Section 10
J ^ii)et'kBtEwlBM«n(«i)',Tol.B. p.Il9. « Ibid. rol.A. p.SM. n.
Tfeil llfler it In Mr. Matthew Henrjr'i hanil-wriliii|, i> italM Spp •rmher J», Id**, and luperviibed,—" For the K«^. »lr. TullrnB, at hu relRi. waa Dot'rirogled tnllre lill the •eaJ' IBK, 5m EUhleen Scminni, b) Phdlp llis, w na: alio, the prefKt U IhH VDlnma. pp. wu. •iii.
probability, aupplied from tome document now unknown.* Thia
Mallhew Henry, from hit blbcra papcri,) varlct, in anmc parliculart, IhnuKh uiiimnortaol, both from the paragraph In Ihe Lilr, and Ilie it. and in Dr. Wordiimrth'B note; Dot la mention, tlial, in Ihe teienl wardi hit latter end rery chtriti Ale." do nnt oc ckiJJymenrMr.'Wain. , ,. ...
pp. IW. UT; nor, indeed, with the iieneral fcalureaof Ihe Lile. The whole narraliTe ■uppocu the eoncluaion,—that neither Mr. Henry, m. all Ihe publicatiou of Mr. Mttihrw Henry diacoicr ap exen Bolh li, and hii Ibllitr. cridcutly agrentin Kntlment wil queried wbe Vher the mcnmritl referred to could, by piwi'hilily. hate been con Mrued uultiourabty lo Mr. BrMitc. Thai Mr. MIhew Henry had no intention ll ahnuld be lo regarded, Li au Acienlly clear
The abjecl of Ihal chapter ii, prslvwcdly, lo record " tbe gitu and »™«.''»r ~~..... _h~, ^mp Hen ■■ deli(hled IndoTinuour;- emrnla. Sut. aince nn iitjnatlc ch hai, hillierlo, aaccaled Ihw. . good purpoar to remove tbe veil, liofle parlanf Mr. Henty'a diary, which ic inapectioBi apeeiany, aa the ktan. oftbcnntelilaledluUKedilnr. Ibat
1 the many oppnrlunitiet an cxleniin and femiliaracqi Ihe manuacnpla haiadifrded of judfrini:, Ihe editored nerel; the Uriet aecuiacy of Hr. Mallhew Henry, but al
1 hat Dol been In nim a> i
ly with Mr. Philip Hem
d'eiilwcy
In the preceding remirki, the talion iKainHHr. BridRe; hit intlmaey with Mr, Philip Heniyeeent to halt been regular and neighbourly; and hit prearhlnt, judging from ha •ermona. preterred in Mr. HVnry't hand.wtiling, in acco anre Willi Bound doclrine. Dot to Hy evidential of reapeclahle pulnit ability. The deaign ■«, limply, lo defend a reputation, which la tnn un«|uir Dcilly groa, may, wilhoul oKwe. be peimilted to retain ita fullibareof blotedoett-
To lin mine eyei, aa full of Ian,
Ai it my heart of grief, and feart;
And muc my linai brrathe dokliil tDnee i
Pul wordafjr light, anditopafcrgnmnt!
Such high.itraia'd raplurea, Ihote Ihal knew
Bui yet. methlnlu, I lee him itand In glorioui lobea. at God'a rwht hand. Triumphing in this happy day.
iiethrec
Of Mr. Henry's rM'ar dii thty coniiitBd of ihir^-nlne
I hope iiM will maka me more pni Glable. baavenl)' art. O Dn Diarr. On«. M t Pnface to Dialup W
NOTES.
And to we do, blest soul, for we Do not lament so much for thee. Too well we loved thee, to exprew RepiniD at thy happiness ; As Knowing w«ll, tliat, though it be A loss to us, 'tis gaia to thee. For, now thy blemea race is run. Thou bast received thy— Well done; And, seasonably, put in to shore, When winds and storms are at the door. Now, got safe in thy resting-place. Just now, when tempests rise apace. Therefore it was thou mad*st such haste To hide thee, till the storm be past. But, for ourselves, we may, we must Shed showers of tears over this dust. We need not wonder if the wall Do tremble when the pillars fall.* Well may we fear an evil day. When ri|(hteous men are ta'en away. A sign night's coming o'er our head. When Goa thus calls his babes to bed. A sign he will no lonr stay, When he sends for his pearls away. A sign he'll as an enemy, come, When he commands his agents home.i What reason, then, with one accord, If ever, now to cry,—Jelp, Lord/ His character I need not tell To those his friends, that knew him welL His learning, and his piety, His patience, and humility. How general a scliolar he Always anprov'd himself to be! How be, by long experience, knew Both study's pains, and pleasures too! How much he diligently read. And wliat a memory be had ;— How readily be could produce That which he read for others' use; E'en as the good householder brings, Out of his store, old and new thingi. His warm and zealous British blood. He well employ'd for God and good* The faith he stoutly did defiend, And for the present truths contend. But plainness was his master-graoe; He was of honest Jacob's race ;— A BOO of old Nathaniel, Without allow'd, approv'd of, guilt. No welt, or gard ;t a downright man, As preacher, and as Christian.
It presageth the fall of an house when the pillars are removed. Rev. T. Watson's Funeral Sermon for Mr. .lohn Wells, 4to. 1676. p. SS. t Well may we all feare God intendeth wars. When he commands home his ambassadours.
Poem upon the Death of so nuiny reverend ministers of late. See Enoch'sWalk and Change, ia npra,p. 49- t A plain man be was, as Jacob, without««// or gard ; and a plam deal* ins mao, as ?«athaniel, without craft or icuile: free ftx>m all courtship, enner for cou Dtertcit, or compliment. Clark's IJves annexed to the Martyrologie, p. 59. tu tufrm.
He learnt that leiaon,—to despite Being despis'd in other** eyes. Much hated by the world was be. As Christ's belov'd ones us'd to be;— For lie, consulting the repose And quiet of his conscience,* dioie The greatest sufl Trings rather than The seeming least, and smallest sin. But now kind death hath sent him thither, Where sin and sorrow cease together. And placed him in that happy state. Where all their writs are out of date. Lo, he who was a planet here. Is a fixt star in glory there ;— With freedom to his heavenly home, Though not to his earthly he could come. Death gave him his quiauM-ett, And laid him where the trrnrw retL Those that but little rest ran have On earth, yet find it in the grave; Except some commissary know; And tlien. perhaps, 'twill not be so. But bold awhile:—Shall Jonathan,— Jonathan die,—do what we canf Nay; 'tis too late; too late to cry,— Shul Jonathan, dear Jonathan, die? The stroke is giv'n;—he is sent. To his father's bouse from banishment. Where now we leave him full possess'd Of everlasting peace and rest; While I, in Uiese poor rhymes do tdl A prophet's fkll in Israel.
HIS EPITAPH.
Reader! consider, and adjust
Thy tlioughts to this despised dusL
'Tis learn'd Athenian dust; nay, mocc;
sacred dust from Zion's floor.
Here fell a star, that once did stand.
A shining »tar, in Christ's right hand;
A faithful, painful minister
Of Jesus Christ, lies sleeping here.
Consid'riog, then, it is his due.
Come drop, with me, a tear, or two.
From Mrs. Savage's MS.
Mrs. Crew, Ice.—p. 148.
See Dr. Ormerod's History, vol. 3. p. 136L To the merits of lady the following testimony appears in Sir John Crewe's manoK journal. " Sunday, July 6, 1600. This day died my mother, the
Earent, the truest Trieod, the best mistress, the greatest housekeepe er rank, and the most pious Christian of her time." She was bmu up under the direction of her kinsman, the celebrated John Bniec Suplefbrd, Esq. Jb. 136.
To him, who must judge us all at the great day, we can appeal be angels and men, that it is not thu thing, or that thing, that 6uts osu this dissent, but it is rooscieoce towards God, and fear ot offending t Dr. Jacorob. Farewell Sermons, p. 115.4to. 1663.
THE
PLEASANTNESS
OF A
RELIGIOUS LIFE
DISPLAYED. PROVED. AND RECOMMENDED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF EVERY ONE.
PARTICULARLY OF THE YOUNG. .
To THE Reader.
HAT distinction which the learned Dr. Henry ore insists so much apon, in his explanation of the miMl Mytterf of GodlineUy between the Animal ife and the Divine Life, is certainly of gat use to ad QS into the understanding of that mystery. '^hat was the fall and apostasy of man, and what still his sin and misery, but the soul's revolt from e Divine Life, and giving up itself wholly to the Kuna/ Life ? And what was the design of our Re-emer, but to recover us to the Divine and Spiritual fe again, by the influences of his grace ? And to is, his gospel has ^ direct tendency; his religion all spiritual and divine, while all other religions rc Mir of the Animal Life. '* Christianity " (says ) '* is that period of the wisdom and providence God, wherein the Animal Life is remarkably in-hed, and triumphed over, by the Divine ,** Bk. 2. . 7. And so far and no farther, are we Chris-ms indeed, than as this revolution is brought about our souls.
The conflict is between these two. Nothing aws more forcibly than Pleasure; in order there-re to the advancing of the interests of the Divine fe in myself and others, I have here endeavoured, God has enabled me, to make it evident, that the Uasures of the Divine Life are unspeakably better, td more deserving, than those of the Animal Life. 'ere people convinced of this, we should gain our »int
The substance of this was preached last year in r sermons, in the ordinary course of my ministry, aong many other Reasons why we should be eligious. I was then solicited to make it public, id now take this opportunity to prepare it for the ess, when, through the good hand of my God upon t, I have finished my Fifth Volume of Expositions, ibre I go about the Sixtk, And herein, I confess,
I indulge an inclination of my own; for this doctrine of the Pleasantness of Religion is what I have been long delighted with, and taken all occasions to mention. Yet I would not thus far have gpratifled either my friends' request, or my own inclination, if I had not thought that, by the blessing of God, it might be of some service to the common interest of Christ's kingdom, and the common salvation of precious souls.
May 31, 1714.
Proverbs iii. 17.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and al Lher paths are peace.
True religion and godliness are often, in Scripture, and particularly in this book of the Proverbs, represented, and recommended to us, under the name and character of wisdom; (Prov. i. 2, 7, 20; ii. 2, 10; iii. 13; Ps. cxi. 10.) because it is the highest improvement of the human nature, and the best and surest gpuide of human life. It was one of the first and most ancient discoveries of God's mind to the children of men, to the inquisitive part of them, that are in search for wisdom, and would have it at any rate. Then when God made a weight for the winds, and a decree for the rain, when he brought all the other creatures under the established rule and law of their creation, according to their respective capacities, then he declared this to man, a reasonable creature, as the law of his creation, (Job xxviii. 25—528.) Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, the evil of sin, is understanding.
The great men of the world, that engross its wealth and honours, are pretenders to wisdom, and think none do so well for themselves as they do; but tKough their neighbours applaud tJh«m<» 'axA ^^
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
posterity that reap the fruit of their worldly wisdom, approve their sayings, yet this their way is their folly ^ (Ps. xlix. 13.) and so it will appear, when God himself shall call those fools, who said to their souls, Take your ease, in bams full of corn, and bays full of money, Luke xii. 20. Jer. xvii. 11.
The learned men of the world were well-wishers to wisdom, and modestly called themselves ^iXoffo, — Lovers of wisdom; many wise principles we have from them, and wise precepts; and yet their philosophy failed them in that in which man's great duty and interest consist,.acquainting himself with his Maker, and keeping up communion with him: herein they that professed themselves to be wise, became fools ; (Rom. i. 22.) and the world, by wisdom, knew not God, 1 Cor. i. 21.
But tr\ie Christians are, without doubt, the truly wise men, to whom Christ is made of God, Wisdom, (1 Cor. i. 30.) tit whom are hid, not from them, but for them, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col. ii. 3. They understand themselves best, and on which side their interest lies, that give up themselves to the conduct of Christ, and his Word and Spirit; that consult his oracles, and govern themselves by them, which are indeed the truest oracles of reason, Prov. ix. 10. Men never begin to be wise, till they begin to be religious; and they then leave off to be wise, when they leave off to do good, Ps. xxxvi. 3.
Now, to recommend to us the study and practice of this true wisdom, to bHng us into a willing subjection to her authority, and keep t«i to a conscientious observance of her dictates, the Great God is here, by Solomon, reasoning with us, from those topics, which in other cases arc usually cogent and commanding enough. It is wonderful condescension, that he who has an indisputable authority over us, thus vouchsafes to reason with us; to draw with the cords of a man, and the bands of love; (Hos. xi. 4.) when he might make use only of the cords of a God, and the bands of the law, (Ps. ii. 3.) to invite us to that by precious promises which he enjoins upon us by his precepts, and those not grievous, 1 John v. 3.
Interest is the grevii governess of the world; which when men are once convinced of, they will be swayed by more than by any thing else; every one is for what he can get, and therefore applies himself to that which he thinks he can get by. The common inquiry is. Who will show us any good? We would all be happy, would all be easy.
Now it is here demonstrated by Eternal Truth itself, that it is our interest to be religious; and therefore religion deserves to be called wisdom, because it teaches us to do well for ourselves. And it is certain, that the way to be happy, that is, perfectly holy, hereafter, is to be holy, that is, truly happy, now. It is laid down for a principle here, Happy is the man that finds wisdom, (». 13.) that finds the principles and habits of it planted in his own .soul by divine grace; that, having diligently sought, has, at length, found that Pearl of fruit price: the man that getteth understanding, reckoai himself therein a true gainer. The man— quiprefert intelligentiam — that draws out understanding, so tlie original word signifies; that produces it, and 6rtii it forth; and so the Chaldee reads it.—Happy is the man, that, having a good principle in him, makes use of it both for his own and others' benefit; that, having laid up, lays out.
It is necessary to our being happy, that we hae right notions of happiness; the nature of it, wherein it consists, what are the ingredients of it, and what the ways that lead to it: for many keep themselves miserable by thinking themselves happy, when really they are not; and we have reason to suspect their mistake concerning themselves, because they mistake so grossly concerning others: they call the proud happy, (Mai. iii. 15.) they bless the covetous, whom the Lord abhors, Ps. x. 3. It concerns us therefore to consider, whence we take our measures of happiness, and what rules we go by in judging of it; that we may not covet our lot with those with whom we should dread to have our lot; that we may not say, as the Psalmist was tempted to say, when he looked upon the outward prosperity of worldly people, Happy is the people that is in such a case; but as he was determined to sa}', when he looked upon the true felicity of godly people, Happy, thrice happy, for ever happy, is that people, whose God ii the Lord; (Ps« cxliv. 15.) and as God here says, whose judgment, we are sure, is according to truth, Happy is the man that finds wisdom.
The happiness of those that are religious, is here proved,
I. From the true profit that is to be got by religion. Godliness is profitable to all things; (1 Tim. iv. 8.) it is of universal advantage. Though we may be losers for our religion, yet we shall not only not be losers 6y it, but we shall be unspeakable gainers, in the end. They that trade with wisdom's talents, will find tkt merchandise of it better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, and that it is more precious than rubies. As long since as Job's time it was agreed, that the advantages of religion were such, that, as they could not be purchased, so they could not be valued, with the gold of Ophir, the pre cious onyx, or the sapphire. The topaz of Ethiopia could not equal them. Job xxviii. 16, 19. Length rf days is in wisdom's right hand, even life for evermore ; length of days, and no shortening of them; and in her left hand riches and honour, (v. 16.) tke unsearchable riches of Christ, and the honour that comes from God, which are true riches, and true honours, because durable, because eternal, and for ever out of the danger of poverty and disgrace.
