Of the Commandments.

Of the Commandments.

Exod. 20.1, 2.

And God spake all these Words saying, I am the Lord thy God, &c.

Quest. What is the Preface to the Ten Commandments?

Resp. The Preface to the Ten Commandments, is I am the Lord thy God. Where observe First the Preface to the Preface, God spake all these Words, saying. 2. The Preface it self to the Commandments, I am the Lord thy God.

1. I begin with the First, the Preface to the Preface, vaiedabbur elohim, God spake all these Words, saying, &c. This is like the Sounding of a Trumpet before a Solemn Proclamation, [God spake;] other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the Mouth of the Holy Prophets, Luke 1.70. but here God spake in his own Person.

Quest. How may we understand this, [God spake,] he hath no Bodily Parts or Organs of Speech?

Resp. God made some intelligible sound, or formed a Voice in the Air, which was to the Jews as God's very speaking to them. In the Text, 1. The Law-giver, God, [God spake.] 2. The Law it self, [all these Words.]

1. The Law-giver, [God spake:] There are Two things requisite in a Law-giver. First, Wisdom. Laws are Founded upon Reason; and he must be Wise that makes Laws. God in this respect is most fit to be a Lawgiver; he is Wise in Heart, Job 9.4. He hath a Monopoly of Wisdom, 1 Tim. 1.17. The only Wise God. Therefore he is the fittest to Enact and Constitute Laws. 2. The Second thing requisite in a Law-giver is Authority. If a Subject make Laws, though never so wise, yet they want the stamp of Authority. God hath the Supream Power in his Hand; he derives a being to all; and he who gives Men their Lives, hath most right to give them their Laws.

2. The Law it self, [all these Words;] that is, all the Words of the Moral Law, which is usually stiled the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. It is call'd the Moral Law, because it is the Rule of Life and Manners. St. Chrysostom compares the Scripture to a Garden; the Moral Law is a chief Flower in it; the Scripture is a Banquet, the Moral Law the chief Dish in it.

First, The Moral Law is perfect, Psal. 19.7. The Law of the Lord is Perfect. It is an exact Model and Platform of Religion; it is the Standard of Truth, the Judge of Controversies, the Pole-Star to direct us to Heaven, Prov. 6.23. The Commandment is a Lamp. Though the Moral Law be not a Christ to Justifie us, yet it is a Rule to instruct us.

Secondly, The Moral Law is unalterable; it remains still in force. Though the Ceremonial and Judicial Laws are abrogated, yet the Moral Law delivered by God's own Mouth is to be of perpetual use in the Church. Therefore the Law was written in Tables of Stone, to shew the perpetuity of it.

Thirdly, The Moral Law is very illustrious and full of Glory. God did put Glory upon it in the manner of the Promulgation of it. 1. The People before the Moral Law was delivered, were to wash their Cloaths, Exod. 19.10. Whereby as by a Type God required the Sanctifying of their Ears and Hearts to receive the Law. 2. There were Bounds set that none might touch the Mount, Exod. 19.12. which was to breed in the People reverence to the Law. 3. God wrote the Law with his own Finger, Exod. 31.18. Which was such an Honour put upon the Moral Law, as we read of no other Writing. God did by some mighty Operation make the Law legible in Letters, as if it had been written with his own Finger. 4. God's putting the Law in the Ark to be kept, was another signal Mark of Honour put upon it. The Ark was the Cabinet in which God put the Ten Commandments, as Ten Jewels. 5. At the delivery of the Moral Law there was the attendance of many Angels, Deut. 32. Here was a Parliament of Angels called, and God himself was the Speaker.

Use 1. Here we may take notice of God's Goodness, who hath not left us without a Law. Therefore the Lord doth often set it down as a Demonstration of his Love, in giving his Commandments, Psal. 147.20. He hath not dealt so with any Nation, and as for his Iudgments they have not known them. Nehem. 9.13. Thou gavest them true Laws, Good Statutes and Commandments. What a strange Creature would Man be, if he had no Law to direct him? There would be no living in the World; we should have none born but Ishmaels, every Man's Hand would be against his Neighbour. Man would grow wild if he had not Affliction to [gap]ame him, and the Moral Law to guide him. The Law of God is an Hedge to keep us within the bounds of Sobriety and Piety.

