Thomas Boston - Of the Benefits of Effectual Calling

Rom. viii. 30.—Whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

In this and the preceding verse is the golden chain of salvation, consisting of five links. The first two lie out of the sinner's view, till they be brought to light by means of the third. The first is God's foreknowledge, or eternal free-love and favour to some of mankind, laid on them from everlasting. The second is the predestination of these, Meeting them to everlasting life, and the means leading thereto. The third is the calling of the predestinated, calling them effectually, which is done in time, of which we have spoke before: There are other two that hang upon this. The fourth is the justification of the called which may imply the whole of the relative change made upon them, both their justification and adoption; for it is evident from verse 29, that the apostle has respect to adoption in this chain. The fifth is the glorifying of the justified,  which may import the whole of the real change made on the elect, namely, the sanctifying of them here, and glorifying of them hereafter. For what is grace but glory in the bud, and glory but grace brought to perfection? and therefore believers, ' with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,' 2 Cor. iii. 18. Thus effectual calling, as it rises from eternal love, so it makes the soul happy here and hereafter.
The text affords this doctrine, viz.
Doct. ' They that are effectually called do thereby partake of great and glorious benefits and privileges, both in this life and the life  to come.'
Here I shall briefly shew,
I. What are those benefits which they who are effectually called partake of in this life.
II. The benefits they partake of in the life to come.
III. Apply.
I. I shall shew what are those benefits which they that are effectually called partake of in this life.
First, There are three leading benefits which they partake of here.
1. They are all justified. So says the text. As soon as ever the soul answers the call of the gospel, and comes to Christ, the man is brought out of a state of condemnation, and gets his absolviture, Rom. viii. 1. He lives not a moment longer under the black cloud of the curse, but is translated into another climate, where he lives under the sunshine of the blessing. His sins are all pardoned, and he is accepted as a righteous man. He is judged, and he gets the white stone. Rev. ii. 17. The law and justice have no more to demand of him; the cords of guilt are loosed and thrown away, and he is clothed with a perfect righteousness.
2. They are all adopted children of God, Eph. i. 5. They get not only the white stone, but the new name, the name of sons and daughters to God. They are brought out of the devil’s family, and made members of the household of faith: not servants only, but sons. For the moment they answer the call, new blood runs in their veins; they are of the blood-royal of heaven; Christ's Father is their Father, he is their elder brother; and the Spirit of his Son dwells in them, teaching them to cry, Abba, Father. They are of the same household with the excellent of the earth: All ye are brethren; nay, with the saints and angels in heaven; for though the one dwell above, and the other below, they are all but one family, Eph. iii. 15.
3. They are all sanctified, 1 Cor. i. 30. 1 Thess. iv. 7- It is a holy calling, 2 Tim. i. 9. The author of it is holy, the means are holy, and the end and effect of it must needs be holy. As soon as the sinner answers the call, the Spirit of sanctification goes on with the begun work in him, breaks the reigning power of sin, gives it a deadly blow, so that it shall never recover, but languish on, till it quite die out. He adorns him with all saving graces, conforming the sinner to the image of Christ, John i. 16 ; so that he begins to lead a new life, living to the Lord and his service. The call brings him, like Lazarus, out of the congregation of the dead, and then the remainder of his life is spent in putting off the grave-cloths of sin, and acting from a principle of spiritual life.
Secondly, There are other benefits which accompany or flow from these. For these come not alone, but each of them is the opening of a treasure to the called, the striking up of a fountain, that runs out in many streams, Eph. i. 3. Some of these are mentioned in that question, ' What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? ' Ans.—' Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.' But who can reckon up all these benefits? For 'all things are theirs; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are theirs,' 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. I shall only at present single out the following.
    1. Reconciliation with God, Rom. v. 1. ' Being justified by faith we have peace with God. 'When the sinner is effectually called, the real enmity is taken away, and the legal enmity is removed by justification. God and the sinner become friends, and are firmly so in a covenant of peace, having common friends and enemies. Sin being removed and pardoned, the peace follows of course. The war is ended; for the treaty of peace proposed by the ambassadors of peace is complied with. But of this I spoke when treating of Christ's priestly office.
    2. Access to God, as children to a Father, Eph. iii. 12. as one  friend to another. The war being ended, and peace concluded, the communication betwixt heaven and earth is opened. They may export thither all their wants, petitions, and requests, being sure that they will be taken oft' their hands; and import supplies of all kinds necessary, to make them happy, light, life, strength, &c.
    3. Freedom from the slavery of sin and Satan, John viii. 32. They that are sanctified by the Spirit, are loosed from the Egyptian bondage, and made the Lord's free-men. Though Satan and sin molest them, and put them hard to it, they shall never get them back again into their former house of bondage. But they shall, like a dog snarling at the horses heels, be bruised under their feet at length; and the soul shall be more than conqueror.
    4. Lastly, A right to eternal life. Rom. viii. 17- Acts xx. 32, They may claim it in their head Christ, and their title is good and sure in him ; for it is a heavenly calling, whereby they are called to the eternal inheritance. And therefore says the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 1. 'We know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'
II. I shall shew what benefits they that are effectually called partake of in the life to come. The advantages of effectual calling are great in this life, but they do not stop there, when a man must leave all temporal benefits, which he enjoys any manner of way here in this world, he will enter to the full enjoyment of the benefits coming by his answering the gospel-call. These are comprehended in one word, glorification, which will fall in afterwards to be treated of. In a word, at death the converted soul is received into heaven ; at the last day his body will be gloriously raised, and both soul and body made perfectly happy for ever, 2 Thess. ii. 14.
    I come now to make some practical improvement of this subject.
    Use I. Of information. This doctrine lets us see,
    1. That the gospel is the best news that ever was heard in the world, and the most excellent offer that ever was made to poor sinners, Eph. iii. 8. There are many to court the soul; Satan makes his offers, the world its offers, and sin has its offers too. But all that they offer will not tell far, it perishes in the using, at most it cannot reach beyond this life. But Christ's offer in the gospel is of the best of things here, and the best of all hereafter, that we may enter to the enjoyment of, when nothing remains but the bitter dregs of the offers of sin, Satan, and the world.
    2. God deals very liberally and kindly with his people that answer his call. He docs not put an empty spoon into their mouths, he sets them not down to bare commons; they get much in hand, and yet far more in hope, Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. Their present possessions are far more valuable than crowns and sceptres in the world; but what they have a title to, is what eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. And then all is firm and sure ; they can never be shaken out of their privileges, Rom. xi. 29. Heb. xii. 28.
    3. Whatever men lose by complying with and following the gospel-call, they are gainers, Phil. iii. 8. He was a wise merchant that sold all to buy the pearl of great price. They are wise indeed that are wise for their souls ; and they are so that come to Christ on his call ; while all the neglectors of the great salvation, gain what they will otherwise, do lose a talent while they gain a mite, losing their own souls, which loss can never be made up.
Use II. Of exhortation.
    First, To unconverted sinners. O comply with the gospel-call at length, and come away to Christ. I offer a few motives to press the exhortation.
    Mot. 1. While ye do not come away upon the call, ye have no part or lot in these benefits. If ye presume to apply them to yourselves, God's word knocks off your fingers from them, for they are the peculiar privilege of those that are effectually called. And,
    1. Ye are not justified, the sentence of condemnation is standing in force against you. Gal. iii. 10. John iii. ult. And as sure as God's word cannot fail, it will be executed, if ye come not in in time. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse; all that thou dost is sin. But not one of all thy sins is pardoned; they are all wreathed about thy neck, and thou hast them all to reckon for. And thou hast not a cautioner to go between justice and thee; the burden must lie on thy own back.
    2. Ye are none of God's children, but of the devil's, John viii. 44. Ye are still of the family ye were born of. A sad family against which God will have war for ever. Ye can have no access to God, nor communion with him, nor may any of the privileges of the children of God be claimed by you. Your inheritance is suitable to the family ye are of, namely, that ye are children of wrath, and heirs of hell.
    3. Ye are not sanctified. There is no sanctification without the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you; ye have not Christ's Spirit, for ye are none of his. A form of godliness ye may have, but the power of it ye are strangers to. Ye are Satan's drudges and sin's slaves, though all are not employed in alike coarse work by the master of that family, Eph. ii. 2, 3,
    Mot. 2. If ye will come to Christ on his call, ye shall partake of all these benefits. If your sins were never so great and many, they shall be pardoned, Isa. Iv. 7. Ye shall be the children of God through Jesus Christ, John i. 12. Ye shall be made holy, 1 Cor. vi. 11. Come in under the covert of his blood, and then neither law nor justice shall reach you. Match with the Son of God, and ye shall be of his Father's family. Answer his call, and he will break the yoke from off your necks, and make you free.
    O, Sirs, do not ye need this benefits? How will ye live without them? are ye able to bear the weight of unpardoned guilt? How will ye die without them? What will it be to die in an unpardoned state, strangers to the family of heaven, and still in your sins? May not these glorious privileges prevail with you? Do ye think nothing of the white stone and new name, which ye may get by coming to Christ? Seemeth it a light thing to you to be adopted into the family of the King of heaven, and to have his image drawn on you? Think with yourselves how it will aggravate your condemnation, that Christ and all his salvation was in your offer, and ye would have none of him, Heb. ii. 3.
    Secondly, To converted sinners that have answered the call.
    1. Labour to know your great privileges for time and eternity, 2 Pet. i. 10.! it is a sad matter that the people of God should have so little knowledge of their state. This would be a notable means to promote sanctification, and tenderness in heart and life.
    2. Be thankful for these privileges. Bless God for Christ and the gospel. bless him for his holy and powerful Spirit. Admire and adore his rich grace, bestowed on worthless worms through Christ, 1 John iii. 1.
    3. Lastly, Walk worthy of the vocation, and suitable to the privileges of it, that is, humbly, holily, heavenly, contentedly patiently, and cheerfully, in hopes of the glory that is to be revealed.