In all labour there is profit, more or less, of one kind or other, but no profit like that in the labour
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS
religioD. They who make a husiness of it will 1 great advantage by it; its present incomes are liable* and a comfortable, honourable mainte-ice for a soul; but its future recompences infinitely re so, above what we are able either to speak or nk.
[I. From the transcendent pleasure that is to be md in it Here profit and pleasure meet, which nplete the happiness; and Omne tulit punctum, ' miseuit utile dulci —
Where pleasure and advantage meet. They make the cheerful scene complete.
ose that pursue the gains of the world in wealth 1 riches, must be willing to deny themselves in ir pleasures; and those that will indulge them-ves in their pleasures, must be content not to get ney, but to spend it. As they that are covetous, ow they must not be voluptuous; so they that are uptuous, leave no room to be covetous; but it is t so in the profits and pleasures of religion. Here aan may both get and save, the spiritual riches of ine grace, and yet, at the same time, bathe in a 1 stream of divine consolations, and be a holy care in spiritual delights, while he lays up trea-es in heaven; the soul may even then dwell at e, when it is labouring most diligently for the If that endures to eternal life,
This is that which the text speaks of; and both profit and pleasure of religion are put together the next words, jS^^ is a tree of life, (r. 18.) both iching and delighting to them tliat lay hold upon . What gain or comfort like that of life ? . We are here assured, that her ways are ways pleasantness; not only pleasant ways, but, in the itract, ways of pleasantness, as if pleasantness were ifined to those ways, and not to be found any ere else; and the pleasantness arises not from r foreign circumstance, but from the innate good-is of the ways themselves. Or it notes the super-ive pleasantness of religion; it is as pleasant as tsantness itself. They are ways of pleasantness, 0; it is the word from which Naomi had her ne in the day of her prosperity, which afterward disclaimed; (Ruth i. 20.) Call me not Naomi, asant; but Marah, bitter. Think you hear Wis-a saying, on the contrary, '' Call me not Marah, ter, as some have miscalled me, but call me Naomi, asant'' The vulgar Latin reads it, vtVe pulehra eauiifui ways; ways of sweetness, so the Chaldee. Wisdom's ways are so; that is, the ways which has directed us to walk in, the ways of her com-ndments; they are such, that if w keep close to, I po an in, them, we shall certainly find true plea-e and satisfaction. Wisdom says, *' This is the f, walk tn tl; and you shall not only find life at end, hot pUeuure in the way.'' That which is only right way to happiness, we must resolve to
Q 2 travel, and to proceed, and persevere in, whether it be fair or foul, pleasant or unpleasant; but it is a great encouragement to a traveller, to know that his way is not only the right way, but a pleasant way: and such the way to heaven is.
God had told us by Solomon, (eh. ii. 3, 4.) that we must cry after hnowledge, must give our voice to understanding, that we must seek it, and search for it, must spare no cost or pains to get it. He had told us, that this wisdom would restrain us from the way both of the evil man, and of the strange woman; {ch, ii. 12, 16.) that it would keep us from all the forbidden pleasures of sense. Now lest these re-straints from pleasure, and constraints to piety and labour, should discourage any from the ways of religion, he here assures us, not only that our pains will be abundantly recompensed with the profits of religion, but that the pleasures we forego will be abun* dantly balanced with the pleasures we shall enjoy.
2. It is added. All her paths are peace. Peace is sometimes put for all good; here some take it for the good of safety and protection. Many ways are pleasant; they are clean, and look smooth, but they are dangerous, either not sound at bottom, or beset with thieves : but the ways of wisdom have in them a holy security, as well as a holy serenity ; and they that walk in them, have God himself for iheir shield as well as their sun, and are not only joyful in the hope of good, but are, or may be, quiet also from the fear of evil.
But we may take it for the good of pleasure and delight; and so it imports the same as the former part of the verse. As there is pleasantness in wis* dom's ways, so there is peace in all her paths,
(1.) There is not only peace tn the end of religion, but peace tn the way. There is not only peace provided as a bed, for good men to lie down in at night, when their work is done, and their warfare is accomplished ; (they shall then enter into peace, rest in their beds, Isa. Ivii. 2. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace, Ps.xxvii. 37. it is everlasting peace;) but there is also peace provided as a shade, for good men to work in all day, that they may not only do their work, but do it with delight: for even the work of righteousness, as well as its reward, shall be peace, (Isa. xxxii. 17.) and the immediate effect of righteousness, as well as its issue at last, quietness and assurance for ever.
It is possible, that war may be the way to peace ; Sic quterimus pacem-^hus we pursue peace, is the best motto to be engven on weapons of war; but it is the glory of those who are truly religious, that they not only seek peace, but enjoy it; the peace of God rules their hearts, and by that means heeps them; and even while they are travellers, they have peace, though they are not yet at home.
It is the misery of the carnal, irreligus world, that The way of peace th have not known, (Rom. iii.
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
17.) for they arc like the troubled sea; there is no peace, says my God, to the wicked Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. How can peace be spoken to them that are not the sons of peace, (Luke x. 6, 6.) to them that have not grace for the word of peace to fasten upon ? They may cry peace to themselves, but there i% no true peace either in their way, or in their end. To such, I say, (2 Kings ix. 18.) What hast thou to do with peace ? Turn thee behind me; while in God's name I speak peace to all that are in covenant with the God of peace, to all the faithful subjects of the Prince of peace. They have experimentally known the way of peace, and to them I say, •* Go on, and prosper ; go on in peace, for the God of love and peace is and will be with you,"
(2.) There is not only this peace in the way of religion in general, but in the particular paths of that way ; view it in the several acts and instances of it, in the exercise of every grace, in the performance of every duty, and you will find, that what is said of the body of Christianity, is true of every part of it; it is peace.
The ways of religion are tracked as path-ways are; (Cant. i. 8.) We go forth by the footsteps of the flock. It is the good old way that all have walked in that are gone to heaven before us, and this contributes something to the peace of it; *' Walk in the old way, and you shall Jind rest to your soul,** Jer. vi. 16. We go on in our way with so much the more assurance, when we see those going before us, who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises ; let us but keep the path, and we shall not miss our way.
The Chaldee reads it, itinera, ejus, pacifieaher journeys are peace. The paths of wisdom are not like walks in a garden, which we make use of for diversion only, and an amusement; but like tracks in a great road, which we press forward in with care and pains, as a traveller in his journey, plus ultrafur-ther still, till we come to our journey's end. We must remember, that in the ways of religion we are upon our journey, and it is a journey of business, business of life and death, and tlierefore we must not trifle, or lose time; but must lift up our feet, as Jacob did, (Gen. xxix. 1.) Then Jacob went on his way; in the margin it is, he lift up his feet; and we must lift up our hearts, as Jehoshaphat did in the ways of the Lord, (2 Chron. xvii. 6.) and not take up short of the end of our faith and hope, not take up short of home: and though the journey is long, and requires all this care and application, yet it is pleasant, it is peace, notwithstanding.
In the way of religion and godliness, taken generally, there are different paths, according to the different sentiments of wise and good men in the less weighty matters of the law; but, blessed be God, every different path is not a by-path ; and if it be not, but kept within the same hedges of divine truths and laws, as to the essentials of religioii, it may be, it shall be, a way of peace; for both he that eateth, and he that eateth not, give God tkankSf (Ron. xiv. 6.) and have comfort in it. If we have dew views, we shall perceive that the kingdom of Goi the way of wisdom, is not meat and drink, and we shall find it to he, righteousness andpeace emdjoym the Holy Ghost, Rom. xiv. 17.
(3.) There is this peace in all the paths of wisdoB, in all the instances of pure and undeJUed religitm. Look into them all, make trial of them ally and yos will find there are none to be excepted, none to be quarrelled with: they are all uniform, and of a piece: die same golden thread of peace and pleasare nms through the whole web of serious godliness.
We cannot say so of this world, that all its paths are peace, however some of them may pretend to gve the mind a little satisfaction. Its pleasures have their allays ; that which one thing sweetens, another comes presently, and imbitters. But as there is a universal rectitude in the principles of religion, (Ps. cxix. 128.) I have esteemed all tky precepts concerning all things to be right; and, (Prov. viii. 8.) All the words of my mouth are in righteous-ness, (says wisdom,) and there is nothing froward or perverse in them; so there is a universal peace and pleasure in the practice of religion. All our paths, if such as they should be, will be such as we could wish.
The doctrine, .therefore, contained in these words, is.
That true piety has true pleasure in it. Or thus;
The ways of religion are pleasant and peaceful ways.
CHAPTER I.
TUB EXPLICATION OF THE DOCTRIKB.
It is a plain truth which we have here laid down, and there is little in it that needs explication: it were well for us, if we would but as readily sab-scribe to the certainty of it, as we apprehend the sense and meaning of it. Nor will any complain, that it is hard to be understood, but those who know no other pleasures than those of sense, and relish no other, and therefore resolve not to gve credit to it. Those who think, how can this be, that thero should be pleasure in piety? will be ready to ask, what is the meaning of this doctrine ? and to call it a hard saying.
You know what pleasure Js ; I hope you know, in some degree, what the pleasure of the mind is, a pleasure which the soul has the sensation of. And do you not know, in some dege, what piety is, a due regard to a God above us, and having the eyes of the soul ever up unto him ? Then you know what
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
221^
1 mean when I say, that there is an abundance of leal pleasure and satisfaction in the ways of religion and godliness.
Bat to help yon a little in the understanding of h, and to prevent mistakes, observe,
I. That I speak of true piety, and of that, as far mt it ffoes.
1. Hipocrites are very much strangers to the de-Bghts and pleasures of religion; nay, they are altogether so, for it i&joy which those strangers do not miermeddle with. Counterfeit piety can never bring in true pleasure. He that acts a part upon a stage, though it be the same part of one that is ever so pleasant, though he may humour the pleasantness well, does not experience it. The pleasures of God's house lie not in the outer courts, but within the vail. None know what the peace of God means, but those Aat are under the dominion and operation of his grace; nor can any that deny the power of godliness, expect to share in the pleasures of it. When wisdom enters into thine heart, takes possession of that, and becomes a living, active principle there; then, and not till then, it is pleasant unto thy soul, Prov. ii. 10. They that aim at no more than the credit of their religion before men, justly fall short of the comfort of it in themselves.
Hypocrites have other things that they delight in, the satisfactions of the world, the gratifications of sense, which put their mouths out of taste for spiritual pleasures, so that they have no pleasure in them. They that have their hearts upon their marketings, are weary of the new moons and the sabbaths, Amos Till. 6. With good reason, therefore, does Job ask. Will the hypocrite delight himself in the Almighty? {eh. xxvii. 10.) No, his soul takes its ease in the creature, and returns not to the Creator as its rest and home.
Some transitory pleasure a hypocrite may have .in religion, from a land-flood of sensible affections, who yet has not the least taste of the river of Gods pleasures. There were those who delighted to hnow God's ways; (Isa. Iviii. 2.) they met with some agreeable notions in them, that surprised them, and pleased their fancies, but they did not delight to walk in them. The stony ground received the word with joy, and yet received no lasting benefit by it, Luke viii. 13. Herod heard John gladly, (Mark vi. 20.) He found something very agreeable in his sermons, and which natural conscience could not but embrace, and yet could not bear to be reproved for his Hero-dias. A florid preacher, such as Ezekiel was, may be to them as a very lovely song of one that can play well on am instrument, (Gzek. xxxiii. 32.) and yet, at the same time, the word of the Lord, if it touch their consciences, and show them their transgres-dons, is to them a reproach, Jer. vi. 10.
They whose hearts are not right with God in their religion cannot have the pleasure of communion with God: for it is the soul only that converses with God, and that he communicates himself to; bodily exercise profiteth little, (1 Tim. iv. 8.) and therefore pleases little. The service of God is a burthen and a task to an unsanctified, unrenewed heart; it i» out of its element when it is brought into that air: and therefore, instead of snuffing it up, and saying. Behold, what a pleasure it is! it snuffs at it, and says. Behold, what a weariness it is ! Mai. i. 13.
Nor can they take any pleasure in communing with their own consciences, or in their reflections; for they are ready, upon all occasions, to give them uneasiness, by charging them with that which is disagreeable to their profession, and gives the lie to it. And though they cry. Peace, peace, to themselves, they have that within thcra, that tjells them the God of heaven does not speak peace to them; and this casts a damp upon all their pleasure, that their religion itself gives them pain, God himself is a terror to them, and the gospel itself condemns them for their insincerity. In time of trouble and distress, none are so much afraid, as the sinners in Zion, (Isa. xxxiii. 14.) the secret sinners there; and fearful-ness is the greatest surprise of all to the hypocrites,. (Amos vi. 1.) that were at ease in Zion, and thought its strong holds would be their security.
Therefore it is that hypocrites cast off religion and discharge themselves of the profession of it, after they have a while disguised themselves vrith it, because it did not sit easy; and they are weary of it. Tradesmen that take no pleasure in their business, will not stick to it long; no more will those that take no pleasure in their religion; nor will any thing carry us through the outward difficulties of it, but the inward delights of it; if those be wanting, the tree is not watered, and therefore even its leaf will soon wither, Ps. i. 3. The hypocrite will not always call upon God, will not long do it, because he will not delight himself in the Almighty, Job xxvii. 10. This ought not to be a stumbling-block to us. Thus hypocrites in religion prove apostates from it; and the reason is, because they never found it pleasant. They never found it pleasant, because they were never sincere in it, which was their fault, and not the fault of the religion they professed.
Let us therefore take heed, and beware of hypocrisy, (Luke xii. 1.) if ever we hope to find pleasure in religion. Counterfeit piety has some other end in view, some other end to serve, than that which is the spring of true delight. They who rest in that, hew them out cisterns (Jer. ii. 13.) that can hold but little water, and that dead ; nay, brohen cisterns that can hold no water; and how can they expect the pleasure which they have, who cleave to, and continually draw from, the Fountain of life and lioing waters? No; as their principles are, such are their pleasures; as their aims are, such are their joys: they appeal to the world, and to the world they shall
THE PLEASURE OF BEING REU6I0US.
go. Bat let not the credit of religion suffer for the sake of those who are only pretenders to it, and so indeed enemies to it.
2. It is possible that true Christians may, through their own fauU and foliy, want very much of the pleasure of religion; and therefore, I say, true piety, as far as it goes, is very pleasant; as far as it has its due influence upon us, and is rightly understood, and lived up to.
We abide by it, That Wisdom's ways arc always pleasant, and yet must own, that Wisdom's children are sometimes unpleasant, and therein come short of justifying Wisdom in this matter as they ought to do, (Luke vii. 35.) and rather give advantage to her accusers, and prejudice to her cause. Either they miss these ways, and turn aside out of them, and so lose the pleasure that is to be found in them; or, (which is a common case,) they refuse to take the comfort which they might have in these ways. They hamper themselves with needless perplexities, make the yoke heavy which Christ has made easy, and that frightful which he designed should be encouraging : they indulge themselves, and then, as Jo> nah when he was angry, justify themselves, iu causeless griefs and fears, and think they do well to put themselves into an agony, to be very heavy and sore amazed, and their souls exceeding sorrowful even unto death, as Christ's was; whereas Christ put himself into such an agony to make us easy.
