'2 5 6 TheDe fireofthe Sairatr, and purified from thisfeculent elementary food, and all other alterations common to it withbeafts : and which is moft wonderful,theKingof Kings Thal{gird himfelf to reachout thefeJoyes untous; they shall he adminiftred unto us Ve jad Hamme-. lek, by the hand, by the power of.a King ; Didd fay this drily Leif, who would give credence unto me ? but Truth faith it , Lake tz. 37. Blefd are thofe fer- vants whom he (hall find watching; verily Ifay Unto your that he fhallgird bim- felf, and make themfit down to meat , andwill come forth and ferve him. Oh wonderful dignation ! who ever heard of the like ? Pat Catodam Lixa bibit, the Lord naiads, the fervant fits; the Lord is girt, the fervant-is loofed ; the Mailer is reaching out full bowels, and the fervant is inebriated with the rivers of thefe pleafures ; oncehe girt himfelf to wafh his Difciples feet, and the fervant 'was a.. ftonifhed to fee fo great a Majefty condefcending to fo mean miniftry ; (hall we not be much more ravifhed with this ineffabledignation, when he (hall again girdr himfelf to fupply the foul with unfpeakable delight, as if God himfëlfintended nothing in heaven, but to heap content upon titem'thát Ft downwith Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom ofheaven ; This is the fatnefs, the excellencyof this bouf ;. with the weakadumbration whereof, I doubt not but thatyour hearts are fo taken, that ye have reduced all your delires to this one, with the Plalmift; One thing have l degred ofthe Lord, which I torli defire,'even that I maydwell in his hoafe, andbeboldtbebeautyoftbeLord. And I wonder notwhen l contemplate the MajeftyofGod,! withmy felf all-fear ; and when I confider the power ofGod, I withmy Pelf all humility ; andwhen I meditate on the goodnefs of God, I with my fell ajl love ; and when I contemplate the Beautyof God and of this houle, I with my felfall delire, and todo you alto : and therefore with unanimousvotes,you requeftme to conduétyou to the gates ofthisho/efe, whereby you mayenter into the fame, and according to the magnificence of this Houle, fo there are many gates whereby we may enter ; and all of thefe reaching even to the Earthwith the foot of3iecobs ladder. Thereis the gateofFaith, by it we have w sc i ana, accefs unto God, and that with boldnef ; by this we lay hold on the Throneof Grace; by this weproffrate our (elves at his feet ; by this we adhere, and cleave dole unto od ; by this we live in Chrift, and Cbriff in us ; by this our hearts are purified , our confcience wafhed with ele blood ofChrift, and fitted to fee God, and to enter into the holy ofholier, untowhich no unclean thing can be admitted. This is oneGate. . Another isthe gate ofHope, which entreth within the Vail, and bringeth ús neer- er unto God ; this grace taketh us by the hand, and leadeth us' through the ftrcets of 2K!'re Jerufelem, and Iheweth us the Templeof the Lamb, and the Lamb fitting in his Temple,. affuringus that we (hall live there with him ; this is =.s>us aes reg, heaven before heaven, the life of the Soul,thekeeper ofCbrift,the keeper ofGod : This is a fecund Gate. There is another gate, the gate of Charity; 'by this we enter not, but preis in untoGod, and are not led, but transported unto God, and carried in a fiery Cha- riot. By this gracè we approach not racer unto God, but forgetting the greatncfs of his Majelly, we lay hold on him, we hang upon him, we embrace him, we fami- liarlyconvene withhim ; we freely conlult with him, we infeparably cleaveunto himmore dole than any Polypus dothunto the Rock. Another gate, is the gateofhumility, a low gate, but a lure and certain gate, the exaltation ofthe foul, the honour, the dignity ofthe foul, that which fubjefts the'foul immediately to God, and fo feateth it above all the creatures ; that gate whereby the foul {teals into heaven, though the gate be never fo Rreight, by crouching, bowling, bending, pinchingof it (elf. At chefe gates, if you knock earneflyby devout prayer, and, frequent Almes, you mayenter into this glorious andmagnificent houfe, with which the Saints defre.to becloathed upon : and this is the firft hottfe which theydefire. There is another hotefe which the Saints del-ire, and that is the bout oftheir bo. dies glorified: while theyare here in this life, they have a cottage rather than a houle, a cottage feated in a low watery myrifh place, expofing the routto Agues, Fencers,
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