Thomas Boston - Of Sin in its Aggravations

Ezek. viii. 15.—Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations
than these.

    If we look on sin absolutely, and in itself, as it is a transgression of the divine law, no sin is small, but a great evil, greater than any evil of suffering, which men can be exposed to : but if we look on sin comparatively, one sin compared with another, all are not alike, but some greater than others, as we see from these words. Wherein may be observed,
    1. Great sins which the prophet had seen, shewn to him in vision by the Lord himself, who knows the sins of all men, with their nature and qualities, ver. 5, 11, 14.
    2. Greater sins he was yet to see. He had seen the image of jealousy, namely, the image of Baal, set up at the gate of the altar, ver. 5 ; the chambers of imagery in some of the courts, and the ancients of Israel, at their idolatrous service, ver. 10, 11 ; the women weeping for Tammuz in the court of the women, or of the priests, by which the Lord's courts were turned into stews. These were great abominations, and yet greater than any of these was their worshipping of the sun, ver. 16. and that in God's account: for it was done in a more sacred place, at the very door of the temple ; it was more public, and had greater contempt of God in it, than the rest.
    The text affords this doctrine:
    Doct. ' All sins are not alike ;' but ' some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.'
In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall shew,
    I. What is understood by the heinousness of sin.
    II. In what respect some sins are more heinous than others.
    III. Apply.
    I. I am to shew what is understood by the heinousness of sin. Its great offensiveness is hereby understood. Sin may be offensive unto men ; but we consider it here as sin, and offensive to God. So for sin to be heinous in the sight of God, implies,
    1. That it is offensive to God, displeasing to him, and grieving to to his Spirit, Jer. xliv. 4. ' Oh ! do not this abominable thing that I hate.' He cannot away with it, he cannot endure it before his eyes, but shews his indignation against it. It is an abominable thing before the Lord ; hence it is called filthiness, uncleanness, vomit, &c. all which provoke loathing ; so Rev. iii. 16. it is said, ' I will spue thee out of my mouth.' It is contrary to his nature and will, and gives him displeasure and offence ; and, if it were possible it would disturb his repose, as smoke doth to the eyes, Isa. Ixv. 5. ' These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burnetii all the day.'
    2. It is greatly offensive to God ; for that also is implied in the notion of heinousuess ; every fault is offensive, but some faults are heinous offences. Such an offence is sin to God. It gives him great oft'ence, Psal. v. 4, 5. ' Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness : neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight ; thou hatest all workers of iniquity.' Hab. i. 13. ' Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. There is no sin that God is indifferent about, none that he can pass without a mark of his indignation on it : He' will by no means clear the guilty,' Exod. xxxiv. 7. Now here mark well two things.
    1. That all sin is heinous in the sight of God, viz. greatly offensive. There are no small sins before God, though some are greater than others ; but the least of them is great in itself, and great in his sight, Hab. i. 13. forecited. This is plainly implied, while it is said, ' Some sins are more heinous than others.'
    2. That there are degrees of heinousness. Though the sin which the blinded soul accounts but a mote, is a mountain in the eyes of God and of an enlightened conscience, yet all are not alike for all that ; but as some mountains, so some sins are greater than others.
    II. I shall shew in what respects some sins are more heinous than others.
    First, Some sins are in themselves, and in their own nature, more heinous than others. There are some capital offences, as it were, which God's wrath does in a special manner burn against, and which are most provoking to the eyes of his glory : such as murder, Gen. iv. 10 ; oppression, Hab. ii. 11 ; which are noted to be crying sins ; blasphemy and contempt of God, Exod. v. 2 ; idolatry, Ezek. viii.; unbelief, rejecting of Christ, and disobeying the gospel, Matth. xxii. John iii. 19. 2 Thess. i. 8. But of all sins the most heinous is the sin against the Holy Ghost, Matth. xii. 31.
    Secondly, Some sins are more heinous than others by their aggravations; and the greater and more numerous the aggravating circumstances be that attend any sin, it is the more heinous. Now, sins, are aggravated, or made greater or more heinous than others,
    1. From the persons offending; the more notable they are, the more heinous are their sins ; as the greater the fire is, the more mischief will it do, if it go out of its place ; the greater the tree is, the more mischief will it do by its fall. Thus one and the same sin is greater in magistrates, ministers, parents, and the aged, than in subjects, people, children and the younger sort. For men's places and offices, which respect the government of others in the way of holiness and justice, aggravate their sins, Rom. ii. 21. 'Thou which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, doest thou steal ?' And so do the greater gifts and profession that one hath, Luke xii. 47, 48. ' That servant which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself neither did according to his will, shall he beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.' And so doth the greater experience of God's goodness which they have had, as in the case of Solomon, of whom it is said, 1 Kings xi. 9. ' The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.' For such advantages make their sins more pernicious, in respect of the influence of their example on others, as in the effect of Peter's dissimulation at Antioch, Gal. ii. 13. of whom it is said, ' And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him ; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. And these advantages carry them over greater obligations they are under to the Lord.
    2. From the parties offended. Let men consider whom their sins strike against, if they would see how heinous they are. For as a thurst in a leg or arm is not so much grievous as one at the heart, so is it in this case.
    1st, Sins immediately against God, his Son, and his Spirit, are more heiuous than such sins against man, any man whatsoever, 1 Sam. ii. 25. ' If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him : but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Thus lying and dissembling to God, is more heinous than lying to men, as appears in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 4. because of the infinite distance of the immediate objects of the sin. Thus, whereas in all sins of the second table, there is a fault against God, and against man too ; yet the fault against God, and the injury done to his glory, is the bitterest ingredient in it. Thus David’s sin in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah was a great sin in respect of these persons ; but see how he confesses it, Psal. Ii. 4. ' Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.’ Idly, Sins against superiors in the church, state, and family, are more heinous than the same sins are, if done against persons of their own rank and condition. The reason is, because superiority given of God is such a divine impress on a man, that it makes his character in some sort sacred, as in the case of Moses, ^nm. xii. 8. Hence it is that disobedience to parents is so heinous a sin, Prov. xxx. 17. ' The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.'
    3dly, Sins against those whom we are under special engagements and obligations to, are more heinous than such sins against others we have no such concern in. Religion teaches gratitude, and sets a black mark on ingratitude, Psal. lv. 12. ' For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have born it ; neither was it he that hated me, that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid myself from him.'
    4thly, Sins against the saints and people of God are more heinous than against others, because of their relation to God, as being those in all the world dearest to him, Matth. xviii. 6. ' Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.' Such are sins against weak saints, as being more liable to get harm by them than those who are strong, Rom. xiv. 15. ' If thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.'
    Lastly, Sins against the common good of all, or of many ; for the wider the effects of one sin go, it is still the worse, Josh. xxii. 20. ' Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel ? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.' ' One sinner,' says Solomon, ' destroyeth much good;' and the more the greater is his sin.
    3. From the quality of the offence. A sin may be vested with such qualities as will make it much more heinous than when divested of them. These evil qualities are many ; I will reduce them to two Heads.
    (1.) Intrinsic qualities. Thus sins against the letter of the law are more heinous than others ; mother-sins, which are big and bring forth many others, besides simple ones ; sins consummated by action, as well as while merely in the heart, Jam. i. 15 ; sins that are scandalous, as well as others not so ; sins the injury in which to men admits of no reparation, more than that of others in which it does. This was the reason why death was the punishment of adultery, not of fornication because in this last case the man was obliged to marry the woman.
    (2.) Extrinsic qualities ; which again are of two sorts. \\.~\ Being done against means whereby one might be with-held from sin, Matth. xi. 21, 22. ' Wo unto thee, Chorazin, wo unto thee, Bethsaida: for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you.' Thus one's sinning against mercies drawing them from their sin, judgments and rebukes from the word or providence, from God or men, sinning against the light of one's own conscience, do all of them aggravate sin.
    [2.] Being done against bonds one has taken on him against the sin, when men sin against purposes and resolutions of amendment, against their covenants and engagements to the Lord, whereby they are bound to stand off from such courses, Ezek. xvii. 19.
    4. From the manner of committing it. "Who can imagine, but sin done deliberately, and wilfully, and presumptuously, is more heinous than sin committed through inadvertency and weakness ? If one be impudent in his sin, delight in it, and boast of it ; if he go on in it obstinately, fall into it frequently, and relapse into it after convictions and humblings for it ; every one of these aggravates the guilt.
    5. From the time of it, as in the case of Gfehazi, 2 Kings v. 26. where Elisha says to him, ' Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee ? is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid servants V Thus sins committed on the Lord's day, immediately before or after divine worship, are more heinous than at other times. And so is sinning just after reproofs, warnings, engagements ; or in a time when the anger of the Lord is going out against the land, family, or person, as Ahaz in his distress.
    Lastly, From the place of it. Thus in a place where the gospel is preached, sin is more heiuous than elsewhere, Isa. xxvi. 10. ' Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.' Sins done in public before others, are more heinous than those in secret ; for in the former many may bo defiled, as in the case of Absalom, lying with his father's concubine
on the house top.
    A few inferences shall conclude this subject.
    Inf. 1. Never think light of sin, nor slightly of Christ, and your need of him, since all sin is heinous in God's sight, and exposes the sinner to his just vengeance.
    2. There will be degrees of torment in hell, though the least degree will be dreadful, Matth. xi. 21. since there are degrees of sinning.
    3. No wonder God's anger go out against us, and the land wherein, and the generation amongst whom we live : For heinous are our sins beyond those of many, and a frightful look may we get of them in this glass. Magistrates, ministers, parents, the aged, professors, sons and daughters of the Lord, have corrupted their ways, as well as others. Our sins have struck immediately against God, and against those who are vested with his authority in the state, in the church, and in families, against his people, and the common good. Sins against the letter of the law, scandalous offences abound, over the belly of light, mercies, and judgments, covenants national, sacramental, and personal ; and these continued in obstinately, in a time when the Lord's hand has oft been stretched out and drawn in again, in a land of light.
    4. Repent, and flee to the blood of Christ for pardon, if so be our heinous sins may not be our ruin.
    5. The means of grace which we enjoy will either promote our salvation, or they will aggravate our damnation.
    6.  When ye examine yourselves, and think on your sins, consider the several aggravations of them ; and lie deep in the dust before the Lord on account thereof; and, through the grace of God, abstain from every sin, and all appearance of evil.