But let not true piety suffer in its reputation because of this; for though it be called a religious melancholy, it is not so, for it is contrary to the very nature and design of religion, while it shelters itself under the colour of it, and pretends to take rise from it. It is rather to be called diiaidaiixovia — a superstitious melancholy, arising from such a slavish fear of God as the heathens were driven by to their daemons and barbarous sacrifices ; which is a great injury to the honour of his goodness, as well as a great injury to themselves.
If the professors of religion look for that in the world, which is to be had in God only, and that is perfect happiness ; and if they look for that in themselves, which is to be had in Christ only, and that is a perfect righteousness; or if they look for that on earth, which is to be had in heaven only, and that is perfect holiness; and then fret, and grieve, and go mourning, from day to day, because they are disappointed in their expectations, they may thank themselves; Why seek they the living among the dead f Luke xxiv. 5.
Let but religion, true and pure religion, in all the laws and instances of it, command and prevail, and these tears will soon be wiped away. Let but God's servants take their work before them, allow each principle of their religion its due weight, and each practice of it its due place and proportion, find let them not dash one precept of the gospel, any more than one table of the law, in pieces agaiattte other. Let them look upon it to be as mach fMk duty to rejoice in Christ Jesus, as to mooin for riKj nay, and more, for this is in order to tkmt: and we shall not fear, that their sorrows will in the lessfe shake the truth of our doctrine, for, as fkr as 49 religion is carried, it will carry this cbaraeter a]oi|-' with it, and further it cannot be expected.
II. In true piety I say, there is a pleasurt: teft: is that which we may find comfort in, and fetchjar, tisfaction from. There is a 601111111 jucmuba Aii-pleasant good, as well as utile-^-a useful oim. That is pleasant, which is agreeable, which the soul ie«i joices in, or, at least, reposes in ; or which it reliilieiy pleases itself with, and desires the continuance and repetition of. Let a man's faculties be in tbeir doe frame and temper, not vitiated, corrupted, or depraved, and there is that in the exercise of religion which highly suits them, and satisfies them. And this pleasure is such as is not allayed with any thing to cast a damp upon it.
1. The ways of religion are right and pUsuatU; they are pleasant without the allay of injury and iniquity. Sin pretends to have its pleasures, but they are the perverting of that which is right, {Job xjam. 27.) they are stolen waters, (Prov. ix. 17.) unjust, though pleasant; but the pleasures of godliness are as agreeable to the rectitude of our nature as they are gratifying to the pure and undebauched desires of it. It is the way in which we should go ; and the way in which, if we were not wretchedly degenerated, we would go of choice.
They are right, for they are marked out to us by our rightful Lord, who, having given us the being of rational creatures, has authority to give us a law suited to our being; and he has done it, both by natural conscience, and by the written word: he has said, This is the way, walk in it, Isa. xxx. 21. It is not only permitted and allowed us, but charged and commanded us, to walk in it. He has sent us, as messengers from him, to travel this road upon his errand.
They are right, for they lead directly to our great end, have a tendency to our welfare here and for ever. They are the only right way to that which is the felicity of our being, which we shall certainly miss and come short of, if we do not walk in this way.
But that is not all, they are also pleasant; Behold how good and how pleasant! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. It is the happiness of those Uiat fear God, that he not only teaches them in the way that he shall c/toase, (and we may be sure that is the right way,) but also that their souls shall dwell at ease, Ps. xxv. 12, 13. Justly may they dwell at ease, who have Infinite Wisdom itself to choose their way, and guide them in it That may be right, which is not pleasant, and ihatpleasant which is not right; but religion is both: therefore.
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
111 tke next verse it is compared to the tree of life. Tbe tree of knowledge was indeed pleasant to the 9if€Sf and a tree to he desired, but it was forbidden, (Gen. ill. 6.) and therefore religion is called a tree ^aftf which was not only pleasant, bat was allowed, till tin entered.
" 3. They are easy and pleasant; pleasant without ti alia J of toil and difficulty, any more than what Ariies ffom the corruption of our own nature; that indeed makes such opposition, that we have need •f argiunents, (and, blessed be God, we have good wqgnmeots,) to prore the practice of religion easy: init it is more than this, it is pleasant.
Maeh less is said than is intended, when we are told that his eammandments are not grievous, 1 John T. 3. They are not only not gricTOus and galling, but they are gcious and pleasing. His yoke is easy. Matt. xi. 30. The word there used, xP*7^t signifies more than so, it is sueet and gentle; not only easy as a yoke is to the neck, when it is so well fitted as not to hurt it, but easy as a pillow is to the head, when the head is weary and sleepy. It is not only tolerable, but very comfortable. There is not only no matter of complaint in the ways of God, nothing to hurt us, but there is abundant matter of joy and rejoicing. It is not only work which is not weariness, but work which is its own wages; such a tree of life, as will not only screen us from the storm and tempest, and feed us with necessary food, but we may sit down under the shadow of it with ^at delight, and the fruit of it will be sweet unto 9Hr taste. Cant. ii. 3.
3. They are gainful and pleasant, and have not the allay of expense and loss. That may be profitable, which yet may be unpleasant, and that pleasant, which afterward may prove very unprofitable ind prejudicial. What/ririt have sinners from those things in which yet they said they had pleasure ? Rom. vi. 21. But religion brings both pleasure with it, and profit after it. The pleasures of religion do lot cost us dear; there is no loss by them when the account comes to be balanced.
The gain of this world is usually fetched in by [oil and uneasy labour, which are grievous to fiesh md blood. The servants of this world are drudges \o it; they rise up early, sit vp late, and eat the bread ff sorrows, (Ps. cxxvii. 2.) in pursuit of its wealth. They labour, and bereave their souls of good; (Eccl. V. 8.) but the servants of God have a pleasure even n the work they are to get by, and which they shall ye recompensed for.
Beside the tendency that there is in the practice »f serious godliness to our happiness in the other ife, there is much in it that conduces to our comfort n this life. David observes it to the honour of re-igion, (Ps. xix. 11.) that not only nfter keeping, but « keepinf, God's commandments, there is a great eward; a present great reward of obedience in obe- i dience. A good man is satisfied from himself, (Prov. xiv. 14.) that is, from that which Divine Grace has wrought in him ; and the saints are said to sing in the ways of the Lord, (Ps. exxxviii. 5.) as those that find them pleasant ways.
The more closely we adhere to the rules of religion, the more intimate our converse is with divine things; and the more we live with an eye to Christ and another world, the more comfort we are likely to have in our own bosoms. Great peace have they that love God's law, (Ps. cxix. 166.) and the more they love it, the greater their peace is; nay, it w propiised to the church, that all her children shall be taught of the Lord, (and those whom he teaches, are well taught, and taught to do well,) and then great shall be the peace of her children, (Isa. liv. 13.) it shall be entailed upon them ; Peace like a river, in omne volubilis Ofvumrolling on from age to age.
III. I call it a true pleasure. As there is science, falsely so called, (1 Tim. vi. 20.) so there is pleasure, falsely so called. One of the ancients distinguishes between 'Hoova dXtidiis, and 'HSovdQ '¥ivitiQ, (Damas-cen, Orthod. Fid. I. 2.) pleasures that have some truth in them, and pleasures t/tat deceive us with a lie in their right hand. Some have said that the School of Epicurus, which is commonly branded and condemned for making pleasure man's chief good, did not mean sensual pleasure, but the pleasure of the mind. And we should be willing enough to admit it, were not the other principles of his philosophy so atheistical and irreligious. But this we are sure of, that it is a true pleasure which religion secures to us ; a pleasure that deserves the name, and answers it to the full. It is a true pleasure, for,
1. It is real, and not counterfeit. Carnal worldlings pretend a great satisfaction in the enjoyments of the world, and the gratifications of sense. Soul, take thine ease, says one, Luke xii. 19. / have found me out substance, says another, (Uos. xii. 8.) even the life of my hand. I have seen, says a third, the fire, Isa. xliv. 16. The wicked boasts of his heart's desire ; but Solomon assures us, not only that the end of that mirth is heaviness, but that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, Prov. xiv. 13. But those that make a god of their belly, and those that make a god of their money, find such a constant pain and uneasiness attending their spiritual idolatries, that their pleasure is but from the teeth outward. Discontent at present disappointments, and fear of worse ungoverned passions, (which seldom are made less turbulent by the gratifications of the appetite,) and above all, conscience of guilt, and dread of divine wrath, these give them the lie, when they boast of their pleasures, which, with such allays, are not to be boasted of; they would not be thought to be disappointed in that which they have chosen for their happiness, and therefore they seem to be pleased,
THE PLEASURE OF BEING REUGIOUS.
they seem to be pleasant, when really their heart, if it knows its own wickedness, cannot but know its own bittemea, Prov. xiv. 10.
And many of the good things of this world, of which we said. These same shall comfort fu, prove icexatious to us ; and we arc disappointed in that, wherein we most promised ourselves satisfaction. If we say our bed shall comfort us perhaps it is not a bed to rest on, but a bed to toss on, as it was to poor Job, when wearisome nights were appointed to him* Nay, such strangers are we to real pleasure in the things of this life, and so often do we deceive ourselves with that which is counterfeit, that, we wish to live to those days of life which we are told will be evil days, and those years of which we are assured that we shall say, We have no pleasure in them, Eccl. xii. 1.
But the pleasures of religion are solid, substantial pleasures, and not painted ; gold, and not gilded over: these sons of pleasure inherit substance, (Prov. viii. 21.) it is that which is the firm foundation, the strong superstructure, the consolations vf God, which are not few, nor small, (Job xv. 14.) while a vain and foolish world, cause their eyes to fly upon that which is not, Prov. xxiii. 6. Worldly people pretend to the joy they have not; but godly people conceal the joy they have; as he did, that had found the treasure hid in the field. They have, like their Master, meat to eat, which the world knows not of John iv. 32.
2. It is rational, and not brutish. It is the pleasure of the soul, not of sense; it is the peculiar pleasure of a man, not that which we have in common with the inferior creatures. The pleasures of religion are not those of the mere animal life, which arise from the gratifications of the senses of the body, and its appetites; no, they affect the soul, that part of us by which we are allied to the world of spirits, that noble part of us, and therefore are to be called the true pleasures of a man.
The bnite creatures have the same pleasures of sense that we have, and perhaps, in some of them, the senses are more exquisite, and consequently they have them in a much higher degree ; nor are tlieir pleasures liable to the correctives of reason and conscience as ours are. Who live such merry lives as the leviathan, who plays in the deep, or the birds that sing among the branches ? Ps. civ. 12, 26.
But what are these to a man, who being taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser than the fowls of heaven, (Job xxxv. 11.) and being dignified above the beasts, not so much by the powers of reason, as by a capacity for religion, is certainly designed for enjoyments of a more excellent nature, for spiritual and heavenly delights. When God made man, he left him not to the enjoyments of the wide world, with the other creatures, but enclosed him a paradise,—a garden of pleasure, (so Eden signifies,) where he should have delights proper for him ; signified indeed by the pleasures of a garden, pleasant trees, and their fruits, but reallj the de lights of a soul, that was a ray of divine light, and t spark of divine fire, newly breathed into him fima above, and on which God's image and likeness we imprinted. And we never recover our felicity, wfaitA we lost by our first parents* indulging the appetite of the body, till we come to the due relish of those pleasures which man has in common with angels, and a due contempt of those which he has in common with the brutes.
The pleasures of wisdom's ways may at second* hand affect the body, and be an advantage to that; hence it is said (Prov. iii. 8.) to be health to the kcm/, and marrow to the bones; but its residence is in the hidden man of the heart, (1 Pet. iii. 4.) and its com* forts delight the soul in the multitude of its thoughts, Ps. xciv. 19. It is pleasant to the soul, and makes it like a watered garden. These are pleasures which a man, by the assistance of divine grace, may reason himself into, and not, (as it is with sensual pleasures,) reason himself out of
There is no pleasure separate from that of religion, which pretends to be an intellectual pleasure, but that of learning, and that of honour ; but as to the pleasure of a proud man in his digniti(;s, and the respects paid him, as Herod, in the acclamations of the crowd, it does but affect the fancy ; it is vmn-glory, it is not glory, it is but the folly of him that receives the honour, fed by the folly of them that gve it; so that it does not deserve to be called a rational pleasure; it is a lust of the mind that is gratified by it, and that is as much an instance of our degeneracy, as any of the lusts of the flesh are.
And as to the pleasure of a scholar, abstracted from religion, it is indeed rational and intellectual; but it is only the pleasure of the mind in knowing truth, and not its enjoying good. Solomon, who had as much of this pleasure as ever any man had, and as nice a taste of it, yet has assured us from his own experience, that in much wisdom of this kind is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sof Tow, Eccl. i. 18.
But the pleasures which a holy soul has in knowing God, and in communion with him, are not only of a spiritual nature, but they are satisfying, they are filling to the soul, and make a happiness adequate to its best affections.
3. It is durable, and not ^ashy and transitory: that is true pleasure, and deserves the name, which will continue with us as a tree of life, and not wither as the green herb ; which will be not as the light of a candle, which is soon burnt out, but as that of the sun, which is a faithful witness in heaven. We reckon that most valuable, which is most durable.
The pleasures of sense are fading and perishing; I as the world passetk away, (1 John ii. 17.) so do lA#
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS;
hMtofU : tliat which at first pleases and satisfies, after a while palls and surfeits. As the crackling fftkonu under a pot, (Eccl. vii. 6.) which make a ^reat blaze, and a great noise for a little while, bat soon end in soot and ashes; such is the laughter of ike fool; the end of his mirth is heaviness, Belshaz-lar's jollity is soon turned into the utmost consternation ; The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear to me (Isa. xxi. 4.) The pleasures of sin are said to be bat for sl season, (Heb. xi. 25.) for the end of that mirth is heaviness. As they have no consistence, so they have no continuance.
Bat the pleasures of religion will abide, they wither not in winter, nor tarnish with time, nor does age wrinkle their beauty ; frost nips them not, nor do storms blast them ; they continue through the Seatest opposition of events, and despise that time and chance, which happens to all things under the sun, Eccl. ix. 11. Believers, when they are sorrowful, they arc but as sorrowful, for they are always rejoicing, (2 Cor. yi. 10. and ii. 14.) thanhs be to God, who always causeth us to triumph. If an immortal soul make an eternal God its chief joy, what should hinder but that it should rejoice evermore, (1 Thess. V. 16.) for as the treasure, so the pleasure, is laid up there, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. The joy which Christ gives to those that arc his, is joy which no man tahethfrom them, (John xvi. 22.) for it is their heart that rejoices. They are the beginning of everlasting pleasures, the earnest and foretaste of them; so that they are, in effect, pleasures for evermore.
So then the great truth which I desire my heart and yours may be fully convinced of, is this ; That a holy, heavenly life, spent in the service of God, and in communion with him, is, without doubt, the most pleasant and comfortable life any man can live in this world.
CHAPTER IL
THB PLBASURB OF BEING RBLIOIOHS, PKOVED FROM THB NA-TURB OFTRUB RBUGION, AND MANY PARTICULAR INSTANCES
OFrr.
