed through the Promifes of the Word. Now the Scriptures having fuch an exhilirating Heart-comforting Power in them, it flows clearly that they are of God, and it is he that hath put this Milk of Confolation into thefe Breafts.

7. The great Miracles wherewith the Lord hath confirmed Scripture. Miracles were used by Mofes, Elijah, Chrift, and continued many Years after by the Apostles, to confirm the Verity of the holy Scriptures. As Props are fet under weak Vines, fo thefe Miracles were fet under the weak Faith of Men, that if they would not believe the Writings of the Word, yet they might believe the Miracles. We read of God's dividing the Waters, making a Cawfey in the Sea for his People to go over, the Iron fwimming, the Oil increafing by pouring out, Chrift's making Wine of Water, his cureing the Blind, and raifing the Dead: Thus God hath fet Seal to the Truth and Divinity of the Scripture by Miracles.

Object.