Thomas Boston - The Lord's Helping His People

THE LORD'S HELPING HIS PEOPLE.

1 Samuel vii. 12.

Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mlzpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saving, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

If we look back to the former chapter, we find Israel brought to a very low state. By the sword of the Philistines, chap, iv. 10, thirty thousand footmen were slain; and by the sword of the Lord, chap, vi 19, "Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men were smitten." After this the ark was brought to Kirjath-jearim, a city of the Levites in the tribe of Judah. There it remained till David brought it up, 2 Samuel, vi. Psal. cxxxii. Only it was twenty years there, ere the children of Israel lamented after the Lord, chap. vii. 2. Now Israel was in a great strait; the Philistines were strong and could not be resisted; God angry and would not be entreated; they lamented after him but found him not. In this sad case Samuel adviseth them to deep humiliation and a complete reformation, vers. 3—5. They fall in with his advice in some measure, vers. 4—6. They gather for humiliation and fasting in Mizpeh, a city on the borders of Benjamin and Judah, lying in the heart of the country, and so proper for such a meeting. The Philistines are alarmed at this, looking upon it as a rendezvous of rebellion, and so bring an army against Israel. It is well they were found at their duty, which was a good pledge of the Lord's help. While Samuel is sacrificing and praying, the Philistines draw near to battle, and God himself takes the cause in hand, thunders against the enemy, so that Israel had nothing more to do but to pursue, ver. 10, 11.
The text gives us an account of the setting up of a monument of this great victory and glorious deliverance. The monument itself is a stone set up. A stone is a most durable substance, and very proper to perpetuate the memory of this glorious victory. The person who set it up was Samuel, that is, it was set up by his order and direction. He was their Prophet and their Judge. By his means especially was the victory procured; and he is careful to set up this monument of thankfulness. The place where it was set up was between Mizpeh and Shen, a rock over against Mizpeh. It is set up there where they got the deliverance and near to the place where they prayed for it. We have also the name which was put upon the monument, Ebenezer. We read of it before, chap. iv. 1. The place is called in the history, Ebenezer, by way of anticipation. In that very place they got a sore disaster before, but now a signal deliverance. Ebenezer, that is, the stone of help, including a respect to God, and bearing not only a remembrance of the victory, but that it was obtained not by them but by the Lord.
We have the reason of the name. Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. It is a grateful acknowledgement of the Lord's help for the time past, to raise their confidence in him for the time to come. He hath helped us, and shewn himself on our side; not only helped us to bear our burdens, but he hath taken them off our shoulders and wrought for us.
Doctrine—It is the duty of the Lord's people to keep the memorial of the experience which they have of the Lord's helping them. I shall discuss this point under two general heads.
I. I shall speak of the Lord's helping his people.
II. I will speak to the keeping up of the memorial of the experiences which they had of his helping them. I am then:
I. To speak of the Lord's helping his people. Here I shall answer two questions. 1. How doth the Lord help his people; and, 2. Why doth he help his people?
First, How doth the Lord help his people? Here I reply,
1. Sometimes the Lord helps his people, by working all for them, they themselves contributing nothing to their deliverance. Moses said unto the people, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew you today; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see there again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Many times the children of God may be brought to that, that they can do nothing for themselves, but commit their cause to God, and depend upon him, but even then their case is not despair. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass," Psal. cxlii. 4—7. Thy Lord can do all things, said Luther to a person solicitous about a future event.
2. Sometimes the Lord assists his people in working. They endeavour their own deliverance in God's way, and he fits them to act, and blesseth their exertions crowning them with success. Like Paul, "they labour, yet not they, but the grace of God who is with them." In this God's help is to be acknowledged, for all depends on him. "For except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." We must be at our work, and look to God for his assistance. Pray and labour.
3. Sometimes God helps his people by appointing means. Thus in the case of Hezekiah, Isaiah said, "Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover." When God intends to help his people and to make use of means and instruments for it, he can easily bring them about and raise them up. Sometimes no way appears for their help, but the Lord brings them about unexpectedly, so that "when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream."If he intends to have his people brought out of Babylon, he raiseth up Cyrus for that purpose. If Elijah must be fed in his hiding place, the ravens shall be employed rather than he suffer want. And often their help comes by such unexpected means that they must say as Jacob did of his son's venison. "How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, because the Lord thy God brought it unto me."
4. Sometimes without means. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. God is not bound to means, as he can work without them, A word from the Lord will bring about his people's help. Pie can speak peace to them, and so create it. And often when he hath tried his people's patience, by frustrating of means, he will bring about their help without them.
5. Sometimes by contrary means, as our Lord cured the blind man by laying clay upon his eyes. God does not only bring light after, but out of darkness. The troubling of the waters of Bethesda made them healing waters; and the whale that swallowed up Jonah was the ship in which he came ashore. Christ's going away filled the disciples' hearts with sorrow. "Nevertheless," said he, "I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." The promise guides the ship of providence, and will make a cross wind drive them to the harbour. "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. For all things shall work together for good to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose."
Secondly, Let us inquire why the Lord helpeth his people.
1. Because they are in covenant with him. There is a league offensive and defensive betwixt Christ and his people. They have common friends, and common enemies. Hence all the attributes of God are engaged for them, and their help. The promise is made; He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. Thus the power of God is made the ground of Abraham's comfort by virtue of the covenant, Gen. xvii. 1, 2.
2. Because of their special relation to him. Christ is the believer's head. Hence if the foot be hurt, the head in heaven cries out, Acts ix. 4. He who is their maker, is their husband, their father, and elder brother; in a word they are one with him, one spirit. This is the ground of sympathy betwixt Christ and his people, and secures their help. "For he that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye."
3. Because they look to him and trust in him for their help. The 91st psalm has in it a great many blessed promises, but see to whom they belong. "The Lord is a buckler to all those that trust in him." The Lord gives this for the reason why he would help and deliver Ebedmelech the Ethiopian; "because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord."
It lies upon the honour of God to help those who trust in him. Trust on an ingenuous man will engage him to answer the trust put in him; and God will see to those that trust in him, that they shall not be ashamed.
4. Because the Lord brings his people into straits for this very end, that he may have the glory of helping them; and they may get the greater experience of his kindness. A good friend is best known in adversity: and the Lord will let his people's case grow darker till it be near past hope, and then he will arise. "For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left." For the lower they are, the greater is the glory of God in delivering them. "For great is thy mercy toward me, saith David, and thou hast delivered ray soul from the lowest hell." And none have such rich experience of the Lord's goodness as they that are most in straits, Hos. ii. 14. We now proceed,
III. To speak of the keeping up of the memorial of the experiences which they have had of the Lord's helping them. Here three things demand our attention. First, What it is to keep up this memorial. Secondly, What of these experiences of the Lord's helping should be recorded and kept in memory. And, Thirdly, why should we keep up such a memorial.
First, What it is to keep up the memorial of the Lord's helping us.
1. It implies an observing of the dispensations we meet with, for our help in the course of our life. If the thing itself be not observed, we cannot keep up the memorial of it. "Who is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord." Many times the Lord helps, when we are sleeping and do not observe it. And this makes us like the unjust steward in recounting our mercies, setting down fifty for a hundred.
2. A discerning of the Lord's hand in the help we receive. Alas! men are ready to sacrifice to their own net, and burn incense to their drag: it requires wisdom to see the hand of the Lord in the good things we meet with. "For she did not know, saith the Lord, that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal."
3. Laying up these experiences and recording them, if not in a book yet in a faithful memory. "And all they that heard them, (the things said of John Baptist at his birth) laid them up in their hearts, saying, what manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him." Many instead of laying such things up, lay them down in the grave of forgetfulness, and instead of setting up a stone, lay a stone upon them, burying them out of sight. They forget that God remembered them in their low estate. "My people," says God, "have forgotten me, days without number." But if these experiences were carefully laid up, the former part of our life would help the latter, and the longer we live the richer we would grow. As in wars former success encourages to future exertions, so is it with the Christian warfare. "Thy servant," said David, "slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God." Let us,
Secondly, Inquire what of these experiences of the Lord's helping should be recorded and kept in memory.
1. We should record the timing or seasonableness of them. There is often a weight lies on this very circumstance; that the help came at such a time and not another is worthy to be remembered. Many instances of this kind occur in scripture, Gen. XXV. 45 ; Judges vii. 13. The church remembers the time of her deliverance, Ps. cxxvi. L The Lord's help comes always seasonably, though not at our time, yet at his time which is the best. This will let us see the frame of spirit in which the help did overtake us, sometimes when we were looking for it, sometimes when we were not.
2. The effects of them on our spirits. How we are affected with them when they come. "Then," says the church, "was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing." Many times the Lord helps his people in such a manner that the experience of his goodness fills them with shame, looks their doubts and fears out of countenance, proves their unbelief to be a false prophet, and makes them resolve never to distrust God again and fills them with thankfulness. Isaiah xxxviii. 10, 12 ; Psal. Ixxiii. 22, 2'^•, and cxvi. 11, 12, how useful would this be afterwards to the Christian.
3. Their harmony and agreement with the promise. If help come not by virtue of a promise, little use can be made of it this way, and for want of recording this, many of the Lord's people do often question their experiences. Experiences are the bread which the saints have to feed upon in their mournful hours; but the promise is the staff and stay of this bread without which there will be no nourishment in it. Now as face answereth to face in a glass, so God's works answer his words. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts. Thus David records his experience, saying, "Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, Lord, according to thy word. The promises in the Bible are all written over in the experiences of the saints. "There failed not ought, said Joshua, of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass."
4. Their agreement with their prayers. Gen. xxiv. 45. What are the Christian's experiences but returns of prayers. Such was that in the text. This seems to be the ground of that conclusion; "By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me." It is of great importance to notice this, for a mercy that is an answer of prayer is a double mercy; and mercies are certainly obtained by prayer, are enjoyed with thankfulness, as in the text. Only there is need of wisdom here, for sometimes God answers prayer not with the blessing itself that was desired but with as good: as instead of removing Paul's thorn in the flesh, he said to him, "my grace is sufficient for thee:" and sometimes experiences of the Lord's helping us with our expression in prayer, though not with the pressure of our own spirits, Rom. viii. 26, 27. Lastly, Even the very place of our experiences should be recorded. The stone was set up where the victory was obtained. There are some golden spots on earth, where the Lord has entertained his people, whereof the very remembrance hath been refreshful to them afterwards. "I will remember thee," says David, " from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar;" Gen. xxviii. 11—19. And the Lord loves to have his people remember these blessed places. Gen. xxxi. 13; and xxxv. 1.
Let us now,
Thirdly, Inquire why we should keep up the memorial of these
things.
1. We owe this to God: In point, of obedience, when we meet with experiences of his goodness he calls us to set up our Ebenezer. " We are to remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his month." It is very grieving to the Spirit of God to let these things slip; and God complains of his people for it, Jer. ii. 81, 32. We owe it to him in point of gratitude; acknowledgment, and the remembrance of the benefit, is the tribute we owe to God for his goodness. They called the stone Ebenezer; thereby to make acknowledgment that it was not they that got the victory, but God for them, monstrous ingratitude to forget experiences.
We owe it to him also, in point of compliance with his design in giving experience of his help to his people. God intends his people more comfort by a mercy, than the mercy itself singly considered. He intends it as a ground to hope for more. He gives the valley of Achor for a door of hope. But how can they comply with this design unless they remember them. "Thou brakest, says Asaph, the head of the leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness." The heads of the leviathan are the princes of Pharaoh. God in that help which he gave to his people at the Red Sea, would have them not only feast themselves on it for the present, but carefully lay it up in their memories, that their faith might not want support in the wilderness.
2. We owe this to ourselves in point of interest. If we would consult our own advantage, we would not let them slip. For former experiences of the Lord's help are very supporting to the soul in a dark night. Sometimes a Christian's spiritual rest is broken, then it is useful to read the records of his experiences. Sometimes a little writing is found in a man's study that saves his estate and keeps him out of prison. In such times "we should remember the years of the right hand of the most high." This may revive our hopes.
These experiences are pledges of further mercies. Some promises have their day of payment here, others after this life. The performing of the former, is an earnest given to faith to look for the other. "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory." Every mercy a child of God receives, may be called Joseph, for the Lord shall add another to it. It is not so with others, and the two reasons shall be found in these words: "continue thy loving-kindness to them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart." The mercies bestowed on the Lord's people flow from solid love, and love knows not an enemy. The son abides in the house, the servant goes away at the term. The saint's mercies are made over to him by promise. It is remarkable, 2 Sam. v. 12, that David gathers his establishment in the kingdom, by his prospering to that time. Saul too prospered at first, but was not established ; the reason was, David's establishment was a special promise. The word of promise gives not only bread to the eater, but seed to the sower. These experiences then, are good arguments in prayer. "We find the saints often pleading with God upon former experience. "Thy vows are upon me, God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death." It is not the way to plead with men, but it is a notable way to plead with God, for he is unchangeable, ''whom he loves, he loves to the end."
3. We owe this to others. It is a duty to communicate our experiences of the Lord's goodness to our fellow Christians. "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." But how can we do this, unless we record them, and keep up the memory of them. It must be very encouraging to distressed Christians, to hear that others have been plunged in the same or similar depths, and yet have been delivered. "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him."
Use 1. To Christians, whose work it is to look to the Lord for his help, being sensible of their own weakness. "We say to you,
1. Record your experiences, keep up the memory of them. It is a soul enriching trade to gather experiences. It makes a strong Christian. It makes one ready to suffer for Christ, and to venture for him.
2. Improve your experiences for strengthening your faith and hope for time to come, in the promises of God. And to help you to this, take these notes. The same God that helped thee formerly still lives: His arm and power are as strong as ever. Doubting of the Lord's willingness to help, is a sad leak, bat the ship will never sink, till faith let go its hold of the power of God.
Though awful distempers break out in the people of God in time of affliction, yet he will still perform his word to them. He will save his people notwithstanding, Psal. cxvi. 11, 12. If it were not so, we could not have been out of hell till this time. The Psalmist makes this a ground of hope to others. Psal. xxxi. 22—24. If thou be a Christian, God hath delivered thee from greater straits than any in which thou now art. "He hath delivered your soul from death." Objection, But though God deliver in one, yet he lets a man fall in another strait. Answer, Even affliction itself, a valley of Achor, may be a door of hope, a door by which a great mercy may enter; so was Joseph's prison, and Daniel's den. A debt may be paid either with money, or something equal in value. If God do not take away the trouble, but give strength to bear it; if he remove not sickness, but remove the sick saint to heaven, he is no loser.
Use 2. A word to all. Go to God for your help in all cases. Let God be your helper. Consider,
You have many and strong enemies. You are not able to grapple with Satan, the world, and the flesh.  These will ruin thee, if God help thee not.
He is a present help, He is not far off.  He is within hearing of your cry. Men may perish when help is far away.
He is willing.
He is able to help thee in all cases, and at all times.  When friends can do nothing but close the eyes, and prepare the funeral rites, Christ can take thy soul to His Father's glory, and present it there with exceeding joy. Amen