Use 2. If God spake all these Words of the Moral Law, then it condemns, First, The Marcionites and Manichees, who spake slightly, yea, blasphemously of the Moral Law; they say it is below a Christian, it is Carnal; which the Apostle con [gap]u[gap]es, when he saith, The Law is Spiritual, but I am Carnal, Rom. 7.14. Secondly, The Antinomians, who will not admit the Moral Law to be a Rule to a Believer. We say not he is under the Curse of the Law, but the Commands; we say not the Moral Law is a Christ, but it is a Star to lead one to Christ; we say not it doth Save, but it doth Sanctifie. They who cast God's Law behind their Backs, God will cast their Prayers behind his Back. They who will not have the Law to Rule them, shall have the Law to Judge them. Thirdly, The Papists; who (as if Gods Law were imperfect, and when he spake all these Words, he did not speak enough,) add their Canons and Traditions to the Moral Law. This is to tax Gods Wisdom, as if he knew not how to make his own Law. And surely 'tis an high provoking Sin, Rev. 22.18. If any Man shall add to these Words, God shall add unto him the Plagues written in this Book. As it is a great evil to add any thing to a Man's sealed Will, so much more to add any thing to that Law God himself spake, and wrote with his own Fingers.

Use 3. If God spake all these Words, viz. of the Moral Law, then this presseth upon us several Duties.

1. If God spake all these Words, then we must hear all these Words; the Words which God speaks are too precious to be lost. As we would have God hear all our Words when we Pray, so we must hear all his Words when he speaks. We must not be as the deaf Adder which stoppeth her Ears. He that stops his Ears when God cries, shall cry himself and not be heard.

2. If God spake all these Words, then we must attend to them with Reverence. Every Word of the Moral Law is an Oracle from Heaven, God himself is the Preacher; this calls for Reverence. If a Judge gives a Charge upon the Bench, all attend with Reverence. In the Moral Law God himself gives a Charge, God spake all these Words; therefore with what Veneration should we attend? Moses was to put off his Shoes from his Feet (in token of Reverence,) when God was about to speak to him, Exod. 3.5, 6.

3. If God spake all these Words of the Moral Law, then we must remember them. Sure all God speaks is worth remembring; those Words are weighty which concern Salvation, Deut. 32.47. It is not a vain thing for you, because it is your Life. Our Memory should be like the Chest in the Ark where the Law was kept: Gods Oracles are Ornaments, and shall we forget them, Ier. 2.32. Can a Maid forget her Ornaments?

4. If God spake all these Words, then believe them. See the Name of God written upon every Commandment. The Heathens that they might gain Credit to their Laws, reported that they were inspired by the Gods at Rome. The Moral Law fetcheth its Pedigree from Heaven, ipse dixit, God spake all these Words. Shall we not give credit to the God of Heaven? How would the Angel confirm the Women in the Resurrection of Christ, Mat. 28.7. Lo (saith he,) I have told you; I speak in the Word of an Angel. Much more should the Moral Law be believed, when it comes to us in the Word of a God. God spake all these Words. Unbelief enervates the Virtue of God's Word, and makes it prove Abortive, Heb. 4.2. The Word did not profit, not being mixed with Faith. Eve gave more credit to the Devil when he spake, than she did to God.

5. If God spake all these words▪ then love the Commandments, Psal. 119.97. O how love I thy Law? It is my Meditation all the day. Consider how I love thy Precepts, Psal. 119.159. The Moral Law is the Copy of Gods Will; our Spiritual Directory; it shews what Sins to avoid, what Duties to pursue: The Ten Commandments are a Chain of Pearl to adorn us: They are our Treasury to enrich

us: They are more precious than Lands of Spices or Rocks of Diamonds, Psal. 119.72. The Law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of Gold and Silver. The Law of God hath Truth and Goodness in it, Nehem. 9.13. Truth, for God spake it; and Goodness, for there is nothing the Commandment enjoyns but is for our good: O then let this command our Love.