The doctrine needs no further explication, nor can have any better, than our own experience of it; hut the chief part of this undertaking is to prove the trath of it. And O that God, by me, would set it before you in a true light, so that you may be all convinced of it, and embrace it as a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptation, that a godly life is a pleasant life : and that we may be wrought upon to livesach a life*
Pleasure is a tempting thing; what yields delight timiot but attract desire; it is next to necessity, so strongly does it urge. Surely, if we .were but fully persuaded of this, that religion has pleasure on its side, we should be wrought upon by the allurement of it to be religious. It is certainly so, let us not be in doubt of it. Here is a bait that has no hook under it, a pleasure courting you which has no pain attending it, no bitterness at the latter end of it; a pleasure which God himself invites you to, and which will make you happy, truly and eternally happy: and shall not this work upon you ?
But we may entertain ourselves, and our hearers long enough with discourses of the pleasantness of Wisdom's ways, but they will not profit unless they be mixed with faith, O ! that we would all mix faith with this truth! that we would 3ield to the evidence of it
To make way for the proof of it, I would only desire two things:
1. That you would lay aside prejudice, and give a fair and impartial hearing to this cause, and do not prejudge it. He that answers any matter before he hears it, hears it out, it is folly and shame to him f (Prov. viii. 13, 14.) especially if it be a matter of great importance and concern to himself; a matter of life and death. Be willing, therefore, to believe, that it is possible there may, and then I doubt not but to make out, that it is certain there is true pleasure in true religion.
You have got a notion, it may be, and are confirmed in it by the common cry of the multitude, that religion is a sour melancholy thing, that it is to bid farewell to all pleasure and delight, and to spend your days in grief, and your years in sighing: and if we offer any thing to the contrary, that it is a pleasant thing, and the best entertainment that can be to the mind, you are ready to say, as EzekiePff hearers did of him, Doth he not speak parables ? (Ezek. XX. 49.) does he not speak paradoxes ? You startle at it, and start from it as a hard saying, like Nathaniel, when he said. Can any good tking come out of Nazareth ? (John i. 46.) So you are ready to say. Can there be any pleasure in religion ? Believe it. Sirs, there can be, there cannot but be, pleasure in it.
Do not measure religion by the follies of some that profess it, but do not live up to their profession, nor adorn it; let them bear their own burthen, or clear themselves as they can; but you are to judge of things, not persons, and therefore ought not to be prejudiced against religion for their sakes. Nor should you measure by the ill opinions which its adversaries have of it, or the ill name which they endeavour to put it into, who neither know it, nor love it, and therefore care not what unjust things they say to justify themselves in the contempt of it, and to hinder others from embracing it; but think freely of this matter.
THE PLEASURE OF BEINO RELIOIOUS.
abide by it,—that, The soul it the man: this is the Pottnlatum that I lay down, in order to the proof of the doctrine, and I hope it will be readily granted me, that man is principally to be considered as an intellectual, immortal being, endued with spiritual powers and capacities, allied to the world of spirits, and accountable to the Father of spirits ; that there is a spirit in man, that has sensations and dispositions of its own, active and receptive faculties distinct from those of the body; and that this is the part of us, which we are, and ought to be, most concerned about, because it is really well or ill with us, according as it is well or ill with our souls.
Believe, that in man's present state, the soul and the body have separate and contesting interests; the body thinks it is its interest to have its appetites gratified, and to be indulged in its pleasures; while the soul knows it is its interest to have the appetites of the body subdued and mortified, that spiritual pleasures may be the better relished; and we are liere upon our trial, which of these two we will side with.
Be wise, therefore, be resolute, and show yourselves men that are actuated and governed by reason, and are affected with things as reason represents them to you: not reason, as it is in the mere natural man, clouded, and plunged, and lost in sense; but reason elevated and guided by divine revelation to us, and diviie grace in us. Walk by faith, and not by sense ; let the God that made you, and knows you, and wishes you well, and from whom your judgment must proceed, determine your sentiments in this matter, and the work is done.
Now I shall, in the first place, endeavour to prove this doctrine, by showing you what religion is, wherein it consists and what those things are which constitute serious godliness; and then you shall yourselves judge, whether it be not in its own nature pleasant. If you understand religion aright, you will find, that it has an innate sweetness in it, inseparable from it. Let it but speak for itself, and it will recommend itself. The very exhibition of this beauty in its own features and proportions, is enough to bring us all in love with it.
You shall see the pleasures of religion in twelve instances of it.
I. To be religious, is to hnow tlie only true God, and Jesus Ch-ist whom he hath sent, (John xvii. 3.) And is not that pleasant ? This is the first thing we have to do, to get our understandings rightly informed, concerning both the object and the medium of our religious regards, to seek and receive this light from heaven, to have it diffused through our souls as the morning light in the air, and to be turned to the impressions of it, as the clay to the seal, (Job xxxviii. 14.) and this is a pleasure to the soul that understands itself, and its own true interest. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun, (Eccl. xi. 7.) it rejoieeth the heart, Prov. XV. 30. Hence, light is often put for joy and comfort; but no light is comparable to tliat of the hnowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iv. 6.
This is finding the knowledge we had lost, and must for ever have despaired of finding, if God had not made it known to us by his Spirit It is finding the knowledge that we arc undone witkontt and happy for ever in; for what is heaven but this knowledge in perfection ? It is finding the knowledge which the soul would covet and rest in, if it had but recovered itself from the delirium, which by the fall it is thrown into. They that sat in darh-ness, when they begin to be religious, begin to see a great light. Matt iv. 16. And it is a pleasing surprise to them ; it is coming into a new world; such a pleasure as none could know so well, as he that had his sight given him, though he was bom blind, John ix. 25. Blessed are your eyes, (says Christ to those whom he had brought into an acquaintance with himself,) for they see. Apply thy heart to my hnowledge, saith Solomon, Prov. xxii. 17, IS, for it is a pleasant thing iftlutu heep jt within thee. Thou wilt eat honey, because it is good, Prov. xxiv. 13, 14. and the honey-comb, which is sweet to the taste; so sliall tlie knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul. Could a learned man, that had hit upon a demonstration in mathematics, cry out in a transport of joy, Svpsa, ^vpifca,— I liave found, I have fout\d ; and may not they much more boast of the discovery, that have found the knowledge of the Most High ? i
There is no pleasure in any learning like that of learning Christ, and the things that belong to our everlasting peace; for that which is known is not small and trivial, is not doubtful and uncertain, is not foreign to us, and which we are not concerned in ; which are things that may much diminish the pleasure of any knowledge ; but it is great and sure, and of the last importance to us, and the knowledge of it gives us satisfaction. Here we may rest our souls. To know the perfections of the divine nature, the unsearchable riches of divine grace to be led into the mystery of our redemption and reconciliation by Christ; this is food, such knowledge as this is a feast to the soul: it is meat indeed, and drink indeed: it is the knowledge of that which the angels desire to look into, 1 Peter i. 12. If the knowledge of the law of God was so sweet to David, sweeter titan honey to his taste, Ps. xix. 10; cxix. lOa how much more should the knowledge of the gospel of Christ be so to us? When God gives this wisdom and knowledge, with it he gives joy to him that is good in his sight, Eccl. ii. 26.
I wonder what pleasure or satisfaction those can have in themselves, that are ignorant of God, and Christ, and another world, though they are told there is such a knowledge- to be had, and there are
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those that have it, and it is their continual entertainment. But thus do men stand in their own light, when thej /ore darknett rather than light,
II. To be relifious, is to return to God, and re-ffose in hint as the rest of our souls. And is not that pleasant? It is not only for our understandings to embrace the knowledge of him, but our affections to fasten upon the enjoyment of him: it is to love God as our chief good, and to rest in that love; to love him with ull our hearty and soul, and mind, and might, who is well worthy of all that love, and infinitely more; amiable in himself, gracious to us; who will accept our love, and return it; who has promised to lave those that love him, Prov. viii. 17« The love of God reigning in the soul (and that is true religion) is as much a satisfaction to the soul, as the love of the world is a vexation to it. when it comes to be reflected upon, and is found to be so ill bestowed.
How pleasant must it needs be, so far to recover ourselves, as to quit the world for a portion and happiness as utterly insufficient to be so, and to depend upon him to be so, who has enough in him to answer our utmost expectations! When we have in vain sought for satisfaction where it is not to be had, to seek it and find it where it is ! To come from doat-ing upon Iging vanities, and spending our money for that which is not bread, (Isa. Iv. 2.) to live, and live plentifully, upon a God that is enough, a God all-sufficient, and in him to enjoy our own mercies! Did ever any thing speak a mind more easy and better pleased than that of David, Return unto thy rest, O my soul ? (Psalm cxvi. 7.) to God as thy rest, for in him, I am where I would be, I have what I would have : or that, (Ps. xvi. 2,5, 6.) O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup ? And then, The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places, and I have a goodly heritage ? Or that, (Ps. Ixxiii. 25.) Whom have I in heaven hut thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee ; for when flesh and heart faily thou art the strength and joy of my heart, and my portion for ever /
Religion consists not in raptures and transports; yet, without doubt, holy souls that are at home in God, that have made the Mott High their habitation, (Ps. xci. 9.) whose desires are toward him, whose delights are in him, who are in him as their centre and element, dwell at ease. None can imagine the pleasure that a believer has in his covenant relation to God, and interest in him, and the assurance of his love. Have I taken thy testimonies to be my heritage for ever? (Ps. cxix.lll.) surely they are the rejoicing of my heart; I cannot be better provided for. When King Asa brought his people to renew their covenant with God, it is said they sware unto the Lord with « loud voice and with shoutings, and with trumpets, i2 ChroD. xv. 14, 15.) And all Jndah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart. When we come to make it our own act and deed, to join ourselves to the Lord in an everlaiting covenant, and are upright with him in it, we cannot but be pleased with what we have done; it is a marriage covenant, it is made with joy: (Cant. ii. 16.) My Beloved is mine, and I am his,
III. To be religious, is to come to God as a father, in and by Jesus Christ as a mediator. And is not this pleasant ? We have not only the pleasure of knowing and loving God, but the pleasure of drawing nigh to hiin, and having by faith a humble freedom and intimacy with him; (Ps. Ixv. 4.) blessed are they thai dwell in his courts, they shall be satisfied with the goodness of his house even of his holy temple. Religion is described by coming to God; and what can be more agreeable to a soul that comes/rom him?
It is to come to God as a child to his father, to his father's house, to his father's arms, and to cry, Abba, Father, To come as a petitioner to his prince, is a privilege; but to come as a child to his father, is a pleasure; and this pleasure have all the saints, that have received the Spirit of adoption. They can look up to the God that made them, as one that loves them, and has a tender compassion for them, as afa ther has for his children, (Ps. ciii. 13.) and delights to do them good, taking pleasure in their prosperity ; as one whom though they have offended, yet is reconciled to them, owns them as his children, and encourages them to call him father. When he afilicts them, they know it is in love, and for their benefit, and that still it is their Father*s good pleasure to give them the kingdom, Luke xii. 32. When Ephraim bemoaned himself as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke God bemoaned him as a dear son, as a pleasant childf Jer. xxxi. 18,20. And if even prodigals, when penitents, become pleasant children to God, surely thej have no reason to be unpleasant to themselves.
But this is not all, it is not only to come to God as B.fathei', who himself loves us, (John xvi. 27.) but it is to come to him in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our Advocate with the Father; that by these two immutable things we might have strong consolationj . that we have not only a God to go to, but an Advocate to introduce us to him, and to speak for us« Believing in Christ is sometimes expressed by rejoicing in him; for it is a complacency of soul in the methods which infinite wisdom has taken, of bringing God and man together by a Mediator. We are the circumcision that rejoice in Christ Jesus, (Phil. iii. 3.) not only rely upon him, but triumph in him. Paul is not only not ashamed of the cross of Christ, but he glories in it. Gal. vi. 14. And when the eunuch is brought to believe in Christ with all his hearty he goes on his way rejoicing, highly pleased with what he has done.
What a pleasure, what a satisfaction, is it, to lodge the great concerns of our souls and eternity (which.
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surely, we cannot but have some careful thoughts about) in such a skilful, faithful hand as that of our Lord Jesus ? And this we do by faith. To cast the burthen upou him who is able to save to the uttermost, and as willing as he is able, and thus to make ourselves easy. How is blessed Paul elevated at the thought of this! Who is he tltat condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, is risen again, Rom. viii. 34. And with what pleasure does he reflect upon the confidence he had put in Jesus Christ! (2 Tim. i. 12.) / hnow whom I have believed, and he is able to heep that which I have committed to him against that day. They that know what it is to be in pain for sin, and in care to obtain the favour of God, cannot but know what a pleasure it is to believe in Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and our intercessor with God.
How can we live a more pleasant life, than to live by the faith of the Son of Godf (Gal. ii. 20.) to be continually depending on him, and deriving from him, and referring all to him; and as we have received him, so to walk in him ? It is in believing, that we 2itt filled with joy and peace, Rom. xv. 13.
IV. To be religious, is to enjoy God in all our creature-comforts. And is not that pleasant ? It is to take the common supports and conveniences of life, (be they of the richest, or be they of the meanest,) as the products of his providential care concerning us, and the gifts of his bounty to us, and in them to taste and see that the Lord is good, (Ps. xxxiv. 8.) good to all, good to us. It is to look above second causes to the first, through the creature to the Creator, and to say concerning every thing, that is agreeable and serviceable to us, *' This I asked, and this I have from the hand of my heavenly Father." What a noble taste and relish does this put into all the blessings with which we are daily loaded; our health and ease, our rest and sleep, our food and raiment, all the satisfaction we have in our relations, peace in our dwellings, success in our callings! The sweetness of these is more than doubled, it is highly raised, when by our religion we are taught and enabled to see them all coming to us from the goodness of God, as our great Benefactor, and thus to enjoy them richly, (I Tim. vi. 17.) while those who look no further than the creature, enjoy them very poorly, and only as the inferior creatures do.
Carnal, irreligious people, though they take a greater liberty in the use of the delights of sense than good people dare take, and therein think they have the advantage of them, yet, I am confident, they have not half the true delight in them that good people have; not only because all excesses are a force upon nature, and surfeits are as painful as hunger and thirst, but because, (though they do not thus abuse God's good creatures,) they deprive themselves of the comfort of receiving them from their Father's hand, and are not afl Tected to him as obedient children. They knew not thai Igaw them cam, and wine, and oil, Hos. ii. 8. They make use of the creature, but (Isa. xxii. 11.) they have not looked unto the Maker thereof, nor had respect to kim tkat fashioned it long ago, as good people do; and so they come short of the pleasure which good people have.
Is it not pleasant to taste covenant-love in commoa mercies ? very pleasant to see the hand of our heavenly Father spreading our table, filling our cup, making our houses safe, and our beds easy ? This they do, that by faith have their eyes ever towards the Lord, that by prayer fetch in his blessing upon all their enjoyments, and by praise give the gloiy of them to that mercy of his which endureth for ever. And when thus a continual regard is had to that mercy, an abundant sweetness is thereby infused into all the comforts of this life; for as the wrath and curse of God is the wormwood and the gll, (Lam. iii. 19.) in all the afflictions and miseries of this life; so his loving kindness is the honey and oil in all the comforts and enjoyments of this life: that is it which is better than life, (Ps. Ixiii. 3.) and which is abundantly satisfying; which puts gladness into the heart beyond the joy of harvest, Ps. iv. 7. Then the nations are glad, and sing for joy, when not only the earth yields her increase, but with it God, even their own God, gives them his blessing, Ps. Ixvii. 4, 6. And when the church is brought to such a sense of God's grace, as to cry out, How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty ! (Zech. ix. 17.) it follows, that then com shall make the young men cheeiful; intimating that we have no joy of our enjoyments, no true joy of them, till we are led by these streams to the fountain. To the pure, all things are pure, (Tit. i. 15.) and the more pure they are, the more pleasant they are.
