to god in Worship. the flesh ; but when thou cornett to worfhip God, how quick- ly arc thou tiriarnOW-what wilt thoudo in Heaven where there nocliii---Wone to alleternity but worfhipping of God ? And then it mutt needs be delightful to God that thou fhoul- deft come nigh hirr. There is nothing in the world more plea- fant to God than to have His Saints come into his prefence. What doth a Father more delight in than to have his Children about hirriTNever did any father or Mother love to have their_ Children by them, io as God loves to have His Children come, nih him, and he oftenwith him. And the truth is, one great Rea on t at o you to fall into afflittion to much, is,. That ou ma come runnin to him : How doth the Child come running to the at er or other when it is afraid ? why, the Lord is willing to permit men to do you wrong that you may run to him, that he might have more of your pretence ; Thou that arc fuch a poor creature, yet thou heareft this day that there is nothing in the world that God takes more pleafure in (next to the prefence ofhis own Son Jefus Chrift, and his Saints and Angels that he bathwith him in Heaven ) than to have his Saints come nigh him, to have them to be alwaies under his wing. And then by coming often intoGods prefence in His worfhip there will grow a fweet and bleffed familiarity between God, and thy foul, for thou wilt be (peaking to God, and God will be fpeaking to thee too : We knowmany times that dear friends who are very neerly links together, yet if the be ton abfene one from another there grows a ftrangenefs , an o by degrees their frieudfhi is deaded ; but now when they are together eve- ry ay, an t ere is an intercourfe of love and frienclfhip ; then their friendfhip is kept active and quick, but now if they be abfent long ; Indeed if they be abfent in another Country when they cannot come together, that they are fure it is not through any neglett, then it will not damp their friendfhip ; but when they are neer and comenot one to another, tthen they think it is out of ne lett- and fo they grow ftrange. So it is with: ire oul, ifthere were no pofli ility ofcoming into Gods pre-, fence, then it would not hinder the fweetnefs ofthe love of God, to us. But now whenwe have thofe duties of worfhip wherein, we.; 37
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