Thomas Boston - Christ's People, A Willing People

CHRIST'S PEOPLE, A WILLING PEOPLE

Psalm cx. 3,

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is this day erecting his standard in this place, requiring us to submit ourselves to him. But, Oh! how averse are sinners to submit to him; were it left to their own will, he should be a head without a body, and though he travailed long and sore, yet should have no issue; but God hath otherwise secured it. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."

This is spoken to Christ, by David, in the spirit of prophecy. That it belongs to Christ, no Christian can doubt; for here David in spirit calls him Lord. The Jews, denying the divinity of the Messiah, could not extricate themselves from that difficulty. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" But to us it is easy, for as he was man, he was the son of David, and came after him, but he was more than man, being God he was David's Lord, and so was before him. He is in this Psalm held forth as a priest having an everlasting priesthood; and as a king, who hath Jehovah for his confederate, who sets him at his right hand, even on his throne, after he had overcome death. Rev. iii. 2 He is placed upon his throne, with a promise that his enemies shall be made his footstool which imports his absolute victory over them, and the eternal disgrace that shall lie upon them. The footstool is a piece of state, that both raiseth and easeth him that sitteth upon the throne.

In the second verse it is plain David speaks, and so continues "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength," that is, the gospel in power, "out of Zion," Micah iv. 2. Thy kingdom shall begin there, but it shall extend itself to the nations. But how shall he reign that hath so many enemies? lie shall set up his kingdom in the midst of them. But shall he have no kindly subjects? Yes he shall. " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."

There is here, 

1. Something supposed. Namely, that Christ hath a people in the world where he erects his standard, that he hath a special relation to, and interest in. Thy people, even his people, Matth. i. 21. The elect who are his, by gift from the Father, John, xvii. 9, and by purchase, he hath bought them with his blood, John X. 15. It is supposed also, that he finds these unwilling to submit to him, as well as therestof the world. The corruption of the will, is common to them with others. They are not only as infants who do not know their Father; but as rebellious children, who yield no obedience to him. 