V. To be religious, is to cast all our cares tqnm God, and to commit all our ways and works to kim, with an assurance that he will care for us. And is not this pleasant ? It is a very sensible pleasure to be eased of some pressing burthen which we are ready to sink under; and care is such a burthen: it is a heaviness in the heart of man, which makes it to stoop. Now true religion enables us to acknowledge God in all our ways, (Prov. iii. 6.) and then depend upon him to direct our steps, and follow his directions, not leaning to our own understanding. It is to refer ourselves, and the disposal of every thing that concerns us in this world, to God, and to his will and wisdom, with an entire acquiescence in his award and arbitration; Here I am, let the Lord do with me as seemeth good in his eyes, 2 Sam. xv. 26.
To be truly godly, is to have our wills melted into the will of God in every thing, and to say Amen to it, not only as a prayer, but as a covenant; Father in heaven, thy will be done; not as I will, but as thou wilt. It is to be fully reconciled to all the disposals of the divine providence, and methods of divine
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grace, both concemiDg others and ourselves: to be satisfied that all is well that God does, and will appear so at last, when the mystery of God shall be finished. And how does the mind enjoy itself that is come to this ! How easy is it! It is not only freed from racking anxieties, but filled with pleasing prospects : fears are hereby silenced, and hopes kept up and elc Tated. Nothing can come amiss to those who have thus been taught by the principles of their religion to make the best of tiiat which is, because it is the will of God ; which is making a virtue of necessity.
What uncomfortable lives do they live, that are continually fretting at that which cannot be helped, quarrelling with the disposals of Providence, when diey cannot alter them; and thus by contracting lilt as well as by indulging grief, doubling every borthen ? But how pleasantly do they travel through Ike wilderness of this world, who constantly follow the piilar of cloud and fire, and accommodate themselves to their lot, whatever it is ? That, like Paul, through Christ strengthening them, have learned tn evtry estate to he content, know how to want, and how to abound? PhiL iv. 11,12,13.
Religion brings the mind to the condition, whatever it is, and so makes it easy, because the condition, though it be not in every thing to our mind, it is according to God's mind, who in all occurrences pefformeth the thing that is appointed for us, (Job xxiii. 14.) and will make all work for good to them that love him. When the psalmist had directed us to delight ourselves always in the Lord, (Ps. xxxvii,4,5.) that is, to make our religion a constant pleasure to ourselves, he directs us, in order thereunto, to commit our wag unto the Lord, to trust also in him that he will bring it to pass, so that we shall have the desire of our hearts. And when St. Paul had encouraged us to be careful for nothing, but in every thing to make our requests known to God, he assures us that if we do so, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds, Phil. iv. 6, 7.
VI. To be religious, is to rejoice in the Lord alway, Phil. iii. 1. and iv.4. And is not that pleasant? It is not only one of the privileges of our religion, that we may rejoice, but it is made one of the duties of it We are defective in our religion, if we do not live a life of complacency in God, in his being, his tttribotes, and relations to us. It should be a eonstant pleasure to us, to think that there is a God; that he is such a one as the Scripture has revealed him to be, a Being infinitely wise and powerful, holy, josty and good ; that this God governs the world, and gives law to all the creatures; that he is our owner and ruler; that in his hand our breath is, in his hand our times, our hearts, and all our ways are. Thus certainly it is, and thus it must be, and happy tiiey that can please themselves with these thoughts; as those must needs be a constant terror to thcm-selvesy wlio oonld wish it were otherwise.
They who thus delight in God have always something, and something very commanding too, to delight in ; a fountain of joy that can never be either exhausted or stopped up, and to which they may always have access. How few are there that live many days, and rejoice in them all! Eccl. xi. 8. Such a Uiing is supposed indeed, but it is never found true in any, but those that make God their joy, the gladness of their joy, as the psalmist expresses it, (Ps. xliii. 4.) their exceeding joy : and in him it is intended the joy should terminate, when we are bid to rejoice evermore, 1 Thess. v, 16.
The conversion of the nations to Christ, and his holy religion, is often prophesied of in the Old Testament, under the notion of their being brought into a state oi holy joy; (Ps. xcvi. 11. and xcvii. 1. andc. 1.) Let the earth rejoice that the Lord reigns, and lei the multitude of isles be glad thereof; make ajoy ful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. The gospel is glad tidings of great joy to all people, Rom. xv. 10. When Samaria received the gospel, there was great joy in that city. Acts viii. 8. so essential is joy to re-lig^'on.
And the conversation of those that are joined to the Lord, when it is as it should be, is cheerful and joyful. They are called upon to walk in the light of the Lord, (Isa. ii. 5.) and to sing in the ways of the Lord, (Ps. cxxxviii. 5.) and to serve the Lord their God with joyfulness and gladness of heart in the abundance of all things, (Deut. xxviii. 47.) yea, and in the want of all things too, (Hab. iii. 17.) Though the fig-tree do not blossom, and there be no fruit in the vine. Has God now accepted thee, and thy works in Jesus Christ, Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; Eccl. ix. 7. It is the will of God that his people should be a cheerful people, that his Israel should rejoice in every good thing which the Lord their God giveth them, (Deut xxvi. 11.) so that it is their own fault if they have not a con* tinual feast, and be not made to rejoice with the outgoings of every morning, and every evening; for the compassions of that God, in whom they rejoice, are not only constant, but new and fresh daily.
VII. To be religious, is to make a business of praising God: And is not that pleasant ? It is indeed very unpleasant, and contrary to our inclination, to be obliged continually to praise one that is not worthy of praise; but what can be more pleasant, than to praise him to whom all praise is due, and ours particularly; to whom we and all (he creatures lie under all possible obligations; who is worthy of, and yet exalted far above, all blessing and praise; from whom all things are, and therefore to whom all things ought to be ?
There is little pleasure in praising one, whom none praise that are wise and good, but only the fools in Israel; but in praising God we concur with the blessed angels in heaven, and all the saints, and do
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it in conoert with them, who the more they know him, the more they praise him, Bless the Lord, ye his angels, and all his hosts; and therefore with what pleasare can I cast in my mite into such a treasury, Bless the Lord, O my soul!
There is little pleasure in praising one, who will not regard our praises, nor take notice of our expressions of esteem and affection: but when we offer to God the sacrifice of praise continually, (according to the obligation which our religion lays upon us,) that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to hit name, (Heb. xiii. 15.) we offer it to one that takes notice of it, accepts it, is well pleased with it, smells a savour of rest from it, (Gen. viii. 21.) and will not fail to meet those with his mercies, who follow him with their praises: for he has said, that they who offer praise, glorify him; such a favourable construction does he put upon it, and such a high stamp upon coarse metal.
Now what is it that we have to do in religion but to praise God ? We are taken into covenant with God, that we should be to him/or a name and for a praise, (Jer. xiii. 11.) are called into his marvellous light, that we should show forth the praises of him that called us, (I Pet ii. 9.) and how can we be more comfortably employed ? They are, therefore, blessed that dwell in God's house, for they will be still praising him, Ps. Ixxxiv. 4. And it is a good thing, good in itelf, and good for us; and it is very pleasant to give thanks unto the Lord, and to showforth his praises, (Ps. cxxxv. 3. and xcii. 1.) for we cannot do ourselves a greater honour, or fetch in a greater satisfaction, than by giving unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: it is not only a heaven upon earth, but it is a pledge and earnest of a heaven in heaven too; for if we be here every day blessing God, (Ps. cxlv. 2.) we shall be praising him for ever and ever; for thus all that shall go to heaven hereafter begin their heaven now. Compare the hellish pleasure which some take in profaning the name of God, and the heavenly pleasure which others take in glorifying it, and tell me which is preferable.
VIII. To be religious, is to have all our inordinate appetites corrected and regulated. And is not that pleasant? To be eased from pain is a sensible pleasure, and to be eased from that which is the disease and disorder of the mind, is a mental pleasure. Those certainly live a most unpleasant, uncomfortable life, that are slaves to their appetites, and indulge themselves in the gratifications of sense, though ever so criminal; that lay the reins on the neck of their lusts, and withhold not their hearts from any joy. The drunkards and unclean persons, though they are said to give themselves up to their pleasures, yet, really, they estrange themselves from that which is true pleasure, and subject themselves to a continual pain and uneasiness.
The carnal appetite is often overcharged, and that is a burthen to the body, and its distemper. When enough is as good as a feast, I wonder what pleasure it can be to take more than enough; and the appetite, the more it is indulged, the more humor* some and troublesome it grows; it is surfeited, bnt not satisfied; it does but grow more impetuous, and more imperious. It is true of the body, what Solomon says of a servant, (Prov. xxix. 21.) He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child, shall hate him become his son, nay his master, at the length. If we suffer the body to get dominion over the soul, so that the interests of the soul must be damaged to gratify the inclinations of the body, it will be a tyrant, (as a usurper generally is,) and will rule with rigour. And as God said to the people, (1 Sam. viii. 18. when by Samuel he had showed them the manner of the king that they chose, when they rejected his government,) you will cry out in that day because of your king which ye have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear; so it is with those that bring themselves into disorders, diseases, and terrors by the indulgence of their lusts. Who can pity them ? They are well enough served for setting such a king over them. Who hath woe ? Who hath sorrow ? (Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.) None so much as they that tarry long at the wine, though they think themselves to have the monopoly of pleasure. The truth is, they that live in these pleasures are dead while they Hve, (1 Tim. v. 6.) and while they fancy themselves to take the greatest liberty, really find themselves in the greatest slavery; for they are led captive by Satan at his will, and o(whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage, 2 Pet. ii. 19.
And if the carnal appetite has not gained such a complete possession, as quite to extinguish all the remains of reason and conscience; those noble powers, since they are not permitted to give law, will give disturbance; and there arc few that have so full an enjoyment of the forbidden pleasures of sense, but that they sometimes feel the checks of reason, and the terrors of conscience, which mar their mirth, as the hand-writing on the wall did Belshazzar's, and make their lives uncomfortable to them, and justly so, which makes them the more so.
Now to be religious, is to have the exorbitant power of those lusts and appetites broken, and since they will not be satisfied, to have them mortified, and brought into a quiet submission to the commanding faculties of the soul, according to the direction of the divine law; and tiius the peace is preserved, by supporting good order and government in the soul.
Those certainly live the most easy, healthful, pleasant lives, that are most sober, temperate, and chaste; that allow not themselves to eat of any forbidden tree, though pleasant to the eye ; that live regularly, and are the masters, not the servants, of
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their own bellies, (1 Cor. ix. 27.) that keep under their bodiesf and briny them into subjection to religion and rit reason, and by laying the axe to the root, and breaking vicious habits, dispositions, and desires, in the strength of divine grace, have made the refraining from vicious acts very easy and pleasant: Rom. viii. 13. If through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body, we live, we live pleasantly.
IX. To be religious, is to have all our unruly passions likewise governed and subdued. And is not that pleasant ? Much of our torment arises from our intemperate heats, discontent at the providence of God, fretfulness at every cross occurrence, fear of every imaginary evil, envy at those that are in a better state than ourselves, malice against those that have inj ured us, and an angry resentment of every, the least, provocation. These are thorns and briers in the soul; these spoil all our enjoyments, both of ourselves, and of our friends, and of our God too; these make men's lives unpleasant, and them a terror to themselves, and to all about them.
But when hy the grace of God these roots of bitterness are plucked up, which bear so much gall and wormwood, and we have learned of our Master to be meek and lowly in heart, (Matt xi. 29.) we find rest to our souls, we enter into the pleasant land. There is scarcely any of the graces of a Christian, that have more of a present tranquillity and satisfaction, both inherent in them, and annexed to them, than this of meekness. The meek shall eat, and be satisfied, (Ps. xxii. 26.) they'shall inherit the earM, (Matt v. 5.) they shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace, (Ps. xxxvii. 11.) and they shall increase their joy in the Lord, (Isa. xxix. 19.) which nothing diminishes more than ungovemed passion; for that grieves the Spirit of grace, the Comforter, and provokes him to withdraw, Eph. iv. 30, 31.
How pleasant it is for a man to be master of his own thoughts, to have a calmness and serenity in his own mind, as those have, who havertr/e over their own spirits, and thereby are kej}t in peace; peace, that will break an angry man's heart, but that will not break a meek man's sleep.
X. To be religious, is to dwell in love to all our brethren, and to do all tke good we can in this world. And is not that pleasant? Love is the fulfilling of the law; it is the second great commandment, to love our neighbour as ourselves, Rom. xiii. 10. All oar duty is summed up in one word, which as it is a short word, so it is a sweet word. Love, Behold, hofo good and hoto pleasant it is to live in holy love ! Ps. cxxxiii.l. Itisnotonlypleasingto God, and amiable in the eyes of all good men,but it will be very comfortable to ourselves; for they that dwell in love, dwell in God and God in them, I John iv. 16.
Religion teaches us to be kind to our relations, and to please them well in all things; neither to give nor resent proviications; to bear with their ipfirmities; to be courteous and obliging to all with whom we converse; to keep our temper, and the possession and enjoyment of our own souls, whatever affronts are gven us: and can any thing contribute more to our living pleasantly ?
By love we enjoy our friends, and have communion with them in all their comfoits, and so add to our own; rejoicing with them that do rejoice, 1 Thess. iii. 9. By love we recommend ourselves to their love; and what more delightful than to love, and be beloved ? Love is the very element of a pure and sanctified mind, the sweet air it breathes in, the cement of the best society, which contributes so much to the pleasure of human life. The sheep of Christ, united in flocks by the bond of holy love, lie down together in the green pastures, by the still waters, where there is not only plenty, but pleasure. The apostle (exhorting his friends to be of good comfort, (2 Cor. xiii. 11.) and to go on cheerfully in their Christian course) exhorts them, in order to that, to be of one mind, and to live in peace, and then the God of love and peace will be with them.
And what pleasure comparable to that of doing good ? It is some participation of the pleasure of the Eternal Mind, who delights to show mercy, and to do good. Nay, besides the divinity of this pleasure, there is a humanity in it; the nature of man, if it be not debauched and vitiated, cannot but take pleasure in making any body safe and easy. It was a pleasure to Job, to think that he had caused the widow's heart to sing for joy, had been eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the poor, and that they had been warmed with the fleece of his sheep. Job xxix. 13, 15,16. and xxxi. 20. The pleasure that a good man has in doing good, confirms that saying of our Saviour's, that it is tnore blessed to give than to receive. Acts XX. 35.
XI. To be religious, is to live a life of communion with God, And is not that pleasant ? Good Christians being taken into friendship, have fellowship with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ, (1 John i. 3.) and make it their business to keep up that holy converse and correspondence. Herein consists the life of religion, to converse with God, to receive his communications of mercy and grace to us, and to return pious and devout affections to him: and can any life be more comfortable? Is there any conversation that can possibly be so pleasant as this to a soul that knows itself, and its own powers and interests?