6. If God spake all these words, Then teach your Children the Law of God, Deut. 6.7. These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy Heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children: He who is Godly is both a Diamond and a Load stone; a Diamond for the sparkling of his Grace; and a Load-stone for his attractive Virtue in drawing others to the Love of Gods Precepts: Vir bonus magis aliis prodest quam sibi: You that are Parents discharge your Duty: Though you cannot impart Grace to your Children, yet you may impart Knowledge: Let your Children know the Commandments of God, Deut. 11.19. Ye shall teach them your Children: You are careful to leave your Children a Portion: Leave the Oracles of Heaven with them; instruct them in the Law of God: If God spake all these words, you may well speak them over again to your Children.

7. If God spake all these words, then the Moral Law must be obeyed: If a King speaks, his words command Allegiance: Much more when God speaks, all his words must be subscribed to: Some will obey partially, obey some Commandments, not others; like a Plow, which when it comes to a stiff piece of Earth makes a Baulk. But God that spake all the words of the Moral Law, will have all obeyed. God will not dispense with the Breach of one Law: Indeed Princes for special Reasons, dispense sometimes with Penal Statutes, and will not take the Severity of the Law. But God who spake all these words, binds Men with a Subpoena to yield Obedience to every Law. This condemns the Church of Rome, who instead of obeying the whole Moral Law, blot out one Commandment, and dispense with others.

1. They leave out the second Commandment out of their Catechises, because it makes against Images; and to fill up the number of Ten, they divide the Tenth Commandment into two. Thus they run themselves into that dreadful Premunire, Rev. 22.19. If any Man shall take away from the words of this Book, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life.

2. As they blot out one Commandment, and cut that knot which they cannot untye, so they dispense with other Commandments: They dispense with the sixth Commandment, making Murther Meritorious in case of propagating the Catholick Cause: They dispense with the seventh Commandment, wherein God forbids Adultery: The Pope dispenseth with the Sin of Uncleanness, yea Incest, only paying such Fines and Summs of Mony into his Coffer. No wonder the Pope takes Men off from their Loyalty to Kings and Princes, when he teacheth them Disloyalty to God. Some of the Papists say expresly in their Writings, That the Pope hath Power to dispense with the Laws of God, and can give Men a License to break the Commandments of the Old and New Testament: That such a Religion ever get foot in England, the Lord in Mercy prevent. If God spake all the Commandments, then we must obey all: He who breaks this Hedge of the Commandments a Serpent shall bite him.

Object. But what Man alive can obey all Gods Commandments?

Resp. To obey the Law in a legal Sense, viz. To do all the Law requires, no Man alive can: Sin hath cut the Lock of original Righteousness, where our strength lay: But in a true Gospel Sense, we may so obey the Moral Law, as to find Acceptance. Which Gospel-Obedience consists in a Real Endeavour to observe the whole Moral Law, Psal. 119.166. I have done thy Commandments. Not I have done all I should do, but I have done all I am able to do; and wherein our Obedience comes short, we look up to the perfect Righteousness and Obedience of Christ, and hope for Pardon through his Blood. This is Evangelically to obey the Moral Law; which though it be not to Satisfaction, yet it is to Acceptation. Thus I have done with the first, The Preface to the Preface, God spake all these words: I should now come to the second, the Preface it self to the Commandments, I am the Lord thy God, &c.

Of the Commandments.

Exod. 20.2.

I am the Lord thy God, &c.

2. THE Preface it self, which consists of three parts: 1. I am the Lord thy God: 2. Which have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt: 3. Out of the House of Bondage.

1. I am the Lord thy God.] Where we have a Description of God: 1. By his Essential Greatness, I am the Lord: 2. By his relative Goodness, Thy God. 1. By his essential greatness, I am the Lord; or as in the Hebrew, Iehovah. This name of God sets forth his Majesty: Sanctius habitum fuit, saith Buxtorf, the name Iohavah was had in more Reverence among the Jews, than any other name of God; it signifies Gods Self-sufficiency, Eternity, Independency, Immutability, Mal. 3.6.

Use 1. If God be Iehovah, the Fountain of being, who can do what he will, let us fear this great Lord, Deut. 28.58. That thou maist fear Hashem, Hanicbad Jehovah, this glorious and fearful name Jehovah.