2. There is something here ensured to the mediator, respecting this people of his; namely, that these unwilling people shall be willing, Hebrew, willingnesses; which imports that they shall submit to him, and give away themselves to him; acknowledge the right which Christ hath to them, and be his people by their own consent. It imports that they shall do this cordially, with all their heart; it shall not be a lying to him, as hypocrites do; it shall not be a forced pretext only, but their wills shall be cast into the mould of his will, and in point of practice conformed to the will of his commandments. See Isaiah xlix. 18, and Iv. 5.

3. There is the time when, and the way how this shall be done. "In the day of thy power." That is, in a day of the gospel's coming with power. "For the gospel is the power of God unto salvation." There is a power which is Christ's that makes them willing, that is the power of Christ's spirit, different from moral suasion, 1 Thess. i. 5. This power opens the heart, dissolves the stone in it, melts down the old will and renovates it. Nothing less can do it, nor break the iron sinew in their necks. Then there is a day for this power, a time appointed from eternity, at which everlasting love that was under a cloud, shall flash out on the faces of these children of darkness, and bring them forth to marvellous light. The gospel sometimes it is but like wild fire, that gives light, but does not burn up that on which it falls, but in this day it is big with power, and so brings forth children to God.

What follows, is diversely rendered, and interpreted too. It seems to me to point at these things: 1. The beauty: the spiritual beauty of those that are thus made willing; they shall stand before him in the beautiful garments of holiness, as so many priests unto God. 

2. The suddenness of this change, as if that beauty of theirs had fallen from the womb of the morning as the dew, Micah V. 7. 

And 3. the multitude of converts who are Christ's youth, or young men being born again.

Doctrine. That Christ hath a people in the world that shall be willing in the day of his power, cordially submitting to him. I shall,

I. Touch at that corruption of the will, with which Christ finds his people, as well as others possessed.

II. Speak of the willingness of the soul submitting to Christ.

III. I will touch a little at the day of power.

I. I am to touch at that corruption of the will, with which Christ finds his people, as well as others possessed, when he comes in a day of power.

1. There is a weakness in their will, they cannot will what is spiritually good and acceptable to God. They cannot produce one act of the will that is holy, till grace change their wills, no more than a dead man can produce his own resurrection. For we are by nature without strength. "It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to think any thing of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." They may with the foolish virgins. Matt. xxv. will grace, but they do but desire it in a carnal manner.

2. An aversion to good. We are naturally backward, and therefore must be drawn. How unwilling is the fish to be drawn out of its element into another, so are we to leave our own ways." Ye will not come to me," saith Jesus, "that ye might have life."

3. There is a proneness to evil, a woful bent of the will carrying it to sin. " My people," says God, "are bent to backsliding from me." Hence they are mad upon their idols. Place Christ and the devil, life and death, duty and sin, before them, leave the will to itself, it will naturally run to the evil, as the water runs down a steep place.

4. There is a contrariety in the will, to the will of God. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Hence it is enough for us in this state to will any thing, that God forbids it. Even the heathen confessed that men were disposed to desire unlawful things, and to rush upon things forbidden. Strip sin naked of all profit and pleasure that may attend it, yet the sinner will court sin for its own sake.

5. There is contumacy in it, the will is wilful or obstinate in evil. The man will not be turned, though he should run upon the sword point of vengeance. " Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, house of Israel." Unrenewed sinners, like the Leviathan, "count darts as stubble, and laugh at the shaking of the spear," Yea, they say, in opposition to the curse," we shall have peace, though we walk in the imagination of our heart, to add drunkenness to thirst."

This is that corruption which we have derived from Adam, by whose fall all the faculties of our souls were corrupted and distorted : and our will in particular made wholly the devil's captive, not to be delivered but by a day of power.

We now proceed :

II. To speak of the willingness of the soul submitting to Christ. "Thy people shall be willing." What a wonderful change is this I The same soul that was unwilling before, is now willing. What makes the change? They are made, they do not make themselves willing. The Lord changes their wills, takes away the evil qualities of their will, and gives new qualities. "A new heart also," says he, "will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh; and I will give you an heart of flesh." Thus the power of God infallibly determines their wills; yet not blindly, but so as they see what most reasonably should turn the balance in their choice. For, in every step God deals with them as rational creatures, giving them a peculiar illumination to proceed. We shall particularize and illustrate this, by shewing what they are now willing to do, and how this willingness in every step is produced. 1.They are willing to part with sin. "Ephraim shall say, what have I any more to do with idols." They were never more willing to swallow the sweet morsel, than now they are to part with it. Their hearts were glued to their idols, now a day of power melts the glue, and the soul is content to part with sin, cursing the day that ever they met. The soul that held fast sin and refused to let it go, would give a world to be quit of it. Never was there a man that had drunk a cup of poison, that would more willingly have vomited it, than such a soul would now part with sin.

Now, how comes this wonderful change? Surely the man is made willing. There must needs be a power there, to make the man loath above all things, what before he loved above all things. This is plain, if you consider that the man was joined to his idols, and unable to turn from them. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. His sin was so rooted in his heart before, that no threatenings, no promises could separate him and it. Surely it must be strong wind that rends the rocks, and lays the tall cedars upon the ground ; and since he is willing to part with sin, surely he hath seen and felt something, which he did not see nor feel before. Yes, He hath felt an uneasiness of conscience rising from the guilt of his sin. Sin hath become uneasy to him, and begun to work and sting him. Like Peter's hearers, he is now pricked in his heart. Unless the soul were ript up, how would it thus as it were cast forth its bowels. This uneasiness hath become intolerable. " A wounded spirit who can bear." His bosom beloved has been very troublesome, or why would he cast it out?

He hath also seen something in God, which he never saw before. The man would never have been willing to have parted with sin, unless he had seen happiness locked up in the enjoyment of God, and that sin separates him from that God, and will separate him from him for evermore if retained. But the soul sees itself lost and undone without God, and he is sure that he is liable to his wrath and curse for it, and is not able to abide with everlasting burning, or dwell in devouring flames.

2. They are willing to go out of themselves, to be divorced from their first husband the law; to cast off all confidence in their attainments and duties; to come to Christ stript naked and empty, with nothing in them or on them to recommend them to him but misery. Their language is, "For thy name's sake, Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." Now surely there must be power here. Naturally we take the spider's motto, each, saying, I am indebted to myself alone. The covenant of works is engrained in our natures. Work and gain, do and live, is the first principle of all Adam's posterity. They were bred merchants, and they are ashamed to beg: and though their stock is gone, yet they will rather drive a trade of small wares than none at all. Coming out of our own righteousness is a death, a dying to a husband. "My brethren," saysPaul," ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Does the spider sweep away its own web, which it spins out of its own bowels? Does a mother cast out the fruit of her own womb? or will a loving wife put herself to death, that she may be free of her husband. And so we are made dead to the law, as it is in the original. And therefore the willing soul sees that the best of their duties cannot procure the favour of God. Is. Ixiv. 6, 7; Phil. iii. They see the emptiness and worthlessness of all they do. Hence they cannot but loath themselves as for their sins, so for their duties. They see and feel an absolute need of the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. The person finds he is sick, and therefore needs a physician; that he is naked, his fig leaves will not cover him, and therefore the Lord God must make him a garment, "even a white raiment that he may be clothed, and the shame of his nakedness not appear." He sees also, that he hath nothing in him, or about him to recommend him to Christ. Many spoil all, by thinking they have something that cannot but engage Christ to take their cause in hand, as their tears, prayers, repentance, deeds of charity. But the truly willing soul takes David's plea, Ps. xxv. 11. And comes as he is invited, without money, that he may take the water of life freely lest he should meet with the entertainment of Simon Magus, and hear it said, "thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."

He sees, moreover, that God and Christ should do him no wrong, though he should not be accepted, but be suffered to perish. He will say with the centurion, "I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof." He will justify God come of himself what will, Ps. li. 4. And thus if the soul should meet with a disappointment it will leave its complaint upon itself. And upon the back of any refusal will say, *' true and righteous are thy judgments, Lord."

3. They are willing to take Christ as their Saviour, and to submit to his righteousness. God proposeth in the gospel a spiritual marriage betwixt his Son and sinners, Matth. xxii. Most men refuse the offer, but the willing soul heartily consents to the bargain and makes Christ its choice for all, instead of all, and above all and takes him for a husband, as the captive woman marries the conqueror. The soul is well content to venture its salvation upon this bottom alone, Phil. iii. 9. To appear before God in the garment of his righteousness, to seek life in his death, and healing only in his wounds.

Now there must be a power to make the soul thus willing. Every man naturally is an enemy to Christ, and therefore as long as the soul can make any shift it will not come; there must be a drawing power; yea, such a power as wrought in Christ, when God by his mighty power raised him from the dead. The soul being thus willing it follows.  That such a soul hath seen a transcendent excellency in the Lord Jesus Christ. It hath seen him to be the pearl of great price. Sometimes like others, they said to the Christian, what is thy beloved more than another beloved? But surely now they see a beauty in him that captivates their hearts and makes their souls love him. The veil covering, or face covering is taken away, and their eyes seethe king in his beauty; a beauty that dazzles their eyes, that darkens all created glory, as the rising sun makes the stars disappear.