In reading and meditating upon the word of God, we hear God speaking with a great deal of condescension to us, and concern for us ; speaking freely to us, as a man does to his friend, and about our own business, speaking comfortably to us in compassion to our distressful case: and what can be more pleasant to those who have a value for the favour of God, and care about the interests of teir
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
own souls ; Ps. cxli. 6. When their judges are overthrown in stony plaeei, they shall hear my words, for tkey are sweet: the words of God will be very sweet to those who see themselves overthrown by sin, and so they will be to all that love God. With what an air of pleasure does the spouse say, Jt is the voice of my beloved, and he speaks to me ? Cant ii.
8, 10.
In prayer and praise we speak to God, and we have liberty of speech, have leave to utter all our words before the Lord, as Jephthah did his in Mizpeh, Judg. xi. 11. We speak to one whose ear is open, is bowed to our prayers, nay, to whom the prayer of the upright is a delight, (Prov. xv. 8.) which cannot but make it a very great delight to them to pray. It is not only an ease to a burthened spirit to unbosom itself to such a friend as God is, but a pleasure to a aoul that knows its own extraction, to have such a boldness, (as all believers have,) to enter into the holiest.
Nay, we may as truly have communion with God in providences as in ordinances, and in the duties of common conversation, as in religious exercises; and thus, that pleasure may become a continual feast to our souls. What can be more pleasant, than to have a God to go to, whom we may acknowledge in all our ways, and whom our eyes are ever towards; (Ps. xxv. 15.) to see all our comforts coming to us from his hand, and all our crosses too; to refer ourselves, and all events that are concerning us, to his disposal, with an assurance that he will order all for the best ? What a pleasure is it to behold the beauty of the Lord in all his works, and to taste the goodness of the Lord in all his gfts, in all our expectations to see every man's judgment proceeding from him; to make God our hope, and God our fear, and God our joy, and God our life, and God our all! This is to live a life of communion with God.
XII. To be religious, is to keep up a constant expectation of the glory to be revealed: it is to set eternal life before us as the mark we aim at, and the prize we run for, and to seek the things that are above. Col. iii. 1. And is not this pleasant 7 It is our duty to think much of heaven, to place our happiness in its joys, and thitherward to direct our aims and pursuits; and what subject, what object, can be more pleasing? We have need, sometimes, to frighten ourselves from sin, with the terrors of eternal death ; but it is much more a part of our religion, to encourage ourselves in our duty; with the hopes of that eternal life which God hath gven us, that life which is in his Son, 1 John v. 11.
What is Christianity, but having our conversation in heaven, (Phil. iii. 20.) trading with the New Jerusalem ; and keeping up a constant correspondence with that better country, that is, the heavenly, as the country we belong to, and are in expectation of; to which we remit our best effects and best affections; where our head and home is, and where we hope and long to be ?
Then we are as we should be, when oar minds are in a heavenly frame and temper; then we do as we should do, when we are employed in the heavenly work, as we are capable of doing it in this lower world; and is not our religion then a heaven upon earth ? If there be a fulness of joy and pleasure in that glory and happiness, which is grace and holiness perfected; there cannot but be an abundance of joy and pleasure in iht grace and holiness, which is glory and happiness begun. If there will be such a complete satisfaction in vision and fruition, there cannot but be a great deal in faith and hope, so well founded as that of the saints is. Hence we are said, believing to rejoice with joy unspeakable, (1 Pet. i. 8.) and to ht filled with joy and peace in believingf Rom« XV. 13.
It is the character of all God's people, that tiiey are horn from heaven, and bound/or heaven, and have laid up their treasure in heaven; and they that know how great, how rich, how glorious, and how well secured that happiness is to all believers, cannot but own, that if that be their character, it cannot but be their unspeakable comfort and delight.
Now sum up the whole, and then tell me, whether religion be not a pleasant thing indeed, when even the duties of it themselves are so much the delights of it: and whether we do not serve a good master, who has thus made our work its own wages, and has graciously provided two heavens for those that never deserved one
CHAPTER IIL
THB PLBABANTNE88 OF RBLIOION PROVBD, FSOM THK PBOmiON THAT 18 MADB FOE THB COMFORT OF THOBB WHO AKB RBU-GIOUS, AND THB FRIVILB0E8 THBT ARB BNTITLkD TO.
Wb have already found by inquiry, (O! that we could say we had found by experience!) that the very principles and practices of religion themselves have a great deal of pleasantness in them, and the one half of it has not been told us; and yet the comfort that attends religion, and follows after it, cannot but exceed that which is inherent in it, and comes with it. If the work of righteousness be peaee much more is the effect of righteousness so, Isa. xxxii. 17. If the precepts of religion have such an air of sweetness in them, what then have the comforts of it ? Behold, happy is the people even in this world, whose God is the Lord.
We must conclude, that they who walk in the ways of Holy Wisdom, have, or may have, true peace and pleasure; for God has both taken care for their comfort, and given them cause to be comforted: so that
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if they do not live easily and pleasantly, it is their own fault
I. The God whom they serve, has, in general, taken care/or their comfort, and has done enough to convince them, that it is his will they should he comforted; that he not only gves them leave to be cheerful, hut would have them to be so: for what could have been done more to the satisfaction of his family, than he has done in it ?
1. There is a/ncrc Aoie made of peace and pleasure for them, so that they come to it fairly, and by a good title. He that purchased them a peculiar people to himself, took care that they should be a pleasant people, that their comforts might be a credit to his cause, and the joy of his servants in his work might be a reputation to his family. We have not only peaee wUh God through our Lord Jems Christ, (Rom. V. 1, 2, 3.) but peace in our own consciences too: not only peace above, but peace within; and nothing less will pacify an offended conscience, than that which satisfied an offended God. Yet this is not all, we have not only inward peace, but we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and triumph over, lULj we triumph tit, tribulation.
Think what a vast expense (if I may so say) God was at, of blood and treasure, to lay up for this, and secure to us, not only a future bliss, but present pleaaure, and the felicities not only of our home but of our way. Christ had trouble, that we might have peace; pain, that we might have pleasure; sorrow, that we might have joy. He wore the crown of thorns, that he might crown us with roses, and a lasting joy might be upon our heads. He put on the spirit of heaviness, that we might be arrayed with the garments of praise. The garden was the place of his agony, that it might be to us a garden of Eden, and there it was that he covenanted with his prosecutors for the disciples, (upon his surrendering himself,) saying in effect to all agonies, as he did to them, Ifyeseeh me let these go their way, (John xviii. 8.) If I be resigned to trouble, let them depart in peace.
This was that which made Wisdom's ways pleasantness : the everlasting righteousness which Christ, by dying, wrought out, and brought in. This is the foundation of the treaty of peace, and consequently the fountain of all tho consolations which believers are happy in. Then it is, that all the seed of Israel glory, when they can each of them say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength ; (Isa. xlv. 24, 25.) and then Israel shall dwell safely, in a holy security, when they have learned to call Christ by this name. The Lord our Righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 6. If Christ had not gone to the Father, as our High Priest, with the blood of sprinkling in his hand, we could never have rejoiced, but must have been always trembling,
Christ is our peace, (Eph. ii. 14, 17.) not only as he made peace for us with God ; but as he preached to them that were afar off, and to them that were nigh, and has engaged that his people, whenever they may have trouble in the world, shall have peace in him ; (John xvi. 33.) upon the assurance of which they may be of good cheer, whatever happens. It is observable, that in the close of that ordinance which Christ instituted in the night wherein he was betrayed, (to be a memorial of his sufferings,) he both sung a hymn of joy, and preached a sermon of comfort; to intimate, that that which he designed in dying for us, was to give us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, (2 Thess. ii. 16.) and that we should aim at in all our commemorations of his death.
Peace and comfort are bought and paid for; if any of those who were designed to have the benefit of this purchase, deprive themselves of it, let them bear the blame, but let him have the praise who intended them the kindness; and who will take care, that though his kindness be deferred, it shall not be defeated ; for though his disciples may be sorrowful for a time, their sorrow shall be turned into joy, John xvi. 20.
2. There are promises made to believers of peace and pleasure. The benefits Christ bought for them, are conveyed to them and settled upon them in the covenant of grace; which is well-ordered in all things, (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) for the comfort and satisfaction of those, who have made that covenant all their salvation and all their desire. There it is that light is sown for the righteous, and it will come up again in due time ; the promises of that covenant are the wells of salvation out of which they draw water with joy; the breasts of consolation, out of which, by faith, they such and are satisfied, Isa. xii. 3. and Ixvii. 11.
The promises of the Old Testament, that point at gospel times, speak mostly of this as the blessing reserved for those times, that there should be great joy and rejoicing; (Isa. xxxv. I. and Ix. 1.) The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose ; Arise, shine, for the light is come. The design of the gospel was to make religion a more pleasant thing than it had been, by freeing it, both from the burthensome services which the Jews were under, and from the superstitious fears which the heathen kept themselves and one another in awe with ; by enlarging the privileges of God's people, and making them easier to come at.
Every particular believer is interested in the promises made to the church, and may put them in suit, and fetch in the comfort contained in them, as every citizen has the benefit of the charter, even the meanest What a pleasure may one take in applying such a promise as that, / wiU never leave thee, nor forsake thee? Or that. All things shall work for good to them that love God? These, and such as these, guide our feet in the ways of peace; and as they are a firm foundation on which to build our hopes, so they are a full fountain from which to draw our ioi[&^
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
By the exceeding great and precious promises, we partake of a divine nature, (2 Pet. i. 4.) in this instance of it as much as any, a comfortable enjoyment of ourselves: and by all the other promises that promise is fulfilled, Isa. Ixv. Id, 14. Mg servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry ; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty ; my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart: and the encouragement given to all the church's faithful friends, is made good, Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all ye that love her ; Isa. Ixvi. 10.
3. There is provision made for the application of that which is purchased and promised to the saints. What will it avail that there is wine in the vessel, if it be not drawn out ? that there is a cordial made up, if it be not administered? Care is therefore taken, that the people of God be assisted in making use of the comforts treasured up for them in the everlasting covenant.
A religious life, one may well expect, should be a very comfortable life; for Infinite Wisdom has devised all the means that could be to make it so ; What could have been done more for God*s vineyard, (Isa. V. 4.) to make it flourishing as well as fruitful, than what he has done in it ? There is not only an overflowing fulness of oil in the Good Olive, but golden pipes, (as in the prophet's vision, Zech. iv. 12.) for the conveyance of that oil to the lamps, to keep them burning. When God would himself furnish a paradise for a beloved creature, there was nothing wanting that might contribute to the comfort of it; in it was planted every tree that was pleasant to the sight, and good for food, (Gen. ii. 9.) so in the gospel there is a paradise planted for all the faithful offspring of the second Adam: a Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, a pleasant land, a rest for all the spiritual seed of Abraham. Now, as God put Adam into paradise, and brought Israel into Canaan, so he has provided for the giving of possession to all believers, of all that comfort and pleasure that is laid up for them. As in the garden of Eden, innocency and pleasure were twisted together ; so, in the gospel of Christ, grace and peace, righteousness and peace have kissed each other, (Ps. Ixxxv. 10.) and all is done that could be wished, in order to our entering into this rest, this blessed sabbath, (Heb. iv. 3, 9.) So that if we have not the benefit of it, we may thank ourselves: God would have comforted us, and we would not be comforted, our souls refused it.
Four things are done with this view, that those who live a godly life, may live a comfortable and pleasant life; and it is a pity they should receive the grace of God herein in vain.
(1.) The Blessed Spirit is sent to be the Comforter ; he does also enlighten, convince, and sanctify, but he has his name from this part of his office, (John xiv. 16.) he is, 6 wapAtXriTac, the Comforter, As the Son of God was sent to be the Consolation of Israel, (Luke ii. 2&) to provide matter for comfort; so tbt Spirit of God was sent to be the Comforter, to apply the consolation which the Lord Jesus has provided. Christ came to make peace, and the Spirit to speak peace, and to make us to hear joy and gladsuss, even such as will cause broken bones themselves to rejoice, Ps. Ii. 8. Christ having wrought oat the salvation for us, the work of the Spirit is to give us the comfort of it; hence the joy of the saints is said to be the joy of tke Holy Ghost, (1 Thess. i. 6.) because it is his office to administer such comforts as tend to the filling of us with joy.
God, by his Spirit miwtfi on the face of tke waiters, made the world according to the word of his power; and by his Spirit moving on the souls of his people, even when they are a perfect chaos, he creates tke fruit of the lips, Peace, (Isa. Ivii. 19.) the product of the word of his promise; and if he did not create it, it would never be: and we must not only attend to the word of God speaking to us, but submit to the Spirit of God working upon us with the word.
The Spirit, as a Comforter, was given not only for the relief of the saints in the suffering ages of the church, but to continue with the church ahoay to the end, for the comfort of believers, in reference to their constant sorrows, both temporal and spiritnal; and what a favour is this to the chureh, no less needful, no less advantageous, than the sending of the Son of God to save us, and for which, therefore, we should be no less thankful. Let this article never be left out of our songs of praise, but let us always give thanks to him, who not only sent his Son to make satisfaction for us, for his mercy endur-etkfor ever, but sent his Spirit to give satisfaction for us, for kis mercy enduretkfor ever ; sent his Spirit not only to work in us the disposition of children towards him, but also to witness to our adopticm, and seal us to the day of redemption.
The Spirit is given to be our Teacher, and to Uad us into all truth, and as such he is a Comforter; for by rectifying our mistakes, and setting things in a true light, he silences our doubts and fears, and sets things in a pleasant light The Spirit is oar Remembrancer, to put us in mind of that which we do know, and as such he is a Oomforter; for, like the disciples, we distrust Christ in every exigence, because "Wt forget the miracles of the loaves, Mat xvL 9. The Spirit is our Sanctifier; by him sin is mortified, and grace wrought and strengthened, and as such he is our Comforter; for nothing tends so much to make us easy, as that which tends to make us holy. The Spirit is our Guide, and we are said to be led by the Spirit, and as such he is our Comforter; for under his conduct we cannot but be led into ways of pleasantness, to the green pastures, and still waters.
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S43
(2.) The Scriptures are written, that our jay may he full; (1 John i. 4.) that we may have that joy which alone is filling, and has that in it which will fill up the vacancies of other joys, and make up their deficiencies ; and that we may be full of that joy, may have more and more of it, may be wholly taken op with it, and may come, at length, to the full perfection of it in the kingdom of glory: these things are written to you, not only that you may receive the word with joy ^ at first, when it is a new thing to you, but that your joy may be full, and constant. The word of God is the chief conveyance, by which comfort is communicated from Christ, the fountain of life, to all the saints. That book, which the Lamb, that was slain, took out of the right hand of kim that sat on the throne, is that which we are by faith to feed upon and digest, and to fill our souls with; and we shall find that it will, like Ezekiel's roll, (Ezek. iii. 3,) be in our mouths as honey for sweetness, and the opening of its seals will put a new song into our mouth. Rev. v. 9.
Scripture light is pleasant, much more sweet, more pleasant, than for the eyes to behold the sun; the manner of its conveyance is such, as makes it abundantly more so, for God speaks to us after the manner of men, in our own language. The comforts which the Scripture speaks to us are the sure mercies of David, such as wc may depend upon, and it is continually speaking. The Scriptures we may have always with us, and whenever we will, we may have recourse to them; so that we need not be to seek for cordials at any time. The word is nigh thee, (Rom. X. 8.) in thy house, and in thy hand, and it is thine own fault if it be not in thy mouth, and in thy heart. Nor is it a spring shut up, nor a fountain sealed: those that compare spiritual things with spiritual, will find the Scripture its own interpreter; and spiritual pleasure to flow from it as easily, as plenti-fally, to all that have spiritual senses exercised, as the honey from the comb.