Use 2. If God be Iehovah, the supream Lord, then it condemns the Blasphemous Papists who speak after this manner, Our Lord God the Pope: Is it a Wonder the Pope lifts his Tripple Crown above the Heads of Kings and Emperors, when he Usurps Gods Title, Shewing himself that he is God, 2 Thess. 2.4. The Pope goes to make himself Lord of Heaven, for he will Canonize Saints there: Lord of Earth; for with his Keys he doth bind and loose whom he pleaseth: Lord of Hell, for he can free Men out of Purgatory: But God will pull down these Plumes of Pride, He will consume this Man of sin with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, 2 Thess. 2.8.

Use 3. God is described by his relative goodness, Eloeka, Thy God: Had God only called himself Iehovah, it might have terrified us and made us fly from him; but when he saith, Thy God, this may allure and draw us to him: This, though a Preface to Law, is pure Gospel. This word Eloeka, Thy God, is so sweet, that we can never suck out all the Hony in it. I am thy God, not only by Creation, but by Election. This word Thy God, though it was spoken to Israel, yet it is a Charter belongs to all the Saints: For the further Explication, here are three Questions.

Quest. 1. How God comes to be our God?

Resp. Through Jesus Christ: Christ is a middle Person in the Trinity: He is Emanuel, God with us: He brings two differing Parties together: He makes our Nature lovely to God, and Gods Nature lovely to us: He by his Death causeth Friendship, yea, Union: He brings us within the Verge of the Covenant, and so God becomes our God.

Quest. 2. What doth this imply, God being our God?

Resp. It is comprehensive of all good things: God is our strong Tower; our Fountain of living Water; our Salvation: More particularly, God being our God, implies the sweetest Relation.

1. The Relation of a Father, 2 Cor. 6.18. I will be a Father unto you: A Father is full of tender care for his Child: Who doth he settle the Inheritance upon but his Child? God being our God will be a Father to us; a Father of Mercy, 2 Cor. 1.3. the everlasting Father, Psal. 9.7. If God be our God, we have a Father in Heaven that never dies.

2. It imports the Relation of an Husband, Isa. 54.5. Thy Maker is thy Husband. If God be our Husband, he esteems us precious to him as the Apple of his Eye, Zech. 2.8. He imparts his Secrets to us, Psal. 25.14. He bestows a Kingdom upon us for our Dowry, Luke 12.32.

Quest. 3. How may we come to know this Covenant-Union, That God is our God?

Resp. 1. By having his Graces planted in us: Kings Children are known by their costly Jewels: It is not having common Gifts which shews we belong to God; many have the Gifts of God without God; but it is Grace gives us a true genuine Title to God. In particular, Faith is Vinculum Unionis, the Grace of Union: By this we may spell out our Interest in God. Faith doth not as the Mariner, cast its Anchor downwards, but upwards; it trusts in the Mercy and Blood of God,

and trusting in God, engageth him to be our God: Other Graces make us like God, Faith makes us one with him.

2. We may know God is our God, by having the Earnest of his Spirit in our Hearts, 2 Cor. 1.22. God often gives the Purse to the Wicked, but the Spirit only to such as he intends to make his Heirs. 1. Have we had the Consecration of the Spirit? If we have not had the Sealing work of the Spirit, have we had the Healing work, 1 Iohn 2.20. Ye have an Unction from the Holy One. The Spirit where it is, stamps the Impress of its own Holiness upon the Heart: It embroiders and bespangles the Soul, and makes it all glorious within. 2. Have we had the Attraction of the Spirit? Cant. 1.4. Draw me, we will run after thee. Hath the Spirit, by its magnetick Vertue, drawn our Hearts to God? Can we say, as Cant. 1.7. O thou whom my Soul loveth. Is God our Paradise of Delight? Our Segullah, or chief Treasure? Are our Hearts so chained to God, that no other Object can inchant us or draw us away from him? 3. Have we had the Elevation of the Spirit? Hath it raised our Hearts above the World? Ezek. 3.14. The Spirit lifted me up. Hath the Spirit made us superna anhelare, seek the things above, where Christ is? Though our Flesh is on Earth, is our Heart in Heaven? Though live here, trade above? Hath the Spirit thus lifted us up? By this we may come to know, that God is our God: Where God gives his Spirit for an Earnest, there he gives himself for a Portion.