They have got also a satisfying view and discovery of the continuance of salvation through a crucified Saviour, else their souls could not acquiesce to it. The mystery of Christ is folly to the natural man when he comes near to look on it, but the willing soul gets another sort of a discovery of it, "determines to know nothing, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." You know the world's opinion of the mystery of Christ crucified. "It was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness." And that still remains true. "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Christ." Two things made the world stumble at the gospel way of salvation. Its supposed unsuitableness to the divine perfections, this is the bane of the Jews, Socinians and others. Its supposed unsuitableness to the case of men, this stumbled the heathens. To expect life from one crucified seemed a most gross absurdity to them. All natural men are in the dark as to this still, therefore they reject him. And therefore I conclude that the man that is made willing has got a view of the suitableness of this contrivance to the divine perfections.

They have seen in it the manifold wisdom of God. Men that are not careful about their souls will venture them on they know not what; but a man that is in earnest about salvation, will never venture it on that bottom that is not made of God for that end. The man sees he hath to do with a God that is wise, just, and powerful, as well as merciful: therefore as no man will venture to sea in a ship that cannot hold out water, so the soul in earnest cannot venture unless it see the plan suitable to the wisdom, justice, and power of God. To such "Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

He hath also got a view of its suitableness to his own case. Men that see the worth of their souls will not take a remedy at random for their perishing souls, lest it be found poison instead of medicine. Wherefore the soul looking about in the day of distress, and finding nothing in the world but miserable comforters, Christ discovers himself to that soul, and the soul seeing his suitableness resolves to venture here as upon one able to save, and every way fitted for their needs. Matth. xiii. 45, 46.

4. The soul is willing to take on the yoke of Christ's commandments. Its language is, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Having fled from the fiery law on Sinai, he is content to stand at Zion, and receive the same commands. He is willing to stoop and take on Christ's burden, and is sorry lie cannot bear it better. The ears that were shut before are now opened. “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Holiness is now the desire of his soul. Now, there must be a power here, what else could break the iron sinews in their necks, and tame the bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. The wild ass could never be tamed till now, surely then the month is come. Hence it is evident the willing soul sees a beauty in holiness, a righteousness in the commandments of God, and a loathsomeness in sin. He considers all God's precepts concerning all things to be right; and he hates every false way. If sin be as sweet as before, if they see no beauty in holiness, surely they are not the willing people; and it is needless to them to pretend to the feeling of a power, unless they would make it appear that God makes men willing without reason.

5. The soul is willing to bear Christ's cross, to cleave to him and his ways, and to follow him through fire and water, Luke xiv. 25 33. All that he hath is at Christ's service, houses and lands, relations and life also. The smiles of the world cannot bribe him, nor the frowns of it drive him away. He is content to own Christ, when despised and rejected of men. Now there must needs be a power here to make a man thus willing, not only to suffer, but to suffer for him, for his glory, and to keep up his standard in the world; rather to suffer for him, than to sin against him. "Thus it is given to them in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him but also to

suffer for his sake." Hence sin is more bitter to the willing soul than death, and all the sufferings to which they can be exposed, Eccles. vii. 26. Certainly both are bitter. Now, when both are laid before them, and they choose sufferings, this says, that sin to them is most bitter. Here is the ruin of many professors in a time of trial, sin was never the most bitter thing to them, though it hath been bitter ; and therefore the Lord fits his people for suffering, by letting them experience the bitterness of sin.

Again, Christ is sweeter to the willing soul, than all the pleasures and profits of a world, else they could never be willing to forego these for Christ, Phil. iii. 8, 9. Alas! many never felt so much sweetness in Christ as in a lust, hence they let him go, and return to their lusts again. Some get half a view of Christ's preciousness, hence a half-willingness, a hankering after him. But still the world and their lusts are sweeter, and therefore like Orpha, they depart from him weeping.

Lastly, The willing soul is willing to go away with Christ, for altogether, home to his Father’s house. I am not saying they are all absolutely willing to die. They perhaps want assurance of a safe lodging place. But this I say, if Christ would carry them away to his Father's house, they would be content to bid farewell to all below, and go with him.

Now there must be power here, that reconciles a man to heaven, to everlasting communion with God. "Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Hence it is evident, the willing soul is one that hath a transcendent love to Christ, and a desire of communion with him; even of such a communion as may never be overclouded nor interrupted. They are unwilling to want it, and their souls long for it. 

We shall now,

III. Touch a little at the day of power.

1. Though the gospel may be long preached unto a people, yet there are some special seasons that may be looked on as days of power. The same power doth not always accompany the word. Days when the gospel is new to a people, days of persecution, days when there is a spirit of prayer poured out, and times of sealing ordinances, these are more likely than others to be days of power.

2. There is an appointed time for the inbringing of all the elect of God, and that is the particular day of power to them. As it was to the Israelites, when at the end of the appointed time, "even the self-same day, it came to pass that all the host of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." He that appointed the time of their natural birth, appoints also the time of their spiritual or new birth. There is a day and hour, in which everlasting love will dawn on the soul.

3. A dark night usually goes before this day of power. The soul is led to the place of execution before the pardon be given out ; they are cast down before they be lifted up; conscience is awakened, the heart pained, before peace and health be diffused through the soul.

4. Whenever this day of power comes, the soul is made willing, the fort of the heart is taken, and the King of glory enters in state, turns out the old inhabitants, and puts in new. And there are three things done in that day. 1.Christ gives the conquering stroke, and by an Almighty power opens the prison door, and so it is the day of the captives' deliverance. 2.The spirit of Christ is at work travailing to bring them forth, and so it is their birth-day. 3.Christ gains the bride's consent, and so it is their marriage day. Inference 1.Pray earnestly for a day of power. There are three things we much need, and which a day of power would do for us. 1.It would revive the graces of the spirit in the Lord's people among us, that are decayed and languishing. A marriage day is a feast day for the bridegroom's friends, in which the bridegroom bestows gifts upon them. The Lord’s people have need to be made more willing, to have the backwardness to duty taken off their spirits. 2.It would bring in many new friends to Christ, would bring many out of the devil's kingdom, into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 3.It would make enemies, that are none of Christ's purchase, to feign submission, and put a stop to the open profanity abounding in our day. Ps.Ixxxi.15.

Inference 2. Show yourselves Christ's people, by submitting to him. This day he is erecting his standard in this place, and we invite you in his name, to stand out no longer against him, but come to him and receive him, and give up yourselves to him. Motives,

1. Consider what you are, while you submit not to Christ. You are under strange lords. If you be not Christ's subjects, you are the devil's slaves; you are the servants of sin. And what is it you are so fond of, that you prefer it to Christ: is it pleasure or profit? “What is a man profited, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul."

2. Consider Christ is an exalted king. He is placed at the Father's right hand, on his throne. Will you deny him a lodging in your heart? The rejecting of Christ, in his humiliation, was grievously punished upon the Jews, what then shall become of the neglectors of an exalted Christ?

3.He is a priest as well as a king. It is only by virtue of his sacrifice and intercession, that you can get mercy. Finally, you must stoop to him sooner or later. " We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. To him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess." If you submit not willingly, he will make you his footstool. He is a merciful king.

Use 3. Try whether you be really such as submit honestly to Christ. Especially you that are to sit down at the Lord's table, see if you be a willing people. Try your willingness.

1. Your willingness if right, will be a supernatural willingness, made by a day of power. Wild oats grow without labour, but bread corn requires labour and pains. Willingness lightly gained, lightly goes. So it was with the stoney ground hearers, and those who received the seed among thorns. The child that never found any bitter thing on the breast, easily returns to it ; and the soul that is willing to take Christ, but never felt the bitterness of sin, it is like it will not long stay with him.

2. It is accompanied with understanding. The willing soul makes an understanding choice. An error in the person, (in marriage), makes it null. Many in their pretended choice of Christ, make a blind choice, not knowing him, hence they run away from him again. Mai. iii. 1, 2.

3. It is deliberate. The soul sits down and counts the cost, but a rash consent will be retracted.

4. It is an absolute willingness. Philip said to the eunuch,  “if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest be baptized. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." That is to believe with the whole heart, when the soul makes choice of Christ and his ways, because of their inward beauty, which they would do, were there no hell. But alas! many are willing to take Christ just to be a bridge, to carry them over the water of God's wrath.

Lastly, It is for the present. Real willingness will admit of no delay. Matth. viii. 21, 22.

Objection 1. I fear I am none of Christ's people. Answer: If thou be one of the willing people, surely thou art one of his.

2. I fear Christ is not willing. Answer: That is a dreadful reflection on his veracity. Do you think that he mocks you while he invites you, and promises you a welcome reception. Nay, know if Christ had not been willing, thou hadst not been willing, "we love him, because he first loved us," It is he who hath made you willing.

3. But I cannot get my heart made willing. how backward is it, and averse to stoop. Answer: Is that thy exercise and burden? It is a good sign. Art thou willing to be made willing? that is some degree of willingness. Dost thou see that beauty in Christ, that hatefulness in sin, that thou art grieved that thy soul cleaves so fast to it, thou art of that willing people. Amen.

Thomas Boston - An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion

AN ILLUSTRATION OF

THE DOCTRINES OF

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

OF MAN'S CHIEF END AND HAPPINESS.