The saints have found pleasure in the word of God, and all those who have given up themselves to be led and ruled by it It was such a comfort to David in his distress, that if he had not had that for deUghi, he would have perished in his affliction, (Ps. czix. 92.) nay, he had the joy of God's word to be Ids continual entertainment, (Ps. cxix. 64.) Thy itah Ues have bean my songs in the house of my piU primage: — ** Thy words were found, (says Jeremiah,) end I did eat them, feast upon them with as much pleasure, as ever any hungry man did upon his necessaiy food, or epicure upon his dainties; I perfectly regaled myself with them; and thy word was mUo me ike joy asui rejoicing of my heart:" (Jer. XV. 16.) and we not only come short of their expe-rieneeSy bnt finuitrate God's gracious intentions, if we do not find pleasure in tiie word of God; for whatsoevar ihirngt were written aforetime, Wfre written
B 2 for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope, Rom. xv. 4.
(3.) Holy ordinances were ifutituted for the furtherance of our comfort, and to make our religion pleasant unto us. The conversation of friends with each other, is reckoned one of the greatest delights of this world; now ordinances are instituted for the keeping up of our communion with God, which is the greatest delight of the soul that is allied to the other world. God appointed to the Jewish church a great many feasts in the year (and but one fast, and that but for one day) for this end, that they might rejoice before the Lord their God, they and their families, Deut. xvi. 11.
Prayer is an ordinance of God, appointed for the fetching in of that peace and pleasure which is provided for us. It is intended to be not only the ease of our hearts, by casting our burthen upon God, as it was to Hannah, (1 Sam. i. 18.) who, when she had prayed, went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad; but to be the joy of our hearts, by putting the promises in suit, and improving our acquaintance with heaven: Ash, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full, John xvi. 24, There is a throne of grace erected for us to come to; a Mediator of grace appointed, in whose name to come; the Spirit of grace given to help our infirmities, and an answer of peace promised to every prayer of faith: and all this, that we might fetch in, not only sanctifying, but comforting, grace in every time of need, Heb. iv. 16. God's house, in which wisdom's children dwell, is called a house of prayer, and thither God brings them, on purpose to mahe them joyful, Isa. Ivi. 7.
Singing of psalms is a gospel ordinance, that is designed to contribute to the pleasantness of our religion; not only to express, but to excite, and to increase, our holy joy. In singing to the Lord, we make a. joyful noise to the Roch of our salvation, Ps. xcv. I. When the apostle had warned all Christians to take heed of druhkenness. Be not drunh with wine, wherein is excess, lest they should think, that thereby he restrained them from any mirth, that would do them good, he directs them, instead of the song of the drunkard, when the heart is merry with wine, to entertain themselves with the songs of angels; (Eph. v. 18, 19.) Speahing to yourselves (when you are disposed to please yourselves) in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and mahing melody in your hearts to the Lord. There is no substance in this ordinance, but the word and prayer put together; but the circumstance of the voice and tune being a natural means of affecting our hearts, both with the one and with the other, God, in condescension to our state, has been pleased to make a particular ordinance of it, to show how much it is his will, that we should be cheerful: (JAm. V. 13.) Is any merry, let him sing psalms. Is
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any vainly merry ? let him suppress the vanity, and turn the mirth into a right channel; he need not banish nor abjure the mirth, but let it be holy, heavenly mirth, and in that mirth let him sing psalms. Nay, It any afflicted, and merry in his affliction, let him show it by singing psalms, as Paul and Silas did, in the stocks. Acts xvi. 25.
The Lord's day is appointed to be a pleasant day, a day of holy rest, nay, and a day too of holy joy; a thanksgiving day: (Ps. 118. 24.) This is the dug which the Lord hath made, tee will rejoice, and be glad in it. The Psalm or Song for the Sabbath-day begins thus, It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, Ps. xcii. 1. So far were the primitive Christians carried in this notion, that the Lord's day was designed for holy triumph and exultation, that they thought it improper to kneel in any act of worship on that day.
The Lord's supper is a spiritual feast; and a feast (Solomon says, Eccl. x. 19.) was made for laughter, and so was this for holy joy. We celebrate the memorials of his death, that we may rejoice in the victories that he obtained, and the purchases he made, by his death; and may apply to ourselves the privileges and comforts, which by the covenant of grace are made ours. There we cannot but be glad, and rejoice in him, where we remember his love more than wine. Cant. i. 4.
(4.) The ministry is appointed for the comfort of the saints, and their guides in the ways of wisdom are instructed, by all means possible, to make them wags of pleasantness, and to encourage them to go on pleasantly in those ways. The priests of old were ordained for men, (Heb. v. 1,2.) and were therefore taken from among men, that they might have compassion upon the mourners. And the prophets had this particularly in their commission. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, Isa. xl. 1.
Gospel-ministers, in a special manner, are appointed to be the helpers of the joy of the Lord's people; to be Bamabases, Sons of consolation; to strengthen the weak hands, and feeble knees, and to say to them who are of n fearful keart. Be strong, Isa. XXXV. 3, 5. The tabernacles of the Lord of hosts being amiable, the care of all that serve in those tabernacles, must be to make them appear so; that they who compass the altars of God, may find him their exceeding joy.
Thus has God taken care for the comfort of his people, so that he is not to be blamed if they be not comforted. But that is not all:
II. There are many particular benefits and privileges which they are entitled to, who walk in the ways of religion, that contribute very much to the pleasantness of those ways. By the blood of Christ those benefits and privileges are procured for them, which speaks them highly valuable, and by the covenant of grace they are secured to them, whicb speaks them unalienable.
1. Those who walk in Wisdom's ways are discharged from the debts of sin, and that is pUasanL They are privileged from arrests, (Rom. viii. 33.) Who shall lay any thing to their charge ? while ii is Gad that justifies them, and will stand by his own act, against hell and earth: and he is always near that justifies them, Isa. 1. 8. And so is their Advocate, that pleads for them, nearer than their accuser, though he stand at their right hand to resist them; and is able to cast him out, and all his accusations.
Surely, they put a force upon themselves, that are merry and pleasant under the guilt of sin: for if conscience be awake, it cannot but have a fearful looking for of wrath; but if sin be done away, the burthen is removed, the wound is healed, and all is well: ** Son, be of good cheer, (Mat.^ix. 2.) Thou sick of a palsy, yet be cheerful, for thy sins are forgiven thee; and therefore, not only they shall not hurt thee, but God is reconciled to thee, and will do thee good. Thou mayst enjoy the comforts of this life, and fear no snare in them; mayst bear the crosses of this life, and feel no sting in them; and mayst look forward to another life without terror or amazement/'
The pain which true penitents experience in their reflections upon their sins, makes the pleasure and satisfaction they have in the assurance of the pardon of them doubly sweet; as the sorrow of a woman in travail is not an allay, but rather a foil to the joy, that a child is bom into the world. No pain is more acute than that of broken bones, to which the sorrows of a penitent sinner are compared; but when they are well set, and well knit again, they are not only made easy, but they are made to rejoice, to which the comforts of a pardoned sinner are compared : Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice, Ps. li. 8. All our bones, when kept, that not one of them was broken, must say. Lord, who is like unto thee ? But there is a more sensible joy for one displaced bone reduced, than for the multitude of the bones that were never hurt; for one lost sheep brought home, than for ninety and nine that went not astray. Such is the pleasure which they have, that know ^eir sins are pardoned.
When God's prophets must speak comfortably to Jerusalem, they must tell her that her iniquity is pardoned, Isa. xl. 2. Such a pleasure there is in the sense of the forgiveness of sins, that it enables us to make a light matter of temporal afflictions, particularly that of sickness, (Isa. xxxiii. 24.) Tke inhabitants shall not say, I am sick, for tke peopU tkat dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. And to make a great matter of temporal mercies, when they are thus sweetened and secured, paiticalarly that of recovery from sickness; (Isa. xxxviii..l7.)
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
ThoukoMtj in love to my tout, cured my body, and delivered it from the pit of corruption ^ for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. If our sins be pardoned, and we know it, we may go out, and come in, in peace, tiothing can come amiss to us; we may Ho down and rise up with pleasure, for all is clear between as and heaven: thus blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven*
2. They have the Spirit of God witnessing with their spirits J that they are the children of God, Rom. Tiii. 16. and that is pleasant. Adoption accompanies jasti6cation, and if we have an assurance of ihe forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of God'^s grace, (Eph. i. 5,7.) we have an assurance of this further comfort, that we were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, The same evidence, the same testimony that is given of our being pardoned, serves as an evidence and testimony of our being preferred, our being thus preferred. Can the children of princes and great men please themselves with the thoughts of the honours and expectations that attend that relationship ? And may not the children of God think with pleasure on the adoption they have received, (Gal. iv. 6.) the Spirit of adoption, and that Spirit is witness to their adoption ? And the pleasure must be the greater, and make the stronger impression of joy, when they remember, that they were by nature not only strangers Rud foreigners, but children of wrath, and yet are thus highly favoured.
The comfort of relations is none of the least of the delights of this life; but what comfort of relations is comparable to this, of being related to God, as our Father; and to Christ, as our elder Brother; and to all the saints and angels too, as belonging to the same family; which we are happily brought into relation to? The pleasure of claiming and owning this relation, is plainly intimated in our being taught to cry, Abba, Father, (Rom. viii. 15.) why should it be thus doubled, and in two languages? but to intimate to us, the unaccountable pleasure and satisfaction with which good Christians call God Father; it is the string they harp upon, Abba, Father,
With what pleasure does David's own spirit witness to this! O my soul, thou hast said ufito the Lord, thou art my Lord; (Ps. xvi. 2.) and it is more to me that God is mine, than if all the world were mine. But when with our spirits the Spirit of God witnesses this too, saying to thy soul, *' Yea, he is thy God, and he owns thee as one of his family ; witness what he has wrought both in thee, nndfor thee, by my hand;'' what joy does this fill the soul with, joy unspeakable; especially considering that, as the prophet speaks in the place, in the same heart and conscience, where it was said, (and by the Spirit too, when he convinced as a Spirit of bondage,) Ye are not my people, even there it shall be said unto them, by the Spirit, (when he comforts as a Spirit of adoption,) Ye are the sons of the living God, Hos. i. 10.
3. They have access with boldness to the throne of grace, and that is pleasant. Prayer not only fetches in peace and pleasure, but it is itself a geat pri* vilege, and not only an honour, but a comfort; one of the greatest comforts of our lives, that we have a God to go to at all times, so that we need not fear coming unseasonably, or coming too often: and in all places, though as Jonah in the fsh's belly, or as David in the depths, or in the ends of the earth, Ps. cxxx. 1. and Ixi. 2.
It is a pleasure to one that is full of care and grief to unbosom himself; and we are welcome to pour out our complaint before God, and to show &«-fore him our trouble, (Ps. cxlii. 2.) and to one that wants, or fears wanting, to petition one that is able and willing to supply the wants. And we have great encouragement to make our requests known to God; we have access with confidence, (Eph. iii. 12.) not access with difficulty, (as we have to great men,) nor access with uncertainty of acceptance, as the Ninevites, Who can tell if God will return to us ? But we have access with assurance, whatsoever we ask in faith, according to his will, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him, 1 John v. 15.
It is a pleasure to talk to one that we love, and that we know loves us, and though far above us, yet takes notice of what we say, and is tenderly concerned for us: what a pleasure is it then to speak to God! to have not only a liberty of access, but a liberty of speech, Tra/fptioia, freedom to utter all our mind, humbly, and in faith; boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Heb. x. 19, 20. (and not with fear and trembling, as the high priest under the law, entered into the holiest,) and boldness to pour out our hearts before God, (Ps. Ixii. 8.) as one (though he knows our case better than we ourselves) who will give us the satisfaction of knowing it from us, according to our own showing. Beggars that have good benefactors, live as pleasantly as any other people; it is the case of God's people, they are beggars, but they are beggars to a bountiful Benefactor, that is rich in mercy to all that call upon him: Blessed are they that wait daily at the posts of wis-doms doors, Prov. viii. 34. If the prayer of the upright be God's delight, it cannot but be theirs, Canl ii. 14.
4. They have a sanctified use of all their creature comforts, and that is pleasant. The Lord knows the way of the righteous, and takes cognizance of all their concerns; (Ps. xxxvii. 23.) The steps, yea, and the stops too, of a good man are ordered by the Lord ; both his successes when he goes forward, and his disappointments when he goes backward; he blesses the work of their hands, and his blessing makes rich, tmd adds no sorrow with.it, Prov. x. 22. More is im<^
THE PLEASURE OF BEING REU6I0US.
plied than is expressed; it adds joy with it, infuses a comfort into it.
What God's people have, be it little or much, they have it from the love of God, and with his blessing, and then behold all things are clean and sweet to them; they come from the hand of a Father, bif the hand of a Mediator, not in the channel of common providence, but by the golden pipes of the promises of the covenant. Even the unbelieving husbandj though not sanctified himself, yet is tanctijied to the believing wife, (1 Cor. vii. 14.) and so is the comfort of other relations ; for to those who please God, every thing is pleasing, or should be so, and is made so by his favour. And hence it is, (Ps. xxxvii. 16.) that a little that a righteous man has, having a heart to be content with it, and the divine skill of enjoying God in it, is better to him than the riches of many wicked were to them; and that dinner of herbs where love is, and the fear of the Lord, is better, and yields abundantly more satisfaction, than a stalled ox, and hatred and trouble therewith, Prov.
6. They have the testimony of their own consciences for them in all conditions, and that is pleasant. A good conscience is not only a brazen wall, but a continual feast; and all the melody of Solomon's instruments of music of all sorts, were not to be compared with that of the bird in the bosom, when it sings sweet If Paul has a conscience void of offence, though he be as sorrowful, yet he is always rejoicing; nay, and even when he is pressed above measure, (2 Cor. i. 8, 12.) and has received a sentence of death within himself, his rejoicing is this, even the testimony of his conscience concerning his integrity.
As nothing is more painful and unpleasant, than to be smitten and reproached by our own hearts ; to have our consciences fly in our faces, and give us our own ; so, there is nothing more comfortable, than to be upon good grounds reconciled to ourselves ; to prove our own work (Gal. vi. 4.) by the touchstone of God's word, and to find it right, for then have we rejoicing in ourselves alone, and not in another. For if our hearts condemn us not, (1 John iii. 21.) then have we confidence towards God; may lift up our face without spot unto him, and comfortably appeal to his omniscience: Thou, O Lord, hnowest me, thou hast seen me, and tried my heart towards thee, Jer. xii. 3.
