Chap. 5· Sea. 7 · JLooamg ttnto 'jjefu.s. Book IV. adorning thy felf, and takcfta view of thy Garments? He is cal!cd a Ganm~t: Put Kem.,~· 1 4· con the Lord Jefm Chrift. Art thou eating meat, and takefl a v1ew on what 1son thy -1':rable? He is called Brend: The bread of God, trm bread from heavrn, the bread of life, John6. l'• theol'vingbre.ad which cmnc down from he~ven. Why thus Chriflway-layes our tbou~hts, ~~. 5 '· tha/wherefoever we look,we Owuld ev~r think pf Chrill:,---;- Now rhefe thoughts ?r con– remplariom of Chrill:, are they that bnng. rogerher cl~e obJect ~nd the faculty ?f JOY : I cannot think of Chril! or the life of Chnfl, of Chnil preadung, or of Chnfl preached, bur! mufl rejoyc~ in Cbrifl; as fometimes the Apoflle faid, Chri}l i<preached, n'lurher in pretence or muh, 1matter not, bm thAt he u preached, I there~n do r<Joyce, yea Phi!. 1 • 1 s, and willrejoyce. . . . 2 • Let us confider in Chnll, let·us upon good ~round, hope oll\~m.e and mterefl m the Life of Chrift: 0 rlus would flrcngthen our JOY, yea fill us With JOY unfpeakable and glorious; where true Jo'f is, there is firft a thi.nking of the good in our mind; and fecondly an cxpet'hno of tt tn our heart; hence 11 ts that wlmfoever doth encourage our hope' the f1me d~th enlarge our delight ; the Apoflle joines both thefe together: Rejo)'ct i~ hope: Hope and Joy g~ both tog~ther; if I have but. affured hope char Chri/l:'s life is mine, I cannot but reJoyce tlm·em : on the contrary, 1f my hope flu<'ln- ll.om. u. 12. ate if lam but uncertain, if I look on the influence and benefits of Chrill:'s life as on! y · poffibly mine, and no further; then is my comfort but unflable and weak: fometimes we find Chri!l compared to a rich Store-houfe : In him (fatth the Apoll:!e) are hid all tbe trea(u'res of wifdom and k§owhdge; but alas, what am I richer for all his treafures, if I Co!. ,; 3• have no claim thereto, or intcrefl therein? or what can I joy in another's ric~es, when I my felf am ~vrtched1 andmiferable, and foor, and blind, and nak§d? Look to this, 0 my foul. perufe aoain and again thy grounds of hope as afore laid down. do nor llightly r~n them ov~r ; thou canfi n0t be too fure of Chrift: thou readell: in ;be Gofpel this and that paff,ge of thy Jefus, canfl thou lay thine hand on every Line, and fay rhu paffage i<·mine ? this Sermon WM preached, and thi< miracle w.u wrought for me, that , I might believe, and rhdt in believing I might have life through hi< Name ? 0 then how IJJOuldfi thou bu~ rejoyce? When Zachetu in the Sycamore tree heard but Chrift's voyce, Zac•Jem mak§ hajfe, and come Jqwn, for t• day I nmft abide in t.hy hon(e. 0 what Luke 1p. s 6 · halte made Zacht~u to receive Chrifl! he came down hafl ily, and received him joyfully. ' ' This offer of Chrifl to Zachcm is thine as well as his, if thy hope be right; Come''ilown, po•r Soul (faith Chrifl) thi< d.1y muft I abide in thy houfe. 0 then what joy lhould there be in thy heart when Chril\ comes in, or when thou feeleft Chrifl come in l The friend •f the Bridegroom rcjoyccrhgreatly becaufe of the Bridegroom's voice; how much more may John l· 19; .' the Bride her felf rejoyce? 3. let us come up to more and more and more fruition of.Chriil:; all other things work out delight bur as they look towards this : now in this fruition of Chrift are con– tained thefe things, fi dl a propriety unro Cbrift; for as a fick man doth not feel the joy of afound mans health, fo neither doth a ftranger to Ch1 ifl feel the joy of a Believer in Chrifl; how lhouldhe joy inC~riftthat ran 1~1akc no claim to him in the leatldegrce? Bur to that we have fpoken. Second! y, a poffcffion of Chrift; this exceedingly enlargerhour joy. 0 how fweer was Chrifl to theSpoule, when fi1ecould fay, I am my cant,&. 3l Beloved',, and my JJc/oved i<.mine, he feede!h among the L~llics, q. d. we have rook poffeffion ofeach other; bets mtne through fatth, and I am Ius through love ; we are both fo kmt by an rnfeparable unton, that nothtng fi1all be able to feparate us rwo ; he feedeth flm011g the LdlzCJ ; he refrelhetb himfelf and his Saints, by his union and communion with ~hem ; many are taken up with the joy and comfort of outward potfeffions, bur Chrift IS better than all ; in one Chrifl is comprized erery fcmered comfort here below: Chrift mtne ( fatth the foul) a11d all mine. 3. .An accommodation ·of Chrifl to the foul, and tlus 1s tt t!Jat. compleats our joy; It is not bare poiTeffion of Chrifl which bnngeth real del>ght \ but an applying of Chdlt unto that end and purpofe for whtch he was appotnred : !t' is not the having of Chri11, bur the u!ing of Chrift, whtcl~ makes h1m benefiml. 0 the ufefulne!'s of Chrifl to all believing Souls! The Scnp,u~es are ft~U of thts; as appears by all his Titles in Scripture; he is our life, ~ur l~ght ~ our bread,. our n-atct, o~tr milk_, o1er tvine ; hi5 jlejh iJ meat iwdeed, and hU blond ~drmk.. mdced: he ts our father, our brother, om friend, our husband, our King, our ~ nell:•. our Prophet : he IS our juflification, our fanctification, our wifdom, our re- .demptton ; he ts our peace, our mediatioo, our atonement, our reconciliati-on, our all in all. Alas! I look on my fclf, and I fee I am nothing, I haye nothing withour Jefus · Chrifl ;
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