1 Cor. X. 31.—Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Psalm Ixxiii. 25, 26.—Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Knowledge is a necessary foundation of faith and holiness; and where ignorance reigns in the mind, there is confusion in the heart and life. "We have the word of truth in our hands, and many methodical systems of divine truths, amongst which the Shorter Catechism, composed by the Reverend Assembly of Divines at Westminster, in pursuance of the solemn league and covenant, as a part of the then intended uniformity between the three nations, is deservedly reckoned the chief. This I shall endeavour to explain with all possible brevity and perspecuity, that ye may have a view of those divine truths, with the reasons of them. And this I have thought it the more necessary to do, in order that your minds may be established in the truth, as our time is like to be a time of trial, wherein ye may be exposed, to many snares, and so be in danger of apostasy.

In the first of the texts which I have read, ye have,

1.The chief end of human actions, the glory of God: that is the scope of which all we think, or speak, or do, should tend ; this is the point or common centre, in which all should meet. 

2.The extent of it. It is not only some of our actions, but all of them, of what kind soever, that must be directed to this end. This, then, is man's chief duty.

In the second text we have,

1. The Psalmist's chief desire, and what he points at as his only true happiness ; that is, the enjoyment of God. He takes God for and instead of all, that in him alone his soul may rest.

2. The reason of this is taken from, (1.) The creature's emptiness, both in body and spirit, ver. 25. (2.) From God's fulness and sufficiency: and this is amplified by the eternity of it, my portion for ever.

From both texts the following doctrine natively follows. Doct. " Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."

In handling this doctrine, I shall speak, 

I. to the glorifying of God, which is one part of man's chief end.

II. To the enjoyment of God for ever, wherein man's chief happiness consists, and which he is to seek as his chief good.

III. I shall speak to the glorifying of God, which is one part of man's chief end. And here I shall shew,

1. The nature of glorifying God.

2. In what respects God's glory is man's chief end.

3. The extent of this glorifying God.

4. The reason of it.

First, I shall shew the nature of glorifying God. To glorify, is either to make glorious, or to declare to be glorious. God glorifies, i. e. makes angels or men glorious; but man cannot make God glorious, for he is not capable of any additional glory, being in himself infinitely glorious, Job xxxv. 7- Hence it is plain, that God gets no advantage to himself by the best works of men, the profit of our holiness redounding entirely to ourselves. Acts xvii. 25. Psal. xvi. 2.

God is glorified, then, only declaratively ; he is glorified when his glory is declared. This is done two ways. Objectively, by the creatures inanimate and irrational. Thus the heavens declare the glory of God, Psal. xix. 1. This the creatures do, while they afford matter of praise to God, as a violin is fit to make music, though there must be a hand to play on it ere it can sound. Man declares his glory also actively. And this he ought to do,

1. By his heart, 1 Cor. vi. 20. Glorify God in your spirit. Honouring God with the lips, not with the heart, is but a very lame and unacceptable performance. He ought to be glorified by our understanding, taking him up in the glory which the scripture reveals him in, thinking highly of him, and esteeming him above all other persons or things, Psal. Ixxiii. 25. So they that know him not, can never glorify him: and they that esteem any person or thing more than, or as much as him, dishonour him. We glorify him by our wills, chusing him as our portion and chief good, as he really is in himself; by our affections loving him, and rejoicing and delighting in him above every other.

2. By his lips, Psal. 1. 23. ' Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.' Therefore man's tongue is called his glory, Psal. xvi. 9. not only because it serves him for speech, which exalts him above the brutes, but because it is given him as a proper instrument for speaking forth the glory of God. So that it must needs be a strange perverting of the tongue, to set it against the heavens, and let it loose to the dishonour of God, and fetter it as to his glory.

3. By his life. Mat. v. 16. ' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' A holy life is a life of light ; it is a shining light, to let a blind world see the glory of God. Sin darkens the glory of God, draws a veil over it. David's sin made the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The study of holiness says, God is holy mourning for every slip says, God is spotless; walking holily in all manner of conversation, within and without, &c. says, God is omniscient and omnipresent, &c. As when men find a well-ordered family, that tells what a man the master of it is.

Secondly, I proceed to show in what respects God's glory is man's chief end.

First, It is man's end,

1. It is the end which God aimed at when he made man. Prov. xvi. 4. ' The Lord hath made all things for himself,' Rom. xi. 36. ' For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.' Every rational agent proposes to himself an end in working, and the most perfect the highest end. Now God is the most perfect Being, and his glory the noblest end. God is not actively glorified by all men, and therefore he surely did not design it ; but he designed to have glory from them, either by them or on them; and so it will be. Happy they who glorify him by their actings, that they may not glorify him by their eternal sufferings.

2. It is the end of man as God's work. Man was made fit for glorifying God, Eccl. vii. 29. ' God made man upright;' as a well- tuned instrument, or as a house conveniently built, though never inhabited. The very fabric of a man's body, whereby he looks upward, while the beasts look down, is a palpable evidence of this.

3. It is that which man should aim at, the mark to which he should direct all he does, 1 Cor. x. 31, the text. This is what we should continually have in our eye, the grand design we should be

carrying on in the world, Psal. xvi. 8. ' I have set the Lord always before me,' says David.

Secondly, It is man's chief end, that which God chiefly aimed at, the chief end of man as God's work, and that which man should chiefly aim at. God made man for other ends, as to govern, use, and dispose of other creatures in the earth, sea, and air, wisely, soberly, and mercifully, Gen. i. 26. Man was fitted for these ends, and a man may propose them lawfully to himself, seeing God has set them before him; but still these are but subordinate ends to his glory.

There are some ends which men propose to themselves, which are simply unlawful, as to satisfy their revenge, their lust, their covetousness, &c. These are not capable of subordination to the glory of God, who hates robbery for burnt-offering. But there are other ends, which are indeed in themselves lawful, yet become sinful, if they be not set in their due place, that is, subordinate to the glory ofGod. Now, God's glory is made our chief end, when these three things concur.

1. When whatever end we have in our actions, the glory of God is still one of our ends in acting. We may eat and drink for the nourishment of our bodies ; but this must not justle out our respect to the glory of God. If the nourishment of our bodies be the only end of our eating and drinking, it is sinful, and out of the due order.

2. It must not only be our end, but it must be our main and principal end, that which we chiefly design. When God's glory is our chief end, all other ends that we propose to ourselves will be down-weighed by this ; all other sheaves must bow to that sheaf: as a diligent servant designs to please both the master and his steward, but chiefly the master. But when, on the contrary, a man eats and drinks (for instance) more for the nourishment of his body than for God's glory, it is plain, that God's glory is not the chief end of the man in that action. Hence we read, 2 Tim. iii. 4. of some that are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

3. When it is the ultimate end, the last end, the top and perfection of what we design, beyond which we have no more view, and to which all other ends are made subservient, and as means to that end. Thus we should eat that our bodies may be refreshed ; we should desire that our bodies may be refreshed, that we may be the more capable to serve and glorify God in our stations. Thus we are obliged to seek our own salvation, that God may be glorified and not to seek God's glory only that we may be saved; for that is to make the glory of God a stepping-stone to our own safety. 

Thirdly, I come now to show the extent of this duty. Respect to the glory of God is as salt that must be served up with every dish. The great work of our life is to glorify him; it is the end of our first and of our second creation, Isa. xliii. 21. ' This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.' We must be for God, Hos. iii. 3. and live to him. This must be the end.

1. Of our natural actions, 1 Cor. x. 31. eating, sleeping, walking, &c. we are under a law as to these things. We may not eat and drink as we please, more than pray as we please, Zech. vii. 6. All these things must be done in subserviency to the glory of God. These things must be done that we may live, and living may glorify God ; and when we can do it without them in heaven, then none of these things shall be done.

2. Of our civil actions, working our work, buying and selling, &c. Eph. vi. 7. Prov. xxi. 4. It was one of the sins of the old world, that they were eating ; the word is properly used of beasts eating their food : they had no higher end in it than beasts; and marrying, a thing in itself lawful, but they had no eye to God in it.

3. Of our moral and religious actions, Zech. vii. 5. We must pray, hear, &c. for God's glory.

This is such a necessary ingredient in our actions, that none of them are truly good and acceptable to God without it, Zech. vii. 5. Do what we will, it cannot be service to God, if we do not make him our end ; no more than a servant's working to himself is service to his master. God will never be the rewarder of a work, whereof he is not the end; for if a man should build houses to all the country, if he build not one to me, I owe him nothing. Alas! to what purpose serves a generation of good works all killed by a depraved end?

Though it is a duty frequently to have a formal and express intention of the glory of God in our actings, yet to have it in every action is impossible: neither are we bound to it; for then, for that very intention we should be obliged to have another, another for that, and another for that, in infinitum. But we should always habitually and interpretatively design the glory of God. And that is done when, (1.) The course of our lives is directed to the glory of God, Psal. 1. ult. (2.) When we walk according to the rule of God's word, taking heed that we swerve not in any thing from it. And, (3.) When God's will is the reason as well as the rule of our actions ; when we believe a truth, because God has said it ; and do a duty, because God has commanded it. If we do not so, God loses his glory, and we lose our labour.

Fourthly, The reason of the point is, because he is the first principle, therefore he must be the last end. He is the first and the last, the Alpha, and therefore the Omega. God is the fountain of our being; and therefore seeing we are of him, we should be to him, Rom. xi. ult. forecited. Man is a mere relative being; God is our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor. Our being is but a borrowed being from him, as the rays or beams of the sun are borrowed from the sun: therefore I AM is God's name. Whatever perfection we have is from him hence he is called 'the only wise, none good but one, that is God:' he gives us the continuance of all these things, and it is on his cost that we live. As when the waters come from the sea unto the earth, and go back again unto it by brooks and rivers; so all we receive and enjoy comes from God, and ought to go back again to him, by being used for his glory. Wherefore to make ourselves our chief end, is to make ourselves a god to ourselves; for a creature to be a centre to itself, and that God should be a means to that end, is to blaspheme, John viii. 50.