3. We may know God is our God, if he hath given us the Hearts of Children. Have we obediential Hearts? Psal. 27.8. Do we subscribe to Gods Commands, when his Commands cross our Will? A true Saint is like the Flower of the Sun, it opens and shuts with the Sun: He opens to God and shuts to Sin. If we have the Hearts of Children, then God is our Father.

4. We may know God is ours, and we have an Interest in him by our standing up for his Interest. We will appear in his Cause, and vindicate his Truth, wherein his Glory is so much concerned. Athanasius was [gap], the Bulwark of Truth, he stood up for it when most of the World were Arrians. In former times the Nobles of Polonia, when the Gospel was read, did lay their Hands upon their Swords, signifying that they were ready to defend the Faith, and hazard their Lives for the Gospel. No better sign of our having an Interest in God, than by our standing up for his Interest.

5. We may know God is ours, and we have an Interest in him, by his having an Interest in us, Cant. 2.16. My beloved is mine, and I am his. When God saith to the Soul, Thou art mine; the Soul answers, Lord I am thine: All I have is at thy Service: My Head shall be thine to study for thee: My Tongue shall be thine to praise thee. If God be our God by way of Donation, we are his by way of Dedication: We live to him, and are more his than we are our own. And thus we may come to know that God is our God.

Use 1. Above all things let us get this great Charter confirmed, that God is our God: Deity is not comfortable without Propriety: Tolle meum & tolle Deum. Aug. O let us labour to get sound Evidences, that God is our God: We cannot call Health, Liberty, Estate ours: O let us be able to call God ours, and say as the Church, Psal. 67.6. God, even our own God shall bless us. Let every Soul here labour to pronounce this Shibboleth, My God. And that we may endeavour after this to have God for our God: Consider 1. The Misery of such as have not God for their God; in how sad a Condition are they, when an hour of distress comes? This was Saul's Case, 1 Sam. 28.15. I am sore distressed; for the Philistins make war against me, and the Lord is departed from me. A wicked Man in time of Trouble, is like a Vessel toss'd on the Sea without an Anchor, it falls on Rocks or Sands: A Sinner not having God to be his God, though he makes a shift while Health and Estate last; yet when these Crutches are broken he leaned upon, his Heart sinks. It is with a wicked Man, as it was with the Old World when the Flood came; the Waters at first came to the Vallies, but then the People would get to the Hills and Mountains: But then the Waters came to the Mountains: Then there might be some Trees on the high Hills, and they would climb up to them: I but then the Waters did rise up to the tops of the Trees: Now all hopes of being saved were gone, their Hearts failed them. So it is with a Man that hath not God to be his God: If one Comfort be taken away, he hath another: If he lose a Child, he hath an Estate: I but then the Waters rise higher, Death comes and takes away all; now he hath nothing to help himself with, no God to go to, he must needs dye despairing. 2. How great a Privilege it is to have God for our God, Psal. 144.15. Happy are the People whose God is the Lord.

Beatitudo hominis est Deus, Aug. That you may see the Privilege of this Charter,

1. If God be our God, then though we may feel the stroke of Evil, yet not the sting. He must needs be happy, who is [gap], in such a Condition, that nothing can hurt him: If he lose his Name it is written in the Book of Life: If he lose his Liberty, his Conscience is free: If he lose his Estate, he is possessed of the Pearl of Price: If he meets with Storms, he knows where to put in for Harbour. God is his God, and Heaven is his Haven.

2. If God be our God, then our Soul is safe: The Soul is the Jewel, it is a Blossom of Eternity, Dan. 7.15. I was grieved in the midst of my Body. In the Chaldee it is, In the midst of my Sheath. The Body is but the Sheath; the Soul is the Princely part of Man, which sways the Scepter of Reason: It is a Celestial Spark, as Damascen calls it: If God be our God, the Soul is safe as in a Garison. Death can do no more hurt to a vertuous Heaven-born Soul, than David did to Saul, when he cut off the lap of his Garment: The Soul is safe, being hid in the Promises; hid in the Wounds of Christ; hid in Gods Decree: The Soul is the Pearl, and Heaven is the Cabinet where God will lock it up safe.