This will not only make us easy under the censures and reproaches of men, as it did Job, My heart shall not reproach me, though you do; and Paul, It is a very small thing with me to be judged of mans judgment; but it will be a continual delight to us, to have our own hearts say. Well done. For the voice of an enlightened, well-informed conscience, is the voice of God, it is his deputy in the soul. The thoughts of the sober heathen between themselves when they did not accuse, yet the utmost they could do was but to excuse, which is making the best of bad; but they who haTe their hesarts sprinkled frem an evil c&nscienee by the blood of Christy (Rom. iL 15.) are not only excused, but encouraged and commended, for their praise is not of men but of God,
It is easy to imagine the holy, humble pleasure that a good man has, in the just reflection upon the successful resistance of a strong and threateniiig temptation; the seasonable suppressing and crossing of an unruly appetite or passion, and a check gven to the tongue, when it was about to speak unadvisedly. What a pleasure is it to look back upon any good word spoken, or any good work done, in the streng of God's grace, to his glory, and any way to the advantage of our brethren, either for soul or body! With what a sweet satisfaction may a good man lay down in the close of the Lord's day, if God has enabled him, in some good measure, to do the work of the day in the day, according as the duty of the day requires ? We may then eat our bread with joy, and drink our wine witk a merry heart, when we have some good ground to hope, that God now aeeepteth our works through Jesus Christ, EccL ix. 7.
6. They have the earnests and foretastes ofetemel life and glory, and that is pleasant indeed. They have it not only secured to them, but dwelling in them, in the first-fruits of it, such as they are capable of in their present imperfect stato, (1 John v. 13.) These things are written unto you tfiat believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may hnow, not only that you shall have, but that you have eternal life; you are scaled with that holy Spirit of promise, (Epb. i. 13, 14.) marked for God, which is the earnest of our inheritance, not only a ratification of the grant, but part of the full payment.
Canaan, when we come to it, will be a land flowing with milk and honey; in Gotfs presence, there is a fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore, Ps. xvi. 11. But lest we should think it long ere we come to it, the God whom we serve has been pleased to send to us, as he did to Israel, some clusters of the grapes of that good land to meet us in the wilderness: which if they were sent as an excuse of the full enjoyment, and we were to be put oflf with them, that would put a bitterness into them ; but being sent os in earnest of the full enjoyment, that puts a sweetness into them, and makes them pleasant indeed.
A day in God's courts, an hour at his table in conununion with him, is very pleasant, better than a thousand days, than ten thousand hours, in any of the enjoyments of sense; but this very much increases the pleasantness of it, that it is the pledge of a blessed eternity, which we hope to spend within the vail, in the vision and fruition of God. Sabbaths are sweet, as they are earnests of the everlasting sabbatism, or heeping of a sabbath (as the apostle calls it, Heb. iv. 9.) which remains for tkepeopU ef
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247
God
-Gospel feasts are therefore sweet, because earnests of the everlastiii|^ feast, to which we shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, ad Jacob. The joys of the Holy Ghost are sweet, as they are earnests of that joy of our Lord, into which all Chrisfs good and faithful servants shall enter. Prating God is sweet, as it is an earnest of that blessed state, in which we shall not rest day or night from praising God. The communion of saints is sweet, as it is an earnest of the pleasure we hope to have in the general assembly, and church of the first-bomj Heb. xii. 23.
They that travel in Wisdom's ways, though sometimes they find themselves walking in the low and darksome valley of the shadow of death, where they can see but a little way before them, yet at other times they are led with Moses to the top of mount Pisgah, and thence have a pleasant prospect of the land of promise, and the glories of that good land, not with such a damp upon the pleasure of it as Moses had, (Deut xxxiv. 4.) Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither ; but such an addition to the pleasure of it as Abraham had, when God said to him, (Gen. xili. 15.) All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it. Take the pleasure of the prospect as a pledge of the possession shortly.
CHAPTER IV.
THB DOCTRINB FURTHBB FROVBD BT BXFBBIBNCB.
Having found religion in its own nature pleasant, and the comforts and privileges so, with which it is attended; we shall next try to make this truth more evident, by appealing to such as may be thought competent witnesses in such a case. I confess, if we appeal to the natural man, the mere animal (as the word signifies, 1 Cor. ii. 14.) that looks no further than the things of sense, and judges by no other rule than sense, and reeeiveth not the things of the Sffirit of God, for they 9xe foolishness to him; such a one vrill be so far from consenting to this truth, and concurring with it, that he will contradict and oppose it: our appeal must be to those, that have some spiritual senses exercised, for otherwise the brutish man hnows not, neither doth the fool understand this, Ps. xcii. 6.
We must therefore be allowed to appeal to convinced sinners, and comforted saints; wicked people whom the Spirit has roused out of a sinful security, and godly people, whom the Spirit has put to rest in a holy serenity, are the most competent witnesses to gve evidence in this case ; and to their experience we appeal.
I. Ask those that have tried the ways of sin and wickedness, of vice and profaneness, and begin to pause a little, and to consider, whether the way they are in be right; and let us hear what is their experience concerning those ways; and our appeal to them is in the words of the apostle. What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? Rom. vi. 21. Not only. What fruit will ye have at last, when the end of these things is death ? or, (as Job xxi. 21.) What pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst ? But what fruit, what pleasure had ye then, when you were in the enjoyment of the best of it ?
Those that have been running to an excess of riot, that have laid the reins on the neck of their lusts, have rejoiced with the young man in his youth, and walked in the way of their hearts, and the sight of their eyes, have taken a boundless liberty inthe gratifications of sense, and have made it their business to extract out of this world, whatever may pass under the name of pleasure : ask them now, when they begin to reflect, which they could not find in their hearts to do while they were going on in their pursuit, what they think of those pleasures which pretend to vie with those of religion ; and they will tell you,
1. That the pleasure of sin was painful and unsatisfying in the enjoyment, and which then they had no reason to boast of. It was a sordid pleasure, and beneath the dignity of a man, and which could not be had, but by yielding up the throne in the soul to the inferior faculties of sense, and allowing them the dominion over reason and conscience, which ought to command and give law. It was the gratifying of an appetite which was the disease of the soul, and which would not be satisfied, but, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cry, Give, give.
What poor pleasure has the covetous man in the wealth of the world! It is the lust of the eye that is thereby humoured, for what good lias the owner thereof, save the beholding thereof with his eyes f And what a poor satisfaction is that! And yet even that is no satisfaction neither, for he that loveth silver, will find, that the more he has, the more he would have-so that he shall not be satisfied with silver ; nay, it fastens upon the mind a burthen of care and perplexity, so that the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep, Eccl. v. 10, 11, 12.
Drunkenness passes for a pleasant sin, but it is a brutish pleasure, for it puts a force upon the powers of nature, disturbs the exercise of reason, and puts men out of the possession and enjoyment of their own souls; and so far is it from yielding any true satisfaction, that the gratifying of this base appetite is but bringing oil to a flame: When I awahe, I will seek it yet again, is the language of the drunkard, Prov. xxiii. 36.
Contention and revenge pretend to be pleasant sins too, Est vindicta bonum vit& jueundius ipsA, —
THE PLEASURE OF BEING RELIGIOUS.
vengeance it a gratification more delightful than life itself f but it is so far from being so, that it is, of all other sins, the most vexatious; it kindles a fire in the soul, puts it into a hurry and disorder: where they are, there is confusion and every evil work. The lusts, whence not only wars smd fightings come, (Jam. iv. 1.) but other sins are said to war in the menders; they not only war against the soul, (1 Pet. ii. 11.) and threaten the destruction of its true interests, but they war in the soul, and give disturbance to its present peace, and fill it with continual alarms.
They that have made themselves slaves to their lusts, will own, that it was the greatest drudgery in the world, and therefore is represented in the parable of the prodigal, by a young gentleman hiring himself to one that sent him into his field to feed swine, (Luke XV. 16.) where he vras made a fellow-commoner with them, and would fain have filled his belly with the husks that they did eat; such a disgrace, such a dissatisfaction, is there in the pleasures of sin: besides the diversity of masters which sinners are at the beck of, and their disagreement among themselves ; for they that are disobedient to that God who is Onf, are deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, and therein led captive by Satan, their sworn enemy, at his willy Tit. iii. 3.
2. That the pleasure of sin was very bitter and tormenting in tlie refiection. We will allow that there is a pleasure in sin/or a season, (Hcb. xi. 25.) but that season is soon over, and is succeeded by another season that is the reverse of it; the sweetness is soon gone, and leaves the bitterness behind in the bottom of the cup: the wine is red, and gives its colour, its flavour very agreeable, but at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder, Prov. xxiii. 32. Sin is that strange woman, whose flatteries are charming, but her end bitter as worm-wood, Prov. V. 3, 4.
When conscience is awake, and tells the sinner he is verily guilty; when his sins are set in order before him in their true colour, and he sees himself defiled and deformed by them; when his own wickedness begins to correct him, and his backslidings to reprove him, and his own heart makes him loathe him-self for his abominations, (Jer. ii. 19.) where is the pleasure of his sin then ? As the thief is ashamed when he is discovered to the world, so are the drunkards, the unclean, when discovered to themselves; and say. Where shall I cause my shame to go? there is no remedy, but I must lie down in it. If the pleasure of any sin would last, surely that of ill-got gain would, because there is something to show for it; and yet though that wickedness be sweet in the sinner's mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, yet tit his bowels it is turned into the gall of asps. Job XX. 12, &c. He hath swallowed down riches, but shall be forced to vomit them up again.
Solomon had skinuned the cream of sensaal delights, and pronounced not onlj vsmity and treralton,concerning them all, even the best; bot concerning those of them that were sinful, the forbidden pleasures into which he was betrayed, that the reflection upon them filled him vdth horror and amazement: / applied mfl heart, (says be,) to hum ike wickedness of folly, even of foolishness mnd Motf-ness; so he now calls the irregularities into whick he had fallen: he cannot speak bad enough othem, for / find more bitter thsM death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her kamd* a* hamds, EccL vii. 26.
And is such pleasure as this worthy to come in competition with the pleasures of religion, or to be named the same day with them? What senseless creatures are the sensual, that vrill not be persuaded to quit the pleasures of brutes, when they shall have in exchange the delights of angels!
II. Ask those that have tried the ways of wisdom, what is their experience concerning those ways? Call now if there be any that wiH answer you, and to which of the saints will you turn? Job ▼. 1. Tun you to which you will, and they will agree to this, that Wisdom*s ways are pleasantness, and her paths peace. However about some things they may differ in their sentiments, in this, they ai:e all of a mind, that God is a good master, and his service not only perfect freedom, but perfect pleasure.
And it is a debt which aged and experienced Christians owe both to their Master and to their fellow-servants, both to Christ and Christians, to bear their testimony to this truth; and the more explicitly and solemnly they do it, the better: let them tell others what God has done for their souls, and how they have tasted that he is gracious, (Ps. Ixvi. 16.) let them own, to the honour of God and religion, that (1 Kings viii. 56.) there has not failed one word of God*s good promise, by which he designed to make his servants pleasant; that what is said of the pleasantness of religion, is really so: let them set to their seal that it is true. Let it have their probatum est — we have found it so.
The ways of religion and godliness, are the good old ways, (Jer. vi. 16.) N(7w if you would have an account of the way you have to go, you must inqoire of those that have travelled it, not those who have only occasionally stept into it, but those whose business had led them to frequent it. Ask the ancient travellers, whether they have found rest to their souls in this way; and there are few yon shall inquire of, but will be ready to own these four things from experience:
1. That they have found the rules and dietatesof religion very agreeable both to right reason, and to their true interest, and therefore pleasant They have found the word nigh them, and accommodated to them, and not at such a mighty distance aa they
THE PLEASURE OF BEING REUGIOUS.
were made to believe. They have found all Gods precepts concerning all things to be right, and reasonable, and highly equitable; and when they did but show themselves men, they could not but consent, and subscribe to the law, that it was good, (Rom. vii. 16.) and there is a wonderful propriety in this. For the laws of humility and meekness, sobriety and temperance, contentment and patience, love and charity, are agreeable to ourselves when we are in our right ndnd; they are the rectitude of our nature, the advancement of our powers and faculties, the composure of our minds, and the comfort of our lives, and carry their own letters of commendation along with them. If a man understood himself, and his own interest, he would comport with these rules and govern himself by them, though there were no authority over him to oblige him to it. All that have thoroughly tried them, will say they are so far from being chains of imprisonment to a man, and as fetters to his feet, that they are as chains of ornament to him, and as the girdle to his loins.
Ask experienced Christians, and they will tell you what abundance of comfort and satisfaction they have had in keeping sober, when they have been in temptation to excess; in doing justly, when they might have gained by dishonesty as others do, and nobody know it; in forgiving an injury, when it was in the power of their hand to revenge it; in giving alms to the poor, when perhaps they straitened themselves by it; in submitting to an affliction, when the circumstances of it were very aggravating ; and in bridling their passion under great provocations. With what comfort does Neheniiah reflect upon it, tiiat though his predecessors in the goveinment had abused their power, yet so did not I, (says he, Neh. v. 15.) because of the fear of God ! And with what pleasure does Samuel make his appeal, (1 Sam. xii. 3.) Whose ox have I tahen, or whom ktne I defrauded? And Paul his; / have coveted no man's siiver, or gold, or apparel. If yon would have a register of experiences to this purpose, read the 119th Psalm, which is a collection of David's testimonies to the sweetness and goodness of God's law, the equity and excellency of it, and the abundant satisfaction that is to be found in a constant conscientious conformity to it.
2. That they have found the exercises of devotion to ha very pleasant and comfortable, and if there be an heaven upon earth, it is in communion with God in his ordinances; in hearing from him, in speaking to him, in receiving the tokens of his favour and communications of his grace, and returning pious affections to him, pouring out the heart before him* lifting up the soul to him.
All good Christians will subscribe to David's experience ; (Ps. Ixxiii. 28.) It is good for me to draw nemrio God; the nearer the better; and it will be best of all, when I come to be nearest of all, within the vail, and will join with him in saying, Metum unto thy rest, O my soul! (Ps. cxvi. 7.) to God as to thy rest, and repose in him. I have found that satisfaction in communion with God, which I would not exchange for all the delights of the sons of men, and the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces.
What a pleasure did those pious Jews in Heze-kiah's time find in the solemnities of the passover, who, when they had kept seven days according to the law in attending on God's ordinances, tooh coun sel together to heep other seven days, and they hept other seven days with gladness, 2 Chron. xxx. 23. And if Christ's hearers had not found an abundant sweetness and satisfaction in attending on him, they would never have continued their attendance three days in a desert place, as we find they did, Matt xv. 32. No wonder then that his own disciples, when they were spectators of his transfiguration, and auditors of his discourse with Moses and Elias in the holy mount* said. Master, it is good for us to be here; here let us mahe tabernacles. Matt. xvii. 4.
I appeal to all that know what it is to commune with God in an ordinance, to worship him tn thi spirit, whether they have not found abundant satisfaction in it ? They will say with the spouse, (Cant ii. 3.) / sat down under his shadow with delighty and his fruit was sweet unto my taste: and with the noble Marquis of Vico, ** Let their money perish with them, that esteem all the wealth and pleasure of this world worth one hour*s communion with God in Jesus Christ" They will own that they never had that true delight and satisfaction in any of the employments or enjoyments of this world which they have had in the service of God, and in the believing re* lishes of that loving-kindness of his, which is better than life, Ps. Ixiii. 3. These have put gladness into their hearts, more than the joy of harvest, or theirs that divide the spoil. If in their preparations for solemn ordinances iheyhB,\e gone forth weeping, bear" ing precious seed, yet they have come again withrejoie* ing, bringing their sheaves witik them, Ps. cxxvi. 6, 0.