II. I shall speak to the enjoyment of God for ever, wherein man's chief happiness consists, and which he is to seek as his chief good. Here I shall show,

1. The nature of this enjoyment.

2. The order of it.

3. That it is man's chief end in point of happiness.

First, I shall shew the nature of this enjoyment. There is a twofold enjoyment of God, imperfect and perfect.

First, There is an imperfect enjoyment of God in this life ; which

consists in two things.

1. In union with him, or a special saving interest in him, whereby God is their God by covenant. By this union Christ and believers are so joined, that they are one spirit, one mystical body. The whole man, soul and body, is united to him, and, through the Mediator, unto God. This is the foundation of all saving enjoyment of God.

2. In communion with God, which is a participation of the benefits of that saving relation, whereof the soul makes returns to the Lord in the exercise of its graces, particularly of faith and love. This is had in the duties of religion, prayer, meditation, &c. in which the Lord privileges his people with manifestations of his grace, favour, and love, bestows on them the influences of his Spirit, gives them many tokens of his kindness, and fills them with joy and peace in believing.

Secondly, There is a perfect enjoyment of God in heaven, when this world is no more. This consists in,

1. An intimate presence with him in glory Psal. xvi. 11, ' In his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore.' God himself shall be with them, and they shall ever be with the Lord, enjoying his glorious presence, brought near to his throne, and standing before him, where he shews his inconceivable glory.

2. In seeing him as he is, 1 John iii. 2. They shall have a full, a satisfying, and never-ending sight of God, and of all his glorious perfections and excellencies, and they shall be ravished with the view thereof for ever.

3. In a perfect union with him, Rev. xxi. 3. He will be their God. They were united to God in Christ here by the Spirit and faith, and made partakers of a divine nature, but then only in part but in heaven they shall perfectly partake of it. There shall be a most close and intimate union between God and them: God shall be in them, and they in God, in the way of a glorious and most perfect union, never to be dissolved.

4. In an immediate, full, free, and comfortable communion with him, infinitely superior to all the communion they ever had with him in this world, and which no mortal can suitably describe.

5. Lastly, In full joy and satisfaction resulting from these things for ever, Mat. xxv. 21. The presence and enjoyment of God and the Lamb, shall satisfy them with pleasures for evermore. They shall swim for ever in an ocean of joy, and every object they see shall fill them with the most ecstatic joy, which shall be ever fresh and new to them, through all the ages of eternity. (The reader may see a more full account of the happiness of the saints in heaven, in the author's book, Fourfold State, state 4, head 6, Vol.)

Secondly, Let us consider the order of this enjoyment.

1. It is a part of man's chief end, and, in conjunction with glorifying of God, makes it up. And these two are put together, because no man can glorify God, but he that takes God for his chief good and supreme happiness.

2. Glorifying of God is put before the enjoying of him, because the way of duty is the way to the enjoyment of God. Holiness on earth must necessarily go before felicity in heaven, Heb. xii. 14. There is an inseparable connexion betwixt the two, as between the end and the means; so that no person who does not glorify God here, shall ever enjoy him hereafter. The connexion is instituted by God himself, so that the one can never be attained without the other. Let no person, then, who has no regard for the glory and honour of God in this world, dream that he shall be crowned with glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life, in the heavenly mansions. No; the pure in heart, and they who glorify God now, shall alone see God, to their infinite joy in heaven.

Thirdly, I shall shew, that the enjoyment of God is man's chief end in point of happiness, the thing that he should chiefly seek. For this end,

1. Consider what man is. He is, (1.) A creature that desires happiness, and cannot but desire it. The desire of happiness is woven into his nature, and cannot be eradicated. It is as natural for him to desire it as it is to breathe. (2.) He is not self-sufficient he is conscious to himself that he wants many things, and therefore he is ever seeking something without himself in order to be happy. (3.) Nothing but an infinite good can fully satisfy the desires of an immortal soul: because, whatever good he finds in the creature, he can still desire more, and will continue to desire it; and where it is not to be found, there his happiness is marred. So that man's happiness is neither to be found in himself nor in any creature, or created good.

2. Consider what God is.

1st, God is the chief good. Some persons, as angels, &c. and some things, as grace, glory, &c. are good; but God is the chief good, for he is the fountain good, and the water that is good is always best in the fountain. All other goodness is but second-hand goodness, derived and dependant; but God is original, underived, and independent goodness, the cause and source of whatever is good in heaven and earth. Now, where the more goodness is, there the more it is to be sought. And therefore, seeing God is the chief good, the enjoyment of him is the chief end which man should aim at in seeking.

2nd, God is all good. (1,) There is nothing in him but what is good; he is entirely without imperfection. (2.) All that is good is in him; so that the soul, finding him commensurate to its desires, needs nothing besides him; and therefore should not, and cannot, fully rest in any person or thing but God, who alone is able to satisfy all its desires, and afford it that happiness which it earnestly pants after.

I shall conclude with a few inferences.

1. how does reigning sin pervert the spirit of man, turning it quite away from its chief end! How many are there who make themselves their chief end! They are conjured within the circle of self, and out of it they cannot move. Like beasts they grovel on the ground, seeking themselves, and acting for themselves only or chiefly, pursuing the enjoyment of earthly things; but look not to God, Phil. iii. 19. Their own advantage is the chief motive and aim they have in their natural, civil, and religious actions, either their own pleasure, profit, or honour and glory. And they never think of, never propose the glory and honour of the infinite Majesty of heaven in any thing they do.

2. This may fill the best with shame and blushing. how much is God dishonoured by our hearts, lips, and lives! what self-seeking mixes itself with our best actions! How eagerly do we pursue created things, and how faintly the enjoyment of God! How absurd is such conduct! and how dishonourable to a holy God! It is a saying upon the matter, that God is not the chief good, that he is not a suitable portion for the soul, and that the creature is better than God. How should we be ashamed of ourselves on this account, and labour earnestly to make God the chief and ultimate end of all our actions, and the enjoyment of him our chief happiness!

3. Behold the excellency of man above other creatures on earth! He is made for a noble end, to glorify and enjoy God, while other creatures were made for him. How sad is it, that men should thus forget their dignity, and turn slaves to those creatures which were made to serve them! And how deplorable and lamentable is it, that men, in place of making God their ultimate end, and placing their chief happiness in him, should make their belly, their lusts and idols, their God, and place their chief felicity in the gratification of sensual and brutish pleasures; as the drunkard does in his bottle, the unclean person in his whore, the miser in his wealth, and the ambitious man in titles of honour. Alas! our hearts by nature are set on the earth that we tread upon, and our desires reach up to those things that we should make stepping-stones of. Let us earnestly implore divine grace to cure this disorder of our hearts, and give them a bias to more excellent things, and the enjoyment of that which will survive the grave, and not perish with the wrecks of time, and the dissolution of the world.

4. The soul of man is immortal, seeing to enjoy God for ever is its ultimate and supreme happiness. God is immortal, and so must the soul be too, which can never be satisfied but in this never-dying being. The body too must rise again, seeing God is the God and portion of the whole man. Now, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Can that thinking and immaterial substance which eagerly desires happiness, and can find it no where but in the immortal God, perish with the body, and all its thoughts and desires be extinguished in the grave? No; its chief happiness will subsist for ever, and so will the soul too. And both soul and body, which were united to God here, shall continue to be united to him for ever, after the resurrection. Let us then seek to be united to God here, that we may be happy with and in him for ever. 

5. When God and the creature come in competition, we must renounce the creature, and cleave to God only, Luke xiv. 33. God is the chief good, and to glorify and adhere to him at all times, and in all cases, and amidst all trials, is our great duty, a duty absolutely required of us. If we are reduced to that dilemma, that we must either give up with the creature, or any worldly goods or possessions, or even life itself, or give up with and deny God and his cause, we must give up with and abandon the former, and not prefer them to the glory of God, which we ought always to study as our main end, and account our chief happiness and joy.

6. Here is a rule to try doctrines by, and also practices. Whatever doctrine tends to glorify God, and promote his honour in the world,is certainly from God, and is to be embraced. And whatever practices have that same tendency, they are good, and deserve to be imitated. Whereas any doctrine that tends to dishonour God, to rob him of his glory, and set the crown upon the creature's head, to depreciate the free grace of God, exalt the power of nature and of free-will, in opposition to the efficacious and irresistible grace of God, as the doctrines of the Pelagians, Papists, Arminians, and others do, is not from God. Neither is any doctrine or opinion that robs the Son of God of his essential dignity, supremacy, independency, and equality with the Father, to be received, because it is not of God, who will have all men to honour the Son even as they honour the Father.

Lastly, Let this then be your main and chief work, to glorify God, and to seek to enjoy him. And hence see the absoluteness of Christ, and faith in him; for there is no glorifying of the Father without the Son, 1 John ii. 23. and no enjoying of God, but through him. No sacrifice is or can be accepted, unless offered upon this altar; and there is no coming into the chamber of presence, but as introduced by Christ.