3. If God be our God, then all that is in God is ours: The Lord saith to a Saint in Covenant, as the King of Israel to the King of Syria, 1 Kings 20.4. I am thine and all that I have. So saith God, I am thine: How happy is he who not only inherits the Gifts of God, but inherits God himself? All that I have shall be thine, my Wisdom shall be thine to teach thee, my Power shall be thine to support thee, my Mercy shall be thine to save thee. God is an infinite Ocean of Blessedness, and there is enough in him to fill us: If a thousand Vessels be thrown into the Sea, there is enough in the Sea to fill them.

4. If God be our God, he will intirely love us: Propriety is the ground of Love: God may give Men Kingdoms, and not love them; but he cannot be our God and not love us: He calls his Covenanted Saints Iediduth Naphshi, The dearly beloved of his Soul, Jer. 12.7. He rejoyceth over them with Joy, and rests in his Love, Zeph. 3.17. They are his Refined Silver, Zech. 13.9. His Jewels, Mal. 3.17. His Royal Diadem, Isa. 62.3. He gives them the Cream and Flower of his love: He not only opens his hand and fills them, Psal. 145.16. but opens his Heart and fills them.

5. If God be our God, he will do more for us than all the World besides can. What is that? 1. He will give us Peace in Trouble: When a Storm without, he will make Musick within: The World can create Trouble in Peace, but God can create Peace in Trouble: He will send the Comforter, who as a Dove brings an Olive Branch of Peace in his Mouth, Iohn 14.16. 2. God will give us a Crown of Immortality: The World can give a Crown of Gold; but that Crown hath Thorns in it, and Death in it; but God will give a Crown of Glory which fadeth not away, 1 Pet. 5.4. The Garland made of the Flowers of Paradise never withers.

6. If God be our God, he will bear with many Infirmities: God may respit Sinners a while, but long Forbearance is no Acquittance; he will throw them to Hell for their Sins. But if God be our God, he will not for every failing destroy us: He bears with his Spouse, as with the weaker Vessel: God may Chastise, Psal. 89.32. He may use the Rod and the pruning Knife, but not the Bloody Axe, Numb. 23.21. He hath not seen Iniquity in Jacob: He will not see Sin in his People, so as to destroy them: He sees their Sins so as to pity them; he sees them as a Physician sees a Disease in his Patient to heal him, Isa. 57.18. I have seen his Iniquities and I will heal him: Every failing doth not break the Marriage Bond asunder: The Disciples had great Failings, they all forsook Christ and fled; but this did not break off their Interest in God: Therefore saith Christ at his Ascension, Tell my Disciples I go to my God and to their God.

7. If God be once our God, he is so for ever, Psal. 48.14. This God is our God, Gnolam Vagned, for ever and ever. Whatever worldly Comforts we have, are but [gap], for a Season, Heb. 11.25. We must part with all, as Paul's Friends did accompany him to the Ship and there left him, Acts 20.28. So all our earthly Comforts will but go with us to the Grave and there leave us. You cannot say you have Health, and shall have it for ever: You have a Child and shall have it for ever: But if God be your God you shall have him for ever: This God is our God for ever and ever. If God be our God, he will be a God to us as long as he is a God: You have taken away my God, saith Micah, Iudges 18.24. But it cannot be said so to a Believer, that his God is taken away; he may lose all things else,

but cannot lose his God. God is ours from everlasting in Election, and to Everlasting in Glory.

8. If God be our God, we shall enjoy all our Godly Relations with him in Heaven. The great Felicity on Earth is to enjoy Relations; a Father sees his own Picture in his Child; a Wife sees a piece of her self in her Husband. We plant the Flower of Love among our Relations, and the loss of them is like the pulling a Limb from the Body. But if God be ours, with enjoying God, we shall enjoy all our pious Relations in Glory. The gracious Child shall see his Godly Father; the Virtuous Wi[gap]e shall see her Religious Husband in Christs Arms; and then there will be a dearer Love to Relations than ever was before, though in a far different manner; then Relations shall meet and never part; and so shall we be ever with the Lord.

Of the Commandments.

Exod. 20.1.

I am the Lord, thy God, &c.

TO all such as can make out this Covenant-Union, It exhorts to several things.

