he Helmet of Salvation. 43 7 tionof God, from the God of h s falvation. And fo, let himflayme ifhe will (faith Gen, 49. i holy Job) yetnotwithftanding Iwillltill tresilln him. Thusthc faithful have hope, job t ;, t5. and theirhope is in Chrift. Nomore of it for the enlargement of it. It thewcth to its in the firft place this Note, that AChríflisns wingsdomount him vie I. above allmeant. What are his wings ? his hope. Whither lfyeth his hope ? It takes I! its flight up to heavcn,to God,to theright hand of God,to Chrift,thereis his hope. So then he that bath this hope being poor, he flyeth not to riches, fist they make themfelves wings, and fly away from him. Being weak he fleeth not to thearm .f l'tov, z;, flefh, for in man theretsnohope, nor no confiaence to be patin Princes, in theRallance t`fal 4'6.i. they are lighter than vanity itfelf, faith the Pfalmift. Being fick he flyëth not to t'fal. 62. ;. the Phyfitian, he fleeth to thereas the means, not to reff in theme, tò make it themain of his aim, the (cope ofhis hope, he doth not fly "thus to them hegocth to God that commandeth all, that worketh aboveall, againft all and without all ineans,' and fanEtifieth all theft means : Thereforewell faith the poor man, God, is my help,"and thefick man, God is my health ; and theweak man, God ismy ftrength ; and the blindman, Chrift is my light ; and even thedead man, the diftreff man, God is ivy life; and the good man, Chrift is my Hope; and thehappyman, Chrift is my love. And fo it is to Chrift, that the wings of a mans Hopedoth lift him up. This is the fiat. It ffi eweth us that the wings of Hopethat is in the faithful' fool, lifttth hu t up above all means. Nomore ofthat. Secondly, obfetve inthis objeEt, the veryCroteñ ofaChriffianscomfort, I fay the Crown Of all his comfort; and that cometh only from this objeft of his/Wise. For what is there in all the World that can comfort a man indeed betides this, muchlefs compared with this? Begin where you will, when you have goneroundabout,you swill conclude with that ofthe Apoffle, Icount all things but lofsanddung,in compa- rifon of Cbrifl, and all things tobe vanity and s/exationoffpirit, as the preacher faith. Put thecafe thou art aliickmanorafickwoman,andIfind thee much affe ted,alfIift- ed, dejefted, call down inthy felf; I would fain give thee forne comfort now,-1 tell thee of the vanityof this prefentlife; therefore being content," tell theeofthe hope ofa better life. I tell thee of the ¡oyes, that are tb be revealed ; I tell thee of the promifes of God which hewill make good to thee, if thouwilt truff in his mercy ; 1 tell thee ofall thefuremercies ofI avid,as they-are called: andall this while I have told theenothing at all to comfort thee, till I come to this, the objedh of this Hope which I have in hand, and that is Jefas Chrift, in whomall Gods pronsifis are Tea and Amen ; and till thou canif learn this leffon of lifeconcerning the Lord Jefus, thou haft learnednothing; comeand learn this,and my life for thine thou art then happy, He is the o.y,theTruth,and theLife; theWay,andTr uth,and life it felf,and whither fhall Igofrom thee; Lord ? ehoso ball be words ofeternal lofei I" have done with that lob o. 6s. point, and fo pals on to the third. We have Hops; we have Hope in Chrifl ; we have Hope in Cheiffin this life. This life-time then is our hope time; that is it you Learn hence. Here wehave the feedof Hope,but the harveff ofHope,that ishereafter: when we (hall have in re,what now we have inßjíe,as ordinarily we fpeak : whenwe fhall have in poffeffion what now we have in expeftation : then there will be no more ufe of this Grace, there hope fhall reafe. Now it is indeed inthis life time,that we low the feeds of Prayer, that we plant the roots ofFaith, that we water all ofthem with our hope : when our joy ;hall fpring up; when the end andfruit of our faith shall come, when the poffeffionofour hope fhall appear ; then we havedone with hope,hopeferveth no longer then,therefore it is now in this life. Hope (hall end for the adhiou of it (underffand that aright) as Faith fhall ; but it thall never end for the object of it, that end than laitffill, and ref( ever. Now thenin the interim, this is the Prophets,and thisis the Princes,and this is the Peoplespofe,I wait,and Iwait too, and Itruft tha Lord over all: Now is your po/fetime aalmay call it; now is thefeed time, wherein we low the feeds of love,of joy,ofhope,whereinwe low thefeeds of fobriety,andinnocency,and chaftity, andcharity, and all manner ofvenues whatfo- ever, now is the times Js vrz Phil;. 8. Ecdcf, r. Ifa. 55.4. á Cor. i. 20. lohn 14. 6. ;. Conclufiort. This life -time is our hope- rime
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