I. If God be our God, let us improve our Interest in him, cast all our Burdens upon him; the Burden of our Fears, Wants, Sins, Psal. 55.22. Cast thy Burden upon the Lord. Wicked Men who are a Burden to God, have no right to cast their Burden upon him; but such as have God for their God, are called upon to cast their Burden on him. Where should the Child ease all its cares, but in the Bosom of its Parent? Iudg. 19.20. Let all thy Wants lye upon me. So God seems to say to his Children, let all your Wants lye upon me. Christian, what doth trouble thee? Thou hast a God to pardon thy Sins, to supply thy Wants: Therefore roul your Burden on the Lord, 1 Pet. 5.7. Casting all your Care on him. Whence are Christians so disquieted in their Minds? they are taking care, when they should be casting care.

II. If God be our God, let us learn to be contented, though we have the less of other things. Contentment is a rare Jewel, it is the Cure of Care. If we have God to be our God; well may we be contented, I know whom I have believed, 2 Tim. 1.12. There was Paul's Interest in God, 2 Cor. 6.10. As having nothing, yet possessing all: There was his Content. That such who have Covenant-Union with God may be fill'd with Contentation of Spirit, consider what a rich Blessing God is to the Soul.

1. God is Bonum Sufficiens, a sufficient Good. He who hath God hath enough: If a Man be thirsty, bring him to the Ocean, and he is satisfied; in God there is enough to fill the Heaven-born Soul▪ He gives Grace and Glory, Psal. 84 11. There is in God not only a sufficiency, but a redundancy: He is not only full as a Vessel, but as a Spring. Other things can no more fill the Soul, than a Mariners Breath can fill the Sails of a Ship. But in God is a Cornu-Copia, an infinite fulness. He hath enough to fill the Angels, therefore enough to fill us. The Heart is a Triangle, which only the Trinity can fill.

2. God is bonum Sanctificans, a Sanctifying Good. First, He sanctifies all our Comforts, and turns them into Blessings. Health is blessed, Estate is blessed, he gives with the Venison a Blessing, Psal. 132.15. I will abundantly bless her Provision. He gives us that Life we have, [gap]anquam ar[gap]abo, as an Earnest of more. He gives the little Meal in the Barrel, as an Earnest of the Royal Feast in Paradise. Secondly, He sanctifies all our Crosses. They shall not be destructive P[gap]ishments but Medicines; they shall corrode and eat out the Venom of Sin, they shall Polish and Refine our Grace. The more the Diamond is cut, it sparkles the more▪ Gods stretching the Strings of his Viol, is to make the Musick better.

3. God is bonum se[gap]ectum, Choice Good; all things sub sole, are but ba[gap] s[gap]abelli, as Austin, the Blessings of the Footstool; but to have God himself to be ours, is the Blessing of the Throne. Abraham gave gifts to the Sons of the Co[gap]ubines, but he setled the [gap] [gap]5.5. Abraham gave all that he had

to Isaac. God may send away the Men of the World with Gifts, a little Gold and Silver, but in giving us himself, he gives us the very quintessence, his Grace, his Love, his Kingdom. Here is the Crowning Blessing.

4. God is Bonum summum, the chief Good. In the chief Good, there must be First Delectability, it must have something that is delicious and sweet: And where can we suck those pure quintessential Comforts which ravish us with Delight, but in God? In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima, imo rapitur; At Gods Right Hand are Pleasures, Psal. 16.11. Secondly, In the chief Good there must be Transcendency, it must have a surpassing Excellency. Thus God is infinitely better than all other things; 'tis below the Deity to compare other things with it. Who would go to weigh a Feather with a Mountain of Gold? God is Fons & Origo, the Spring of all Entities, and the Cause is more noble than the Effect. It is God that bespangles the Creation, that puts Light into the Sun, that fills the Veins of the Earth with Silver; other Creatures do but maintain Life, God gives Life. God infinitely out-shines all Sublunary Glory; he is better than the Soul, than Angels, than Heaven. Thirdly, In the chief Good, there must be not only Fulness but Variety; where Variety is wanting, we are apt to nauseate; to feed only on Hony, would breed Loathing; but in God is [gap] all Variety of Fulness, Col. 1.19. He is an Universal Good, Commensurate to all our Wants; He is Bonum in quo omnia Bona, a Sun, a Portion, an Horn of Salvation: He is called the God of all Comfort, 2 Cor. 1.3. There is a Complication of all Beauties and Delights in him; Health hath not the comfort of Beauty, nor Beauty of Riches, nor Riches of Wisdom, but God is the God of all Comfort. Fourthly, In the chief Good there must be Eternity. God is [gap]: He is a Treasure that can neither be drawn low, nor drawn dry. Though the Angels are still spending on him, he can never be spent; he abides for ever. Eternity is a Flower of his Crown. Now if God be our God, here is enough to let in full Contentment into our Souls. What though we want Torch-light, if we have the Sun? What if God deny us the Flower, if he hath given us the Jewel? How should this rock a Christians Heart quiet? If we say God is our God, and we are not content, we have cause to question our Interest in him.

III. If we can clear up this Covenant-Union, that God is our God, let this chear and revive us in all Conditions. To be content with God, is not enough, but to be chearful; what greater Cordial can you have, than Union with Deity? When Jesus Christ was ready to Ascend, he could not leave a richer consolation with his Disciples than this, Tell them, I go to my God and their God, John 20.17. Who should rejoyce, if not they, who have an Infinite, Alsufficient Eternal God to be their Portion, who are as Rich as Heaven can make them? What though I want Health, I have God, who is the Health of my Countenance and my God, Psal. 42.11. What though I am low in the World, if I have not the Earth, I have him that made it. The Philosopher comforted himself with this, though he had no Musick or Vine-Trees, yet [gap] here are the Houshold Gods with me. So though we have not the Vine or Fig-Tree, yet we have God with us. I cannot be Poor (saith St. Bernard,) as long as God is Rich; for his Riches are mine. O Let the Saints rejoyce in this Covenant-Union. To say God is ours, is more than to say Heaven is ours. Heaven would not be Heaven without God. All the Stars cannot make Day without the Sun. All the Angels those Morning Stars, cannot make Heaven without Christ the Sun of Righteousness. And as to have God for our God, is matter of rejoycing in Life; so especially it will be at our Death. Let a Christian think thus, I am going to my God. A Child is glad when he is going home to his Father. This was Christs comfort when he was leaving the World, Iohn 20.17. I go to my God. And this is a Believers Death-bed Cordial, I am going to my God; I shall change my Place, but not my Kindred, I go to my God and my Father.

IV. If God be our God, then let us break forth into Doxology and Praise, Psal. 118.28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee. O infinite Astonishing Mercy, that God should take Dust and Ashes into so near a Bond of Love, as to be our God▪ As Micah said, Iudg. 18.24. What have I more? So what hath God more? What richer Jewel hath he to bestow upon us than himself? What hath he more? That God should put off most of the World with Riches and Honours, and that he should pass over himself to us by a Deed of Gift, to be our God, and by virtue of this, settle a Kingdom upon us. O let us praise him with the best Instrument, our Heart, and let this Instrument be scrued up to the highest Peg: Let us praise him with our whole Heart. See how David riseth by degrees, Psal. 32.11. Be

glad in the Lord, and rejoyce, and shout for Ioy. Be glad, there is Thankfulness, rejoyce, there is Chearfulness, shout, there is Triumph. Praise is called Incense, because it is so sweet a Sacrifice. Let the Saints be Queristers in Gods Praises; the deepest Springs yield the sweetest Water. The more deeply sensible we are of Gods Covenant-Love to us, the sweeter Praises we should yield. We should begin here to eternize Gods Name, and do that Work on Earth, which we shall be always doing in Heaven, Psal. 146.2. While I live will I praise the Lord.

5. Let us carry our selves as those who have God to be our God; that is, when we walk so that others may see there is something of God in us. Live Holily. What have we to do with Sin? Is it not this, that if it doth not break, yet will weaken the Interest, Hos. 14.8. What have I to do any more with Idols? So should a Christian say, God is my God, what have I to do any more with Sin, with Lust, Pride, Malice? Bid me commit Sin, as well bid me Drink Poison. Shall I forfeit my Interest in God? Let me rather Dye than willingly offend him, who is the Crown of my Joy, the God